Tom Udall: “today we are voting to end debate on the Keystone Pipeline bill. I want to be clear right from the start. I do not…”

“today we are voting to end debate on the Keystone Pipeline bill. I want to be clear right from the start. I do not support this bill. I will vote against cloture and against final passage of the Keystone Pipeline bill. And I am disappointed about the way it is being jammed through to a vote. I supported the motion to proceed to this bill for one reason and only one reason--because we were assured there would be an open amendment process. We started that process last week. We have worked back and forth between Republican and Democratic amendments. Many of those amendments are important. And I believe we should continue until every Senator who wants to amend this bill has had a chance to make his or her case. I have an amendment for a renewable electricity standard which would create hundreds of thousands of 21st-century American jobs in my State and across the country. We owe it to all Americans to consider this and other amendments that would improve the bill. The bill as it stands is not acceptable on many levels. First, I am concerned that the new leadership chose to begin with a bill mandating a single pipeline for a foreign private company. This is a questionable use of the Senate's time and an unprecedented piece of legislation. Congress has never gotten involved in mandating a pipeline of this nature. But that is where we are. Now we are voting to cut off debate.…”