Senator Tim Scott Statement on Passage of Keystone XL Pipeline

Statement

Following the Senate's passage of the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, a bipartisan energy and infrastructure bill, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) released the following statement:

"Today, after six years of partisan delays, the new Republican majority passed the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, a bipartisan energy and infrastructure bill. Now the President will have to decide whether to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline, creating tens of thousands of jobs and generating billions of dollars for America's economy, or continue to restrain our nation's energy future.

The hardworking employees of MTU America in Graniteville and Michelin in the Upstate are already contributing to the Keystone project, and would certainly benefit even more from the pipeline's construction. This shows how important a jobs issue the pipeline is -- not just in the states where it is being constructed, but across our entire nation.

When this important legislation reaches his desk, I hope the President will pause and look at Congress' action and the amendment process that allowed both Democrat and Republican to have their voices heard. I believe that if he does that, he would quickly sign it.

While we all agree our energy policy should promote sustainable, accessible and affordable sources of energy, policymakers too often forget the affordable piece. The fact of the matter is if your income is under $30,000, 25 percent of your income goes towards energy consumption. This is an incredible burden to place on low-income families struggling to make ends meet.

Keystone provides opportunity not only to address the broader topic of energy, but to specifically address issues faced by millions and millions of Americans -- unemployment and energy poverty."

Senator Scott released a white paper on energy poverty last year with now-Chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Murkowski.

Source