WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (PA-05) today issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5682, legislation to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. H.R. 5682 passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 252-161.
“Today, the House passed legislation to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, a measure that has broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, will create thousands of American jobs and take us another step toward energy self-sufficiency,” he stated.
“Given the obvious merits of moving forward with this vital energy infrastructure project, it is my hope that the Senate will put aside partisan politics and finally bring this important jobs bill to a vote.”
On March 23, 2013, the U.S. Senate approved the Keystone XL Pipeline as part of the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Resolution by a bipartisan vote of 62-37, which included the backing of Senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey.
Over the past few years, the House has voted numerous times to approve the pipeline, most recently when it passed H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act, with broad bipartisan support.
Since the passage of H.R. 3, the U.S. State Department completed its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Jan. 31, 2014, which found that the pipeline would have limited adverse environmental impacts and would support more than 42,000 direct and indirect jobs nationwide.
Despite strong support in Congress from both Republican and Democrats, legislation to advance the Keystone XL pipeline has never received a final vote in the Senate.
