Sen John Barrasso Delivers Weekly GOP Address On Keystone XL Pipeline
In the Weekly Republican Address, Sen. John Barrasso
of Wyoming, recently elected to be Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman
discusses the importance of the Keystone XL pipeline and urges President Obama
to stop stalling on the project.
Hi. I'm John Barrasso, United States Senator for Wyoming.
As we begin the holiday season, we're reminded of those who are far from home
serving our country in the military. We've welcomed many back home, but there
are still men and women in dangerous places protecting our freedoms and keeping
us safe.
This Thanksgiving, I had the special opportunity to visit
Wyoming National Guard troops deployed overseas. We talked about their mission
and their hopes for the future.
What these soldiers were most concerned
about was whether they would be able to find a good job when they return.
Here at home, Republicans are working on legislation that will make it
easier and cheaper for the private sector to create jobs for all Americans.
For example, the creation of the Keystone Pipeline, a shovel-ready American
energy project. It will create as many as 20,000 construction jobs and 100,000
indirect jobs and it will strengthen our nation's energy security.
Keystone would allow us to transport 700,000 barrels of oil a day from our
northern neighbor Canada to refineries in the United States. Having a steady
source of energy from our friend and ally here would make us less dependent on
energy from the volatile Middle East and that is good for America.
Everyone from members of the United States Chamber of Commerce to members of
Labor Unions support this project.
But the President has threatened to
veto this bill because the pipeline is opposed by a number of extreme
environmental groups.
These are the same groups who in the past have
supported the President and he needs their support for his reelection.
It
appears that President Obama is opposing these new American jobs in order to try
to save his own job. It's time for the President to stop playing politics.
After repeatedly saying, 'We Can't Wait' for American job creation, the
President now wants Americans to wait on the jobs from the pipeline until after
next year's election.
Canada has made it clear, if we don't build this
pipeline, the United States will lose these jobs and Canada will sell the oil to
China. And we will be forced to get more of our energy from the Middle East.
If the President successfully blocks these new jobs, it will only add to his
long list of bad economic decisions for our country.
While the President
may have inherited a bad economy, he has made it worse.
Earlier this
week, in a '60 Minutes' interview, the President said that he has not
overpromised. His record shows otherwise.
His Administration projected
that his $800 billion failed stimulus bill would keep unemployment below 8
percent. Almost three years later, under the Obama economy, the unemployment
rate is 8.6 percent and it has been over 8 percent for a record 34 straight
months.
He promised that he would cut spending. But in less than three
years as President, America's national debt has increased so much that we have
to borrow almost $3 million every minute -- a lot of it from China.
He
promised that his health care law would lower premiums for families, but since
his inauguration, premiums have increased more than $2,200.
He promised
to create a new era of bipartisanship in Washington, and now he wants to veto a
bill that both Democrats and Republicans enthusiastically support.
Americans deserve better. Americans want real solutions and good jobs.
The Keystone pipeline is a real solution that President Obama should embrace
immediately to create new jobs across America.
The House of
Representatives has now passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation
bill. This bill gives the President everything he has claimed to be for.
It extends payroll tax relief for hard working Americans.
It helps those
who are still looking for work.
And it is paid for by actually cutting
government spending.
Most Americans want their government to be smaller,
not larger; they want their taxes to be lower, not higher.
We are a
strong and resilient nation. We will weather this storm.
To get Americans
back to work, small business owners need a level of predictability that they
just don't have with this President and this Administration.
We need more
from the White House than threats to veto a bill that would create 20,000 jobs
for Americans.
Thanks for listening.