mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. i mean from north dakota. mr. hoeven: the president -- or the prime minister of canada, prime minister harper, said on a number of occasions how important this project is to canada. the ambassador from canada to the united states, gary dewer, somebody who was formerly the premier of manitoba, somebody i worked with when i was governor of north dakota, we worked together for about a decade on all kinds of issues. and as you said, canada is our closest friend and ally and they're a huge energy producer. and we're producing more energy. so think about it. here's a project incredibly important to canada, it's an opportunity for us to get our energy from the more energy that we're producing and energy from canada rather than the middle east -- something that the american people very much want -- and if we don't approve it, what are we saying to our closest friend and ally when they've said very clearly and repeatedly, this sproj v

mr. hoeven: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to thank the esteemed senator from wyoming for leading this colloquy. really, our effort here is to address the problem in real terms, address in real terms the problem that the legislation we have on the floor right now, unemployment insurance bill, to truly address the problem, which is getting people back to work rather than additional government payments added onto the payments that are already made. what we're trying to do is help make sure there is a job to get people back to work, and energy is an incredible opportunity to do just that. and so when we talked about this energy legislation, it's about producing more energy for our country, but it's about jobs, it's about economic growth, and it is about national security. so i want to again commend the esteemed senator from wyoming for leading the charge on legislation that would allow us to export liquefied natural gas. we currently consume in the united states on an annual basis about 26 trillion cubic feet of natural

mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank the distinguished senator from kansas for his words today and for his support of this important project. i'd also like to turn to the distinguished senator from iowa, somebody who i know truly believes that we should have an all of the above energy approach, but that means actually doing -- not only producing from our traditional sources of fossil fuels but also our renewable sources but somebody who also understands that if we are truly going to have an all of the above energy plan in this state and do it, not just talk about it, we need the infrastructure to make it happen. and i would turn to the good senator from iowa and i would say isn't this the kind of vital infrastructure that this country needs in order to truly have an all of the above energy plan that works? mr. grassley: it's a jobs bill -- the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you. it's a national security issue. it's sending messages around the world that we are not g

mr. hoeven: i rise to offer amendments to the unemployment insurance legislation that we're currently considering. while we all want to help those who are unemployed, the real solution is to get them a job, is to create a growing economy and more jobs. we need to get this economy going, and one way we can do it is by empowering our energy sector. now, that doesn't mean spending more government money. what it means is taking the shackles off billions in private investment that's ready to go into energy development in this country. in 2011, the u.s. chamber of commerce commissioned a study, and the study was -- took a look at the energy projects that are stalled in this country due to government bureaucracy and red tape. that study found that there are more than 350 energy projects, projects that will both produce renewable energy as well as projects that will produce traditional energy that are stalled at a cost of $1.1 trillion to the american economy and almost at a -- at a cost of almost two million jobs for the american people. i want to take just a minute to read from that report. in aggregat

essential in these negotiations, as well as senator isakson and senator hoeven, who've also been engaged in this matter in recent months. mr. president, last december federal unemployment insurance benefits were allowed to expire, leaving millions of job-seeking americans wondering how they would recover -- how they would cover their mortgage, pay their utilities, fill up their car with gas, put food on the table for their families. my constituents who write to me, who call my office and the people i speak with when i'm home in nevada have shared many heartbreaking stories with me. i've heard from individuals all across the spectrum, from every sector, from every industry. and i'd like to share one of those letters from michael in carson city, nevada, who wrote to me several weeks ago. after michael and his friend moved to nevada from california just a few years ago, they needed unemployment insurance benefits to help them bridge the gap between jobs. sometimes they had to visit the local food pantry to keep food on their table, but michael kept looking for a job and eventually he found some work as a substitute teacher. h