02.22.13

Hoeven Calls on President Obama in National Republican Weekly Address to Work with Congress to Address Sequestration

Cites Keystone XL as Example of Project to Jumpstart Economy

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven Saturday gave the National Republican Weekly Address, urging President Obama to work with Congress to address the pending sequester the right way – with thoughtful reductions in spending and a pro-growth approach to creating jobs and growing the nation’s economy with projects like the Keystone XL pipeline.

“The fact is: Republicans in Congress, right now, will provide the flexibility to make the necessary spending reductions and address our deficit and debt, instead of going through the sequester,” Hoeven said. “The right way to address our deficit and debt, and get past the sequester, is not higher taxes or just better spending control. It’s by creating jobs, growing the economy, and expanding the tax base.”

Senator Hoeven said the president made no mention of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline project in his State of the Union address and is actually preventing economic growth and private-sector job creation.

The president is blocking the project, Hoeven said, despite the fact that it will “create tens of thousands of jobs, lift the economy help to keep down the cost of fuel, reduce our dependency on Middle Eastern oil and raise hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues to address the nation’s debt and deficit – all without a single penny of taxpayer money and with better environmental stewardship than if we don’t build the project.”

The senator also cited Bob Woodward’s book, The Price of Politics, which set the record straight on the origin of the sequester, which was proposed and promoted by the White House in 2011. Hoeven said the president appears to be more swayed by celebrity activists like Daryl Hannah, who recently handcuffed herself to the White House fence in protest against the Keystone XL project, than he is by the opinion of the American people, who showed nearly 70 percent support for the project in a recent Harris poll.

With gas prices at historically high prices for February, more than 12 million people still unemployed and the economy slipping backward in the last quarter of 2012, Hoeven said the president needs to embrace an approach that empowers the private sector to grow and hire.

“Mr. President, if we empower our people and unleash the power of investment and innovation, we will get what all Americans agree we want and need – jobs, a dynamic economy, stable fuel prices, and a real reduction in our deficit and debt – without raising taxes,” Hoeven said. “And the Keystone XL project is just one example of how we get there. There are many more.”

Senator Hoeven serves on the U.S. Senate Appropriations, Energy and Natural Resources, Agriculture and Indian Affairs committees.