Senate Remains Focused on Bipartisan Jobs Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate Floor beginning an open floor debate on Keystone:
“This morning, the Senate will continue to debate the motion to proceed to the Keystone XL bill, with the time equally divided until 12:30 pm.
“Some of our colleagues on the other side continue to filibuster the motion to proceed to this bill. All Senators should know that we will get on this bill today and begin the amendment process – either this afternoon by consent, or shortly after midnight without consent.
“It is surprising to me that some Democrat Senators are choosing to exercise their procedural rights in order to block their own colleagues from offering amendments to this bill.
“Even though, at this point, the only Senators who have filed amendments at the desk are Republican Senators.
“We will conduct a fair and open amendment process but not an open-ended one.
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“Democrats and Republicans cooperated last night to bring the Keystone Pipeline another step closer to construction.
“Thanks to that bipartisan cloture vote, the Senate can finally begin an open floor debate on this committee-vetted-and-approved legislation.
“It’s a debate many of us have been looking forward to. And not just because of the substance of what we’re considering.
“We’ve been waiting a long time to see a debate where individual senators matter again. A debate where senators can offer amendments. A debate where senators can actually make the voices of their constituents heard.
“That’s just the kind of serious legislating many of us have been waiting for. The fact that we’re finally seeing it today — it’s a direct consequence of our constituents’ calls for a functioning Congress.
“It’s the latest example of the new Republican majority putting Congress back to work.
“Getting Congress back to work means working to pass legislation that’s good for jobs and the middle class. That’s why we’re focused on getting measures like this bipartisan infrastructure bill over to the president’s desk. He may not sign everything we pass, but we’re getting Congress out of the business of protecting the president from good ideas; that’s our commitment.
“And when it comes to the bipartisan Keystone bill, it’s hard to see a serious reason why President Obama would veto these jobs anyway. The Nebraska Supreme Court just cleared away the last pretense many of us could imagine.
“So we hope President Obama will listen to the American people in the end. We hope he’ll sign it.
“But no matter what, we won’t be dissuaded from our path of working for the middle class. The new Republican Congress isn’t going to stop working for more jobs and more opportunity.
“So let’s get this debate started. Let’s see what members of both parties can accomplish together. And let’s continue trying to pass as many good ideas as we can — starting with this bipartisan jobs and infrastructure bill.”
Related Issues: Keystone XL Pipeline, Senate Democrats, Restoring the Senate, Jobs, Energy, Infrastructure
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