Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Keystone XL pipeline. It
is going to create 42,000 jobs. By the way, those jobs that you are
talking about that will be part-time, I guarantee you the Department of
Labor will include them in their numbers when they talk about how great
we are becoming.

This is the most federally reviewed pipeline in U.S. history--it is 6
years--and the thing about this that is most impressive is it doesn't cost the
American taxpayer one single penny. It is privately funded. And I would
guarantee you that along that pipeline, as it is constructed, all those
communities are going to benefit from the fact they have people working
there, staying in their hotels, buying their food, enhancing their
local economy.

How many more times do we have to talk about this? This is not a
Republican issue, by the way. This is an American issue. A majority of
the American people support this, and Democrats and Republicans in both
the House and the Senate. It is bipartisan and bicameral. My goodness,
how rare is that? Business groups and labor unions. You know what? Even
President Bill Clinton and President Bush agree this is something that
needs to be done.

News outlets from Bloomberg to The Washington Post to USA Today all
say: Build it.

USA Today gets it right. They say:

On the merits, the Obama administration should long ago
have said yes . . . but the White House seems to have been
paralyzed by its fear of angering our ally Canada if it says
no or infuriating Democratic environmentalists if it says yes
. . . It is long past time to say yes.

President Obama must say ``yes'' to new jobs, he must say ``yes'' to
bipartisanship, he must say ``yes'' to good government, he must say
``yes'' to America, and he must say ``yes'' to the Keystone pipeline.
It is long past due, my friends.

Let's move American forward, let's become energy self-sustaining, and
let's be the leader in the world when it comes to energy. This debate
is way past time, and the thought that we shouldn't do it now because
the oil market is down, my goodness, nothing could be further from the
truth.

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