First Senate Vote On Keystone Today; Obama Has Delayed For 6 Years

Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan 12, 2014:
The House convened at Noon today.
Bills to be considered today:
H.R. 203 — "To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for the conduct of annual evaluations of mental health care and suicide prevention programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to require a pilot program on loan repayment for psychiatrists who agree to serve in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes."
H.R. 33 — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that emergency services volunteers are not taken into account as employees under the shared responsibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
H.R. 203 — "To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for the conduct of annual evaluations of mental health care and suicide prevention programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to require a pilot program on loan repayment for psychiatrists who agree to serve in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes."

The Senate will convene at 2 PM today and resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1, the bill to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. At 5:30 PM, there will be a vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to (i.e. whether to take up and debate) S.1.

News items on Keystone follows:
The AP reports: “Republicans in Congress and a state supreme court have thrown the political hot potato known as Keystone XL straight back onto President Barack Obama's lap. So loath is Obama to making a decision about the proposed oil pipeline that deliberations have entered their sixth year — a period nearly as long as Obama's time in office. He's blamed the seemingly endless delays on bureaucratic formalities and parochial issues in Nebraska, even when skeptics claimed that the politics of the next election were giving the president cold feet.” . . .

“Now the election is over, the Nebraska issue is resolved, and a bipartisan bill forcing the pipeline's approval may soon be heading to Obama's desk. Forces on all sides of the debate, for once, have the same demand for Obama: Just make the call.” . . .

“‘It's time for the State Department and the president to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline — however they decide — because six years is beyond long enough,’ said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, part of the minority of Democrats supporting the pipeline.”

“In April, just as the State Department's review of the pipeline was nearing an end, Obama indefinitely suspended it. Facing a difficult political climate, many Democrats had been anxious about Obama making a decision before the November midterm elections. Still, the White House said it was uncertainty about the pipeline's route, spurred by a Nebraska court challenge, that prompted the delay. That rationale expired Friday. The Nebraska Supreme Court tossed out the lawsuit, clearing the way for the pipeline to snake through Nebraska as previously envisioned.”

The Wall Street Journal editors comment:: “For six years President Obama has used one pretext after another to avoid approving the Keystone XL pipeline. Now the Nebraska Supreme Court has blown up his last excuse, and the President owes it to the country to either say yes or to come clean about his anti-fossil fuel politics.”

. . . “TransCanada filed with the State Department for a cross-border permit while Mr. Obama was still running for President. Mr. Obama has since subjected the project to two separate State Department reviews, ignoring the positive findings of both. Even as the Nebraska court ruled, the White House on Friday was back with more delay, claiming the State Department now needs to review the court decision and ponder, ponder, ponder.”

Recommend review the previously posted Weekly Republican Address by Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) which made an open-and-shut case for building the pipeline.

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