Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my soon-to-
be-friend from New Jersey for bringing up the oil spill issue.

In my home State of Louisiana, we actually have hundreds of thousands
of barrels of oil that are unaccounted for as a result of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill. We have tens of miles of shoreline that remain oiled
as a result of an oil spill that happened over 4 years ago, and this
administration is doing absolutely nothing to hold the responsible
parties accountable for removing that oil.

To hide behind some of these issues, such as the threat of oil
spills, is absolutely absurd when at the same time they are not doing
anything to protect the environment and hold responsible parties
accountable.

Secondly, there is nothing that this pipeline project is going to do
to further threaten the environment. In fact, it is going to make it
worse if we don't build it because the oil will be transported by
barge, by rail, and other less safe means of transportation.

We saw recently where the EPA released a letter contrary to what the
State Department's EIS found, stating that this was going to cause a
greater impact to climate change. Whatever the reality is, this
pipeline does nothing to address consumption of oil. It does nothing to
increase consumption. It is an absurd approach.

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Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. And lastly, Madam Speaker, I will just say
that this President for years has embraced an all-of-the-above energy
strategy, all-of-the-above. This pipeline fits that criteria--it is all
of the above. Perhaps I misunderstood and they were talking
geographically above. It is coming from Canada. It fits that one too.

Madam Speaker, this project needs to move forward. It has been
delayed far too long. All it is going to do by not building this project is cause
us to rely upon Venezuela and other non-allies for energy to power this
Nation's economy.

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