Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Nebraska. That line through Canada, less than 800 miles long, to add an additional almost 10,000 miles to go through the Panama Canal to Shanghai doesn't make economic sense. And let's keep in mind, Canada is our neighbor. They are our friend, our most consistent and reliable ally, and I trust the way they are going to be working on many things with us. But I also trust the workers who will work on this pipeline, American workers from here in the United States, well-trained people who have gone through good training programs as apprentices and journeymen. Construction of this pipeline will generate about $20 billion in economic output, perhaps $13 billion in direct work on the pipeline itself. Now, some estimates have said that for every $1 billion you spend on infrastructure, it yields about 35,000 jobs. That's some jobs that go for manufacturing, that's some jobs that go for the actual construction, and some jobs that go for all the supports that help those workers as well as the places that they will spend money-- steamfitters and welders who make $45 to $50 an hour, operating engineers, laborers who will earn between $23 and $31 an hour. And, yes, this is a time we need to do this, not with more delays and more problems, but at a time when we need jobs. Let's keep this in mind too: Construction of this pipeline with oil from Canada is going to make us less dependent on OPEC. Right now we send $129 billion a year to OPEC.…”