WASHINGTON, DC - The House is scheduled to vote tomorrow on legislation to end the bureaucratic delays blocking construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act, authored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), will finally allow construction of the project that would create thousands of American jobs and displace overseas imports with millions of barrels of safe and secure North American oil supplies. Similar legislation was needed 40 years ago to achieve construction of the game-changing Trans Alaska Pipeline.
A broad number of diverse organizations have lent their support to this commonsense, bipartisan legislation, which creates a clear path forward for the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline.
American Commitment
* “H.R. 3 would clear away all remaining regulatory roadblocks to the pipeline and we therefore urge its expeditious passage. There has never been a more ‘shovel ready’ project in history than the Keystone XL pipeline…"
American Council of Engineering Companies
* “To enhance our energy security and develop more reliable and stable long-term energy sources, the U.S. must pursue every avenue possible towards achieving a greater degree and balance of energy self-sufficiency, ranging from innovative alternative/renewable energy sources to natural gas and oil. … The Keystone XL pipeline will help address our energy needs over the long term and will also create significant job growth at an important time in our country."
American Energy Alliance
* “This project is years overdue, and American families and businesses need and deserve the lower prices that a greater supply of energy always brings. … H.R. 3 recovers proper congressional authority over all aspects of the pipeline’s construction, and enables our elected officials to take decisive action to improve our nation’s economy and energy security."
American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
* “Completion of the Keystone XL pipeline would strengthen our nation’s energy security by adding another source of supply from our ally and neighbor Canada. It would also provide significant job growth, reduce our nation’s reliance on oil from unstable nations, increase local, state and federal tax revenues, and improve the economy, without having any significant impact on the environment. … AFPM strongly urges approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and fully supports H.R. 3."
American Petroleum Institute
* “With no clear indication from the administration that this critical energy infrastructure project will be approved, it is appropriate for Congress to prepare an alternative approval process. The Keystone XL Pipeline will create thousands of good paying jobs for the safest, most highly trained workers of the building trades at a time when construction workers have an unemployment rate far higher than the national average."
Americans for Tax Reform
* “Poll after poll show that the American people are tired of waiting for Keystone pipeline construction to begin. It is time to spur economic growth. It is time to bolster the U.S.’s international standing. It is time to build the Keystone XL Pipeline."
Associated General Contractors of America
* “The Keystone XL pipeline is a multibillion dollar private-sector infrastructure project. It will bring thousands of jobs and greater energy security to America."
Association of Oil Pipe Lines
* “Each one of these many pipeline projects will provide good-paying jobs for American construction workers, spur good paying manufacturing jobs supplying steel and pipeline components, and create numerous indirect jobs supplying the services required to support construction workers. … Pipelines are the safest possible way to transport petroleum and Keystone XL will be the safest possible pipeline."
Chamber of Commerce of the United States
* “The Chamber has long been on record in support of this project because it produces good, high paying jobs, increases supplies of Canadian and American crude to refiners, and therefore further bolsters American economic and energy security. And with more than 50 percent of the Gulf Coast segment of the pipeline complete, additional administrative delay of the project seems counterproductive to our national interests and certain to hurt American consumers and industry."
FreedomWorks
* “(T)his bill would allow for the completion of the Keystone XL Pipeline without any further delay or interference… It’s time to get government out of the way and let the Keystone XL Pipeline be completed."
Frontiers of Freedom
* “Unfortunately, the pipeline needed to bring this oil to American refineries has been delayed by the never ending litany of approvals, permits, threatened litigation and bureaucratic delays. … It is time to proceed. … Building the pipeline is best for American jobs and the environment."
Heritage Foundation - The Foundry
* “President Obama has stalled Keystone XL’s construction and thus prevented increased energy supply and job creation for far too long. The Northern Route Approval Act would not only set those wheels in motion but prevent other problematic hurdles for Keystone from occurring."
International Union of Operating Engineers
* “It’s time to unlock the jobs this massive private investment will create and put Operating Engineers to work."
Laborers’ International Union of North America
* “Too many hard-working Americans are out of work, and the Keystone XL Pipeline will change this dire situation by creating thousands of construction jobs, with good wages and good benefits. For these workers, the Keystone XL is not just a pipeline, it is a lifeline."
Let Freedom Ring
* “H.R. 3 is a measured, appropriate, and bipartisan response to the continued foot-dragging by the Obama Administration that has blocked the pipeline from moving forward. … Enough is enough. For jobs, for energy security, for future economic growth, we urge the passage of the Northern Route Approval Act."
National Association of Manufacturers
* “H.R. 3 would bring to a close the unnecessarily protracted regulatory process for the Keystone XL pipeline and allow the project, a clear manufacturing job creator, to move forward."
National Electrical Contractors Association
* “The benefits of constructing the Keystone XL pipeline are clear: job creation, energy security, energy independence, economic growth; such construction is in the national interest."
National Federation of Independent Business
* “Providing more affordable energy will directly help small businesses reduce the impact high energy prices have on their business. … NFIB believes construction of this 875-mile portion of the pipeline is important for reducing America’s reliance of foreign energy and helping to lower the cost of fuels small businesses use every day."
National Restaurant Association
* “The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline could boost our nation’s economy by creating thousands of jobs and increasing North American energy security"
National Taxpayers Union
* “This legislation would clear the way for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, bringing with it 20,000 much-needed jobs over time, and supporting thousands of other jobs in many sectors, according to the Canadian Energy Research Institute. The pipeline would also have the potential to deliver an additional 500,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada, our largest and most stable trading partner, injecting our economy with billions of dollars in additional activity."
Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce
* “The Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce supports construction of this pipeline as a means of reducing America’s reliance on foreign oil and to reduce the cost of fuels. In addition, the project will promote job opportunities and create a positive impact on our economy across the nation."
