Hill: ‘No More Excuses to Deny Completion of the Keystone XL pipeline’Says project has already employed ‘more than 600 Arkansans’
Washington, DC,
January 9, 2015
Representative French Hill (AR-2) released the following statement today after the House passed the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (H.R. 3) by a bipartisan vote of 266 – 153: “I am honored to have cosponsored this bill to complete the Keystone XL pipeline and help secure America’s energy independence. This morning, the Nebraska Supreme Court approved the pathway to the pipeline, leaving the President with no more excuses to deny completion of the Keystone XL pipeline. This project already provided jobs for more than 600 Arkansans, and completion of the pipeline would provide thousands more jobs for hardworking Americans. It has been over six years since the application to build the pipeline was first submitted, and today’s bipartisan vote marks the tenth time the House has voted to approve the completion of the pipeline. It is time for the President to approve this project to provide jobs and energy for America.” This morning the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned a ruling that struck down a proposed route for the Keystone XL pipeline, clearing the way for the pipeline’s construction. In April 2014, President Obama’s Administration indefinitely extended the time for federal agencies to review the pipeline project due to the then ongoing legal challenges. In September 2013, Dave Delie, the head of Welspun Tubular LLC, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, testified to Congress that the Keystone XL project had employed more than 600 Arkansans for over a year and a half at Welspun. The U.S. State Department’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement found that the project would support more than 42,000 direct and indirect jobs nationwide. A recent People’s Pundit Daily poll stated that 72 percent of Americans support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Today’s bill authorizes the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline. The bill deems the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement issued by the Secretary of State in January 2014 sufficient to satisfy all the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and any other federal law that requires federal agency consultation or review. About Congressman French Hill J. French Hill, 58, is the 22nd Member of Congress to represent central Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives. A ninth generation Arkansan, he was elected on November 4, 2014, and will serve on the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services for the 114th Congress. Prior to his congressional service, Mr. Hill was actively engaged in the Arkansas business community for two decades as a commercial banker and investment manager and was founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corp in Little Rock. Prior to his community banking work in Arkansas, Mr. Hill served as a senior official in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. Prior to his Executive Branch service, from 1982-84, Mr. Hill served on the staff of then-U.S. Senator John Tower (R-TX) as well as on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs. Mr. Hill is a magna cum laude graduate in Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is married to the former Martha McKenzie of Dallas, Texas, and they have a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth McKenzie Hill, and a son, William Payne Hill. The Hill family resides in Little Rock. |
