Pipeline vote shows hypocrisy of GOP promises

Now that Republicans have majorities in both houses of Congress, they can start to carry out their promise to propose legislation that helps the American people including legislation that creates jobs, and starts to rebuild the infrastructure of the country, its roads, bridges, and schools.

So what was priority No. 1, and the first legislation passed unanimously by the House Republicans? It was legislation to immediately start constructing the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Forget for a moment the concerns about the environmental damage that will be caused by a leak in the pipeline carrying the dirtiest sludge from the Canadian tar sands.

Forget for a moment that the Government Accounting Office analysis was that the pipeline will create 2,000 construction jobs for one to two years, but only 50 permanent jobs thereafter, which are not the numbers quoted by the Republicans.

The Democrats proposed two amendments to the Keystone XL bill. (1) The first amendment would have required the pipeline to be constructed of pipe produced in the U.S. (the Canadian part of the pipeline is from pipe produced in India). (2) That second amendment would have required that the oil shipped through the pipeline would not be exported, but would be used only in the U.S. Both amendments were defeated by House Republicans.

If the stated goal of the XL Pipeline project is to bring jobs to the U.S. and make the U.S. less dependent on overseas oil, what possible reasons could the Republicans have for defeating these amendments? How do these actions help to fulfill the promises made to the American people during the election campaign?

Robert Frankel

Schaumburg