WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, spoke on Senate floor today in strong support of legislation to advance construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and focused on rebutting some of the inaccurate claims made by opponents of the project.

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“This is a simple bill. It approves the long-delayed cross-border permit needed to construct the Keystone XL pipeline. It does so while protecting private property rights, allowing Nebraska to find the best possible route for the pipeline, and requiring all state and local obligations to be fully met,” Murkowski said.  

For six years, President Obama has delayed making a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Murkowski said American workers and our friends in Canada deserve a decision on this project.

“Literally everything that has happened during the Obama administration – legislation, regulations, and extracurricular activities – have happened while Keystone XL’s permit application was pending. At more than 2,300 days and counting, it is abundantly clear that the president is not going to make a decision – and that Congress needs to make it instead.”

Despite President Obama’s lack of action on this important energy project, Congress has taken action. On Thursday, Chairman Murkowski passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, with bipartisan support, legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The committee’s legislation mirrors S. 1, introduced by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., that will be considered on the Senate floor next week. The House on Friday passed its own version of the Keystone XL bill by a vote of 266-153.

Also on Friday the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld that state’s approval of the current Keystone XL pipeline route through the state. Murkowski said the court’s action, “wipes out President Obama’s last excuse” to stand in the way of a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.

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