http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=617128Newsmax
Sen. Hoeven on Expected Keystone Veto: Who's Obama Working For?
Wednesday, January 7, 2015 06:42 PM
Sen. John Hoeven believes President Barack Obama's ongoing threat to veto the Keystone XL pipeline bill — which to be approved in the Republican-controlled Congress next week — is a slap at Americans who desperately want it.
"Who's he working for? Who does the president work for? Seventy percent of the American public supports this project. Seventy percent consistently in the polls want this project approved," Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"Congress is working on a bipartisan basis to pass this legislation. If he's not going to work with us on something like Keystone, when the public overwhelmingly supports it, who's he working for? Is he working for the American people or is he working for special interest groups?
"It doesn't come as a surprise that he would threaten to veto, but it is disappointing and of course we're continuing our effort to work on a bipartisan basis to get it passed and to get it done on the merits."
The pipeline would ship crude oil from Canada to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast, but it's been held up for years over environmental concerns and political squabbling.
Republicans say the project would be a tremendous boost to the economy with the new jobs and needed services it would create.
"First, because it's important energy legislation, it's infrastructure we need as part of building a comprehensive energy plan for our country," he said.
"But the other reason is because we're trying to restore what's called regular order in the Senate, which means we're going to have an open amendment process.
"Republicans and Democrats alike can bring forward their amendments … they'll get to debate them, they'll get a chance to vote on them. If they can get 60 votes, then the amendment's passed and included. That's how the Senate's historically worked, so we're trying to actually create more bipartisanship."
