On the recordJuly 26, 2011
This bill is simple, but the ramifications may be significant. Let me set the record straight: I want to get off OPEC oil. Receiving as much as 700,000 barrels of oil from our northern neighbor, Canada, makes us more energy secure, more energy independent. The application for this pipeline, an efficient way to move oil from one part to another part, the most efficient and safest, was filed almost 3 years ago. We are just a month shy of its 3-year anniversary; whereas, it is usually around 18 months to 24 months to have something like this approved. Now, this bill sets a hard date of November 1, 2011, for the President to make a determination of national interest on this pipeline. Let me repeat: All we're asking is that the President make his decision by November 1. Enough time has passed. Now, what we would see if this project moves forward: It will be a $13 billion construction project, privately funded; it will create at least 20,000 direct high-paying labor construction jobs; it will generate $6.5 billion in new personal income for U.S. workers and their families; it will spur more than $20 billion in new spending for the U.S. economy; it will stimulate more than $585 million in new State and local taxes; it will deliver $5.2 billion in property taxes during the estimated operating life span of this pipeline. Now, we have heard from two speakers already about the environmental impacts. I come from Nebraska.…
