Roy Blunt: “the House yesterday passed a bill that included an effort to move forward on the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and I…”

“the House yesterday passed a bill that included an effort to move forward on the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and I wish to talk about that project for a while today and American energy generally. We all agree private sector job creation needs to be the No. 1 priority in Washington. One of the best ways to jump-start job creation is simply through good energy projects. The shortest path to more American jobs is more American energy. Unfortunately, the President and the administration have delayed one of the largest domestic, shovel-ready projects until after the election next year. This is a project that is ready to go. The States this project would go through have cleared the way for the project. There is no government money involved. This just takes a government OK, saying: Yes, it is all right to create these jobs. These jobs not only have the short-term impact of creating the jobs that are created to build the pipeline but the long-term impact of all the economic activity that occurs because of this new North American energy to which we would have access. In delaying this program, the President is simply stalling the creation of thousands of jobs and postponing not only the growth in our economy but also a move toward more energy security. Not too many years ago, I don't think one could say with a straight face that we need to do everything we can to create something that closely resembles energy independence.…”