House sends Obama pipeline bill he's vowed to veto

Paul Singer | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill Wednesday that would authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, setting the stage for President Obama's first veto in the new GOP-controlled Congress.

The bill essentially would cut off a permit review process the administration has repeatedly delayed. The measure passed the House on a 270-152 vote.

Republicans argued that the Keystone bill is an example of the kind of bipartisanship Obama has said he seeks. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday the Keystone bill is one of three bipartisan bills the House is considering this week. "You're going to see Republicans and Democrats vote for them," McCarthy said. "But you know what else they have in common? Three veto threats by this president.

"I don't think the president should veto energy security throughout North America," he said.

Democrats chided Republicans for pushing legislation they know Obama will not sign. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said it is "highly improbable at best" that the bill will ever become law. He said the vote is an indication that House Republicans "would rather pass purely symbolic measures than work with the president."



Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Power subcommittee, said, "This is not a jobs bill." Rush argued that the pipeline would create mostly short-term construction jobs and only about 35 long-term slots. "A franchise burger joint on the corner" would create more permanent jobs than the Keystone pipeline, he said.

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said, "All infrastructure jobs are temporary," and the same argument could be made about road construction.

The bill contains the same language approved by the Senate Jan. 29. The bill got 62 votes in the Senate, including several Democrats, but the total was five short of the threshold needed to override a presidential veto. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday, "Powerful special interests may be demanding that the president veto Keystone jobs, but we hope he won't. If the president does ultimately bow to these special-interest demands, that's a discussion we can have then. But either way, Americans should know this: The new Congress won't stop pursuing good ideas."

Republicans say the north-south pipeline for Canadian oil will create thousands of U.S. jobs. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., circulated a memo noting that a State Department study in 2014 indicated the pipeline would create 42,000 U.S. jobs without increasing overall emissions of greenhouse gasses.

The Environmental Protection Agency warned the State Department last week that the pipeline could increase greenhouse gases by encouraging development of Canadian tar sands projects. Production of oil from those projects that would feed the pipeline requires a lot of energy, leading the EPA to argue that this oil produces more greenhouse gases than other oil.

The bill passed by the House includes several provisions added by the Senate, including one expressing the "sense of the Senate climate change is real and not a hoax."