Senate Energy Committee Approves Keystone XL Pipeline . . .

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

. . . After A 6 Year Delay By The Obama Administration.
Today in Washington D.C. - Jan. 8, 2014:
The Senate reconvened at 11 AM today and began a period of morning business.

At 1:45 PM, the Senate will take up H.R. 26, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which passed in the House yesterday by a vote of 416-5.

The Senate will first vote on an amendment to the bill from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), which will require 60 votes for approval. Following that, the Senate will vote on passage of H.R. 26, which will also require 60 votes.

Yesterday, the Senate passed by unanimous consent S. Res. 21 and S. Res. 22, setting committee assignments for the majority and minority.

The House convened at 10 AM today.
The House may consider the following bills today:
H.R. 3 - "To approve the Keystone XL Pipeline"
H.R. 30 - "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the 30-hour threshold for classification as a full-time employee for purposes of the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and replace it with 40 hours."

Yesterday the House passed:
H.R. 23 (381-39) — "To reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, and for other purposes."
H.R. 26 (416-5) — "To extend the termination date of the Terrorism Insurance Program established under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, and for other purposes."
H.R. 34 (Voice Vote) — "To authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection, forecast, warning, research, and mitigation program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes."
H.R. 35 (Voice Vote) — "To increase the understanding of the health effects of low doses of ionizing radiation."
H.R. 37 (276-146) — "To make technical corrections to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to enhance the ability of small and emerging growth companies to access capital through public and private markets, to reduce regulatory burdens, and for other purposes."

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) responded to the House extending long-term reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act:“Terrorism risk insurance protects the businesses and services Americans rely on every day, and it’s important we reauthorize it without delay. This, of course, is no ordinary insurance program: it reinforces the vigilance of hardworking Americans and furthers our commitment to protecting our economy and homeland – responsibilities we’ve all been reminded of today in the worst way possible. By acting swiftly and in bipartisan fashion, we’ve laid the groundwork for the Senate and the president to follow suit.”Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again urged the president to approve the Keystone XL pipeline after the Senate passes its bill. “The new Republican majority has pledged to run the Senate differently and stop protecting the president from good ideas. That’s why we look forward to the Senate beginning consideration of a bipartisan, job-creating infrastructure project: the Keystone Pipeline.”

He continued, “The Keystone jobs bill will then be subject to real debate and amendment on the floor of the Senate. And then, we plan to send the Keystone jobs bill to the president’s desk with bipartisan support. That may be a departure from what Senators have become used to. But for members on both sides, I think the change is welcome. I think Senators in both parties are ready to have their voices — and the voices of their constituents — heard. . . . “Let’s keep the voters in mind who sent us here, and let’s remember what they told us in November. One of the things they told us is that they’d like to see more teamwork across the aisle. So for a president who has said he’d like to see more bipartisan cooperation, this is a perfect opportunity. A number of the many Democrat supporters of this bill have already written to the president urging him to ‘choose jobs, economic development and American energy security’ and approve this pipeline. We’re asking the president again today to do that by working with us to end the gridlock and get this job-creating infrastructure project moving.”

Earlier today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the Keystone XL bill by a bipartisan 13-9 vote, sending it to the floor for consideration.

Of course, the White House issued a statement yesterday saying the president would veto a bill finally approving the pipeline. The statement claims the bill “would cut short consideration of important issues relevant to the national interest.”

But as Senate Energy Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) exasperatedly pointed out in a floor speech yesterday, it’s hard to see how forcing a decision after 6 years of delay is cutting anything short. “We are all frustrated by a President's decision--or unwillingness, really, to make a decision about this pipeline. It has been 2,301 days and counting since the company seeking to build it submitted an application for this cross-border permit--2,301 days. That is more than 6 years ago. Yesterday the President was finally able to make a decision. He issued his statement of administration policy. In his statement he says that by advancing this measure, it would cut short consideration of important issues. Excuse me, Mr. President--cut short a process that has been underway for over 6 years? That is amazing to me.”

As Leader McConnell said, “Keystone has been studied endlessly, from almost every possible angle, and the same basic conclusion seems to keep coming back: build it.”

Looking at the objections of some liberal Democrats to the pipeline, The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler finds them to be wanting. He writes, “We’ve previously fact checked President Obama’s claim that the pipeline was designed to take Canadian crude oil to the world markets.  The president earned Three Pinocchios for suggesting that all of the Canadian crude would be exported. First of all, most of the oil would almost certainly stop on the Gulf Coast to be refined into products. On top of that, current trends suggest that only about half of that refined product would be exported. . . . [T]he fact remains the reason for the pipeline is because it is taking the crude oil to the refiners on the Gulf Coast, where it would be refined into products such as motor gasoline and diesel fuel.  The State Department report disputed claims that the oil “would pass through the United States and be loaded onto vessels for ultimate sale in markets such as Asia,” saying it was not economically justified. The State Department noted that the traditional sources of crude for the Gulf Coast, such as Mexico and Venezuela, are declining, and so refineries would have ‘significant incentive to obtain heavy crude from the oil sands.’”

Leader McConnell concluded, “Keystone’s construction could support thousands of jobs. It could invest billions in our economy. That’s why Democrats say ‘build it.’ Republicans say ‘build it.’ Prominent labor unions say ‘build it, ’and, most importantly, the American people say ‘build it.’ The president has called for Congress to send him infrastructure projects to sign. Keystone is the largest shovel-ready infrastructure project in the country that makes sense. So we’re going to send it to him. We hope he’ll sign it.

“He may ultimately veto an infrastructure project that could increase workers’ wages by $2 billion — a project whose construction alone could, according to the president’s own State Department, support many thousands of jobs. He may. Or he may decide to try and make divided government work. Either way, this Congress is determined to do what we can to pass bipartisan jobs legislation. It’s what the American people asked us to do. And that’s just what we’re going to do.”

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