U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) released the following statement after passage of H.R. 5682, a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, by the U.S. House of Representatives today:
"The House has worked in a bipartisan manner to allow construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the President should sign this bill when it lands on his desk. The pipeline means thousands of new jobs at a time when our country’s labor participation rate is at a historic low and cheaper energy prices for American families struggling in this tepid economic recovery.”
In September of 2008—more than six years ago—Canadian pipeline company TransCanada filed an application with the United States Department of State to construct the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border. This legislation, authored by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), authorizes the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline. The bill deems the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement issued by the Secretary of State in January of 2014 on the project sufficient to satisfy all the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
