Ted Poe: “I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding. I also admire the gentleman from Florida with the exotic tie and his…”

“I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding. I also admire the gentleman from Florida with the exotic tie and his comments. But I stand in support of the rule and, of course, the underlying bill. The rule is a fair rule. I represent southeast Texas. We still think we're the energy capital of the world. The pipeline from Canada will go down into southeast Texas, Port Arthur, Texas, which actually has high unemployment. The pipeline will go to the refineries. The refineries will be able to expand and hire refinery workers to refine that crude oil. I think that's a good idea. The Canadian oil sands will be able to produce 175 barrels of oil reserves, second only to Saudi Arabia. The idea that we need to move away from Middle Eastern oil is a good idea. Maybe we ought to support our loyal allies that are in a stable country. A medium-sized pipeline, just to give you some statistics, pumps about 150,000 barrels a day. To replace that, you would have to have 750 trucks a day or a 75-car train every day. Pipelines are the safest way to transport crude oil. Seventy-five percent of the accidents occur with a third party causing the accident to the pipeline. But if we don't make a decision--that's what we're asking the President to do--make a decision. And as my friend from Florida knows, being former judges, we made decisions. It didn't take us 3 years to make a decision. You get the evidence; you make a ruling.…”