On the recordMay 22, 2013
As the House prepares to once again vote on legislating approval of a presidential permit to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, I find it disappointing that the Majority refuses to work with Democratic supporters, like myself, of the pipeline. By attempting to legislate a process set in place by President George W. Bush, the Majority has succeeded in making the pipeline a political issue instead of one of unifying national energy independence. As a supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline, I oppose H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act, and ask the Majority to instead work with the Administration to approve this project and legislate issues that can further enhance our energy independence rather than playing partisan politics. The intent of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is to provide transparency so communities can know the impact of projects on their neighborhoods. However, H.R. 3 circumvents that transparency by simply deeming approved the NEPA review. H.R. 3 also deems approved permits under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. When these laws were passed, they were not revolutionary, they were commonsense, and were passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. One could even say these environmental laws were so important that they were, in fact, nonpartisan. Allowing those processes to run their courses is also commonsense and should be nonpartisan.…
