“It is time that the President started to say ‘yes’ and stops saying ‘no’ to jobs and to energy.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate in support of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Excerpts of his remarks are below:
“The Keystone XL pipeline is one of the largest shovel-ready infrastructure projects in the United States. It would bring oil from North Dakota and from Canada to refineries along the Gulf Coast and in the Midwest.
“The pipeline would strengthen America’s energy security and create tens of thousands of new jobs. These are good-paying jobs.
“Just consider what representatives of organized labor have had to say.
“The President of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, said: ‘Any discussion of the Keystone XL project begins and ends with one word: Jobs.’
“He went on to say that: ‘Throughout America’s Heartland, the Keystone Pipeline represents the prospect for 20,000 immediate jobs…without one single dollar of government assistance.’
“Until recently, President Obama suggested that he too believed the pipeline could be in the interest of the United States.
“On April 6th, the President held a town hall event in Pennsylvania. There, he received a question about Canadian oil sands production.
“In response, the President of the United States discussed the Keystone XL pipeline. He said: ‘…importing oil from countries that are stable and friendly is a good thing…”
“However, now on November 10th, the President reversed course and showed a different side.
“After protests from environmentalists, the President decided to punt his decision on the pipeline until after the 2012 presidential election.
“Many in the press say the President delayed his decision so that environmental activists would turn out on Election Day to support him.
“If true, the President’s decision to delay the approval of the pipeline was not only political. It was also cynical. Cynical because these activists believe they can shut down Canadian oil sands production.
“They believe they can shut down the production by stopping construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. And that simply isn’t true. And the President knows it.
“So why are the Canadian oil sands going to be developed? Well, because the oil sands are a huge national asset. And Canada will not allow that asset to be stranded.
“Canada will continue to develop its oil resources whether or not Keystone XL or any other pipeline is built.
“President Obama, is once again, failing to lead. That he, once again, is failing to be forthright with the American people. And that he is failing to make difficult decisions. The President is showing that he thinks his job is really the only job that matters.
“Of course, we all know that Canada will not sit idly by. Canada will add additional pipeline capacity—whether or not Keystone XL is built.
“Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has said that the decision to delay approval of Keystone XL demonstrates: ‘the necessity of making sure that we’re able to access Asian markets for our energy products.’
“In other words, Canada has a tremendous amount of oil. And Canada will ensure that its oil is brought to market. It may go to the United States. Or it may go to China, may go to another country. But Canada’s oil will be brought to market.
“Thus, the question for President Obama is very simple and straightforward.
“Is it in America’s interest to reduce our dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf and Venezuela?
“Is it in America’s interest to create tens of thousands of new jobs at a time of 8.6 percent unemployment?
“The answer, of course, is ‘yes’.
“It is time that the President started to say ‘yes’ and stops saying ‘no’ to jobs and to energy.”
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