Keystone XL Pipeline Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I come to the floor to support the amendment which is the pending
business on the floor today.

This is only my second session in the Senate, but I imagine that it
means something to be Senate bill 1. It probably means something even
more to be Senate bill 1 in the new Republican-majority Senate. Why?
Because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle had 8 years in the
minority to think about what should be the first bill, the No. 1
priority of this new Republican Senate, 8 years to think about every
problem American families are facing, to vet every possible solution to
these problems and decide what is going to be the first bill we are
going to debate to make this country a better place. There were a lot
of measures the new majority could have chosen. We could have been
sitting here talking about a tax cut for the middle class or we could
have been talking about a proposal to make college more affordable. We
could have been talking about a proposal to grow small businesses all
across the country. But we are not talking about those things. After 8
years of stewing over the problems America faces, Senate bill 1 is an
oil pipeline.

As my colleagues who are in opposition to the underlying bill have
said, this isn't just any oil pipeline; this is a pipeline to ship
foreign oil right through the heartland of the United States, most
likely on its way to foreign customers. And it is not just any oil; it
is the dirtiest oil you can dream up.

Building this pipeline and increasing the development of tar sands in
Canada is the pollution equivalent, according to one study, of putting
4 million new cars on North American roads. But not to worry, say many
of the proponents of the bill. Admittedly, many dispute some of those
underlying studies. But the real point here is jobs. It is about
creating jobs here in the United States.

This is a sight which is familiar to every single American. It is a
McDonald's franchise. On average, a McDonald's franchise employs about
30 to 40 people. That is nothing to sneeze at. Thirty to forty people
having jobs is a big deal. But the Senate doesn't normally worry itself
with debating the establishment of a new McDonald's franchise. It is a
big deal to a local community, but it is not something that necessarily
moves the needle in terms of the national economy. Yet the Keystone
Pipeline would create the same number of permanent full-time jobs as
the average McDonald's franchise. Yes, it creates construction jobs,
and I don't want to discount the fact that it puts a lot of people to
work building the pipeline. But do you know what also puts people to
work? Building a new high school. Building a new rail line. Improving
our crumbling infrastructure. That puts a lot of people to work as
well. In the end, the added value to the economy of a new school or a
new bridge or a new rail line dwarfs that of a pipeline which, without
the adoption of the Markey amendment to be offered later, will quite
possibly just take the oil from one country and send it through the
United States to another country--never mind all of the environmental
side effects of continuing to develop this oil.

So I am going to oppose the underlying bill, but I am here to support
Senator Franken's amendment because if we are going to approve this
pipeline, let's do everything we can to ensure that even though we are
only going to create 40 full-time jobs, that we are creating as many
part-time jobs as possible. That is why it makes sense to require that
the iron and steel that are going into this pipeline come from America.
And we know we need to pass this amendment because Keystone has already
promised that half of the steel and half of the iron is going to come
from overseas companies. Mr. President, 330,000 tons of pipeline is
going to come from overseas companies.

This concept is not new. We do it all the time. We just passed the
WRDA bill with bipartisan consensus. ``Buy American'' provisions were
in there. The American Recovery Act--``Buy American'' provisions were
in there. We have had laws on the books for a long time that apply
``Buy American'' provisions to private companies that are doing
business in and around industries regulated or funded by the U.S.
Government.

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So this amendment will just make sure that at least in
the short-term we are going to put a few more Americans to work, even
if we are not going to do anything about the rather paltry economic
numbers in the long run.

I am supporting the Franken amendment, and I encourage my colleagues
to support it as well.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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