On the recordJuly 26, 2011
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman, I rise today to support H.R. 1938, the North American-Made Energy Security Act, and give a long overdue green light to the Keystone XL pipeline project. The Keystone XL expansion project would allow up to 1.29 million barrels per day to flow into refineries in the Midwest and gulf coast, a 700,000-barrel-per-day increase over existing capacity from Canada. More oil means lower prices, and more imports from a stable ally like Canada means less from unstable nations and potential adversaries. According to a study conducted for the Department of Energy, the Keystone project has the potential to significantly reduce oil imports from the Middle East. The good news only gets better when one looks at the job impacts of the Keystone project. Construction of the expanded pipeline system alone would create an estimated 20,000 jobs. Unfortunately, the Obama administration continues to delay this project, and there seems to be no end in sight. Let's just look at the timeline to date: In September 2008, TransCanada, the developer of this project, first submitted its application for a Presidential permit. The State Department didn't release its draft environmental impact statement until April 2010. After this first step, EPA rejected the draft statement and told the State Department they had to perform more work. After another year, the State Department issued a supplemental draft statement that addressed EPA's concerns.…
