Will President Support Jobs - Congress Passes Keystone XL Pipeline Bill

Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan 30, 2015:
The Senate at 10:30 Am and adjorned at Noon. It will reconvene on Monday at 4 PM.

On Monday at 5:30 PM, the Senate will vote on passage of H.R. 203, a bill to provide mental health assistance and suicide prevention for veterans.

On Tuesday at 2:30 PM, the Senate will hold a vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 240, the House-passed Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 62-36 to pass S. 1, the bill authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. And notified the House and sent the bill to the President.

Prior to final passage, the Senate rejected 3 more amendments to the bill. Senators voted down an amendment from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), which would have allowed permitting agencies to go back and reopen the permitting process, by a vote of 41-56, and two amendments from Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), one which would have required yet another study, this time of extreme weather events before allowing the pipeline to be constructed, and another which would have imposed an excise tax on petroleum products derived from oil sands. The Markey amendments were rejected by votes of 36-62 and 44-54, respectively.

In all, 41 amendments to the bill were voted on, almost 3 times the number of amendments that received votes in all of 2015 under democrat Senator Harry Reid's leadership.

The House will reconvene at 2 PM and then recess until Monday at 2 PM. No legislative business will be conducted.

The New York Times writes, “The Senate passed a bill on Thursday to force approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline . . . . When Republicans won control of the Senate late last year, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, chose the Keystone bill as the first measure Republicans would send to Mr. Obama. The White House promptly said that Mr. Obama would veto the measure, which would force the approval of a proposed 1,179-mile oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. . . .

The Times notes, “[P]ressure is mounting on the president from both sides to make a final decision on Keystone construction, which has been pending since he took office.” And the article then goes through the litany of excuses the president has used to stall on the decision, pointing out that they’ve all run out.

Meanwhile, The Hill observes, “The Senate closed its first month under Republican rule on Friday by passing legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline — moving a step closer to sending the controversial bill to President Obama’s desk. It’s the most significant accomplishment McConnell's had so far as majority leader, but is far from the only one. The Senate under McConnell has already held twice as many roll call votes on amendments as the chamber held in all of 2014."

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