Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today voted to approve legislation authorizing the cross-border permit for constriction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This legislation passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 62-36.  

Click here to view video of Sen. Murkowski speaking on final passage of S. 1.

“After 2,323 days of presidential delay and indecision, the Senate took action to pass, on a bipartisan vote, the Keystone XL pipeline energy and infrastructure project. This action is the perfect example of how the Senate should operate,” Murkowski said. “Over the past three weeks, we’ve held dozens of votes on amendments to this bill and senators have had the opportunity to have their voices heard in an open and transparent process. The Senate’s actions surrounding this bill show that there is a healthy appetite for advancing energy legislation through the Senate and I look forward to working on even broader energy legislation in the next few months.”

The Senate’s actions Thursday to approve the Keystone XL pipeline follow three weeks of debate where more than 40 amendments were considered and voted on from both Democrats and Republicans. To put that into perspective, the Senate held just 15 amendment roll call votes in 2014.

The passage of this legislation in the Senate follows the House’s passage of similar legislation to approve this legislation and is an important step forward to allowing this important energy project to proceed.  

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