McClintock Slams Veto Of Keystone Pipeline

Washington, DC — Congressman Tom McClintock went on the U.S. House floor to express his disappointment in President Obama’s recent veto of the Keystone Pipeline bill.

The pipeline project up for debate would start in Alberta, Canada and connect with an existing pipeline in Nebraska, which would then allow oil to be piped to refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.

In praising the merits of the project, McClintock said, “It promises $8-billion in private investment, at no cost to taxpayers. That major infrastructure project would have produced 42,000 construction related jobs, and when finished, more than a half million barrels a day of Canadian crude oil, entering the American economy.”

President Obama indicated that the project is still going through the review process, and it is too early to issue an approval. In signing the veto, President Obama wrote that the bill was an attempt to “circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest.”  Obama said the legislation pushed by Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures, and that his office is still reviewing the potential impacts on national security, safety and the environment.

McClintock said the veto is a “war on the middle class,” in reference to the President’s recent calls for “middle class economics.” It was the President’s third veto during his Presidency.