Senator Lankford Joins Letter to President Trump on Keystone XL Pipeline

WASHINGTON, DC –Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today joined 43 Members of Congress to send a letter to President Trump to urge any immediate action necessary to move construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline forward after a federal judge issued a decision that blocked construction of the pipeline in November.

“The Keystone XL pipeline will bring nearly 6600 high paying jobs in the near-term and nearly $4 billion in new capital investment next year alone,” the letter states. “[O]ne of your first actions as President was to expedite the approval and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across six western and rural states. While we sincerely appreciate your strong leadership on this issue, we write now to encourage that leadership and attention to continue so that this important infrastructure project can become a reality.”

To read the full letter, CLICK HERE.

December 14, 2018

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20502

Dear Mr. President,

We thank you for your prioritization of job creation and energy dominance in America. Towards that end, one of your first actions as President was to expedite the approval and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across six western and rural states. While we sincerely appreciate your strong leadership on this issue, we write now to encourage that leadership and attention to continue so that this important infrastructure project can become a reality.

A recent harmful federal court decision in Montana has brought real and immediate consequences, halting critical pre-construction activities and invalidating the analysis that underlies the approval issued by your Administration. The ruling also called for more lengthy environmental review. This comes despite extensive review by the previous Administration saying the pipeline will have minimal environmental impact and generate significant economic benefits. As such, we urge you to take any appropriate action necessary to move construction forward.

The Keystone XL pipeline will bring nearly 66,000 high paying jobs in the near-term and nearly $4 billion in new capital investment next year alone. In fact, pre-construction activities enjoined by the recent federal court decision are leaving nearly 700 jobs for hardworking Americans in the balance. While we believe that it is important to conduct appropriate environmental reviews, we also believe that further review will not contribute to the existing body of science that already supports pipeline construction and instead will have a significant impact on our rural communities.

We respectfully urge you to take every practical step to get this project over the finish line and workers back on the construction sites. We thank you for your attention to this matter and your passion for rural America.

 Sincerely,

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