03.15.13

Hoeven Presses President on Keystone XL, Introduces Legislation Enabling Congress to Approve the Project

Senator Hosts Bipartisan Group of House Members to Introduce Keystone Companion Bill

WASHINGTON – At a meeting Thursday with President Barack Obama and the Republican Senate caucus on Capitol Hill, Senator John Hoeven again pressed the president for a definite timetable and favorable decision on the Keystone XL pipeline project, which has been delayed by the administration for nearly five years. The president said only that he would decide “this year.”

“The president still hasn’t given us a decision or a definitive timeline, so Senator Max Baucus and I, along with a bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation that will enable Congress to approve the Keystone XL pipeline,” Hoeven said. “This project will create tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for states and the federal governments to address their deficits and debt. Perhaps most importantly, it will put us within striking range of the long-sought goal of energy security, breaking our reliance on the Middle East and other volatile parts of the world for energy.”

Sixteen senators, eight Republicans and eight Democrats, have signed onto the Hoeven-Baucus bill, which authorizes Congress to approve the long-delayed pipeline under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Keystone XL will transport 830,000 barrels of oil a day, including 100,000 of North Dakota and Montana light sweet crude, from Alberta, Canada to refineries on the United States’ Gulf Coast. Every state along the pipeline’s route has approved the route.

Also today, Senator Hoeven hosted a bipartisan, bicameral news conference to announce the unveiling of a companion Keystone XL bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT), Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).