WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, chaired by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), today announced it will hold a hearing next week to mark the five year anniversary of the Keystone XL pipeline’s application and explore the economic consequences of the project’s lengthy wait for approval. The hearing on “Keystone’s Red Tape Anniversary: Five Years of Bureaucratic Delay and Economic Benefits Denied" will be held on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, at 10:15 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
TransCanada first submitted its application to the U.S. State Department to construct the Keystone XL pipeline on Sept. 19, 2008. Despite years of environmental review and public support for the pipeline, the administration continues to delay approval of this critical energy infrastructure project, which is estimated to create thousands of American jobs and pour billions of dollars into the U.S. economy. Next week’s hearing will feature witnesses who will address, from different perspectives, the economic benefits of completing the pipeline; benefits that are being lost as a result of the administration’s delay.
“Each day that goes by without Keystone XL’s approval, the American economy and American workers lose. We have now waited five years for the Keystone XL pipeline, but the administration’s stall tactics continue despite over 15,500 pages of State Department review. The president has successfully kept this pipeline tied up with paralysis by analysis, blocking access to thousands of jobs, greater North American energy security, and billions of dollars in local tax revenues and investments. After five years and numerous delays by the State Department, we will look at the benefits and jobs denied by the delay of this landmark infrastructure project," said Terry.
To overcome the regulatory delays, the House of Representatives recently approved Terry’s legislation, H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act. The legislation was approved with bipartisan support and will create a path forward for construction of the job-creating project.as they are posted.
