“It is well past time,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the Republican chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “We would like to see this pipeline moving but we’ve to get it through this body.”
Keystone bill clears first Senate hurdle
The bipartisan bill would approve construction of the long-stalled pipeline that would carry oil from Canada through the center of the United States to the Gulf Coast.
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Republicans plan to push a wide array of their own amendments, including one from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would approve the export of crude oil and natural gas, something opposed by many Democrats.
No votes on amendments are planned until next week. Senators are out Wednesday and Thursday for their respective party retreats and the Senate is not in session Monday because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
