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Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, despite all the controversy surrounding this pipeline, I think this is a good opportunity for us to examine some of the claims that the applicant for the Keystone XL pipeline has made.
Now let me say at the onset, I support building this pipeline in a way that protects the environment and helps create American jobs. I don't support the rushed 30-day manner that this bill would have us do, but I do support the pipeline.
When I started reading about the 800,000 tons of steel to be used in the Keystone XL pipeline, like everyone else, I was pretty excited about the prospects for our U.S. manufacturers, and especially coming from Pittsburgh, our steel manufacturers. So I have to tell you, I was a little confused when I talked to my friends in the U.S. steel industry and they told me they weren't making any of the steel for this project. Now, I knew this had to be a mistake because TransCanada had told us that there would be 7,000 direct manufacturing jobs created by this project, so surely someone somewhere in the United States has to know what these jobs are.
I've also heard folks talking about the wonderful jobs being created at steel mills in southwestern Pennsylvania. The trouble is I can't find a steel mill in southwestern Pennsylvania that's making steel for the Keystone XL pipeline. In fact, I'm having trouble finding a single U.S. steelmaker that has any orders for any of this pipe.
Now, I've reached out to the permit applicant, TransCanada, and several other sources for some clarifying information regarding their claim that 75 percent of the steel used in the Keystone XL pipeline will be sourced from North America. Unfortunately, the best I seem to get is that there's a single pipe manufacturer in Little Rock, Arkansas, that is providing much of the steel pipe for the pipeline. The trouble is that manufacturer doesn't actually use U.S. or North American steel to make the pipe. In fact, the Little Rock plant very clearly told me that they make their pipe out of foreign steel imports. They also told me they have imported and are housing on their site 140 miles of ready-made pipe that they got from India to be used in the Keystone pipeline.
So all my amendment does is ask for some truth in advertising. TransCanada has told us that they make every effort to source as much steel from U.S. mills as they can. I'm simply asking the applicant to certify their claims.
Along with other members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I have sent a letter to TransCanada asking for this information, but I have yet to receive a response. I think Members deserve this information. If there is, in fact, a U.S. steelmaker out there that is making all or some of the steel for the Keystone XL pipeline, I think we have a right to know about it.
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