Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo today joined a bipartisan majority of their Senate colleagues to support the long-delayed Keystone XL Pipeline project.
“The Keystone Pipeline will create thousands of jobs and invest billions of dollars in the economy,” said Risch. “I have fought for years to get this project approved and am glad that the Senate has finally been able to take action, ending this inexcusable delay of private investment in our economy. This pipeline is the kind of project that will create the jobs America really needs.”
“I am encouraged by the Senate’s strong bipartisan work at the start of the 114th Congress,” said Crapo. “This privately funded project has been delayed for far too long by the dysfunction in Washington. The Keystone XL Pipeline is an important energy infrastructure project that will help bolster U.S. energy security by lessening dependence on volatile foreign oil sources like those in the Middle East while creating jobs and providing increased revenue to state and local governments—all at no cost to the taxpayer."
This legislation authorizes TransCanada to construct and operate the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast, transporting an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. refineries, which includes 100,000 barrels a day from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana.
The legislation passed the Senate with a vote of 62-36.
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