Northern Route Approval Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleagues, Ms. Chu from California and Mr. Connolly from Virginia.
This amendment would require that the Government Accountability Office, which is independent, evaluate the true cost of potential spills from the Keystone XL pipeline. Americans want to know. We want to know what the impact of tar sands spills are on public health, on the environment, on the quantity and quality of water that's available for agriculture and farmers and for municipalities and for drinking.
We all know that tar sands crude oil can be dangerous. We saw the recent spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. It's critical that we address the true cost of oil pipeline spills and their true impact. It's inevitable that the Keystone XL pipeline will have costly spills and leaks.
Spills are especially concerning because the pipeline is slated to cross over the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest aquifers that supplies drinking and irrigation water to millions of Americans.
Instead of trying to rubber-stamp the Keystone XL this week and short circuit the very process that Congress established, instead we should be working to ensure that spills won't impact the health of our communities and the quality of our water. I thank the gen tle lady for yielding me time.
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