Joe Barton: “Let me say before I rise in support of this particular piece of legislation that if we want to have a debate on global…”

“Let me say before I rise in support of this particular piece of legislation that if we want to have a debate on global warming, let the record show that the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are at the lowest level since 1995. That's without cap- and-trade. That's without command and control. It's based on the ingenuity of the American people and the market at work here in the United States. The Keystone pipeline would simply make it possible to take oil from Canada and transport it down to the gulf coast of the United States to be refined into products that would either be sold in the United States or, in some cases, perhaps exported overseas. It would create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction phase and maintain, and probably increase, the number of jobs in our refinery and petrochemical complex on the gulf coast of the United States. It's a good piece of legislation. Only in America would this be controversial. It's a win for the Canadians, it's a win for the consumers in America, and it's a win for the workers in America that would be able to do the construction and also work in the refineries in those particular industries. So I would rise in strong support, and I hope that we support Mr. Terry's bill and send it to the other body.”