mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank the distinguished senator from utah for his leadership both today on this floor but for many years. and pick up on a point that he emphasized and did so very eloquently. and he's in a unique position to comment on it and that's the importance of having this open amendment process having regular order on the senate floor, allowing senators to -- republican and democrat alike to come forward bring their ideas forward, bring their amendments forward, have this discussion and do it in an open way. and, you know, the whole effort here is to produce good energy legislation that will help this country move forward but also to foster bipartisanship to foster bipartisanship on this bill and other legislation so that we can get the work done that this body needs to get done on behalf of the american people. that's what this is all about. this is about getting the work done for the american people on the importan

mr. hoeven: mr. president, i just want to express my appreciation to the bill managers for their hard work today and for the members for the work that was done today in a bipartisan way on this legislation. i know that both of the bill managers have spent an awful lot of time putting together these amendments and i think they've really bent over backwards to make sure that members on both sides of the aisle had an opportunity to file their amendment, to make those amendments pending and to get a vote on the amendment. so i just want to express my appreciation to both of them for all the work that they have done and for the process today voting on amendments. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i also note the absence of a quorum. withhold. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: yesterday the congressional budget office c.b.o. released the budget, the economic outlook sh

mr. hoeven: mr. president my inquiry would be how much time does the senator from massachusetts need? i would be willing to defer my time until later as long as i know that i would have approximately ten minutes before the hard break at 12:30. ms. cantwell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: i would think that if we -- if it's okay to allow the senator from massachusetts to proceed and know that if our hard stop is 12:30 that at least -- so i would make this request, that both senators be allowed to speak for ten minutes starting with senator markey followed by senator hoeven, and if they want to extend their remarks that they could make a unanimous request to do so. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. markey: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: may i ask a parliamentary inquiry and it would be this. would it be possible for me to speak for five minutes and reserve the balance of

mr. hoeven: mr. president i'd like to thank the senator from alaska for her leadership on the energy committee but also for her willingness to work in an open way on these important issues. and i think that across this body on both sides of the aisle there should be a deep appreciation for her willingness to bring these bills forward so that we can debate them and we can offer amendments and we can build the kind of energy future for this country that our people so very much want to have. and so, you know, the senator from alaska is somebody who really lives and breathes this topic. when we talk energy, somebody that's truly committed to it but truly committed to an open dialogue on all types of energy and giving everybody an opportunity to weigh in here and build the best energy plan for our country that we possibly can. and so i want to extend my thanks to her and also my appreciation and likewise, say that i really look forward to working with her on this issue but on so many important energy issu

mr. hoeven: mr. president i'd like to thank the senator from alaska for her leadership on the energy committee but also for her willingness to work in an open way on these important issues. and i think that across this body on both sides of the aisle there should be a deep appreciation for her willingness to bring these bills forward so that we can debate them and we can offer amendments and we can build the kind of energy future for this country that our people so very much want to have. and so, you know, the senator from alaska is somebody who really lives and breathes this topic. when we talk energy, somebody that's truly committed to it but truly committed to an open dialogue on all types of energy and giving everybody an opportunity to weigh in here and build the best energy plan for our country that we possibly can. and so i want to extend my thanks to her and also my appreciation and likewise, say that i really look forward to working with her on this issue but on so many important energy issu

mr. hoeven: mr. president thank you. i'd like to respond regarding the legislation that's currently on the floor in several regards. i'd like to discuss some of the environmental arguments that have been brought up. i'd like to also reference the issue of export and also even touch on some of the president's comments last night relative to this project and comments that others have made in regard to the keystone x.l. pipeline approval bill being senate bill number 1 being the first bill that we've brought up. one of the things that you'll hear is that this is a pipeline, it's private investment, it's $8 billion. but we should be doing something else. the reality is this is an $8 billion shovel-ready project good to go, vital energy structure for this country so it's important in its own right. compared to the highway bill, which is all funded by federal tax dollars where this is a private investment that's going to generate revenues in addition to providing vital infrastructure and creating jobs, that is not a fair compa

mr. hoeven: mr. president i appreciate the opportunity to respond to my esteemed colleague from the state of illinois, and of course the answer to the question is that in fact it is a regulated substance and it's primarily regulated at the state and local level. so in the state of illinois, for example, pet coke would be regulated by the state of illinois. and what i understand the senator from illinois to be saying is that he is dissatisfied with the way that the state of illinois has chosen to regulate pet coke. but in fact the e.p.a. has found that pet coke is a low-hazard -- or has low hazard potential and according to the congressional research service most toxicity analysis of pet coke, as referenced by e.p.a., finds it has low health hazard in humans, has no carcinogenic or developmental effects. in fact, it as by-product of not just oil from the oil sand but also some of the oils from california venezuela and other places. so it is a by-product that in fact is recycled. it's used in products

mr. hoeven: mr. president i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: so ordered. mr. hoeven: mr. president i rise to again talk about the keystone x.l. pipeline approval bill and we'll be voting on the motion to proceed -- excuse me. cloture on the motion to proceed here in just about 15 minutes or so. i believe we have a bipartisan majority. we have 60 sponsors of the legislation. i believe we'll have some others join us in voting to proceed on the bill. that's important not just because this is bipartisan legislation, important energy legislation for our country but as i have said before, this is an opportunity for all the members of this body republican and democrat, to come forward with their amendments in an open amendment process and really have an energy debate. let's talk about the energy future of this country and let's bring forward amendments to this legislation that can be good amendments and help us build the right kind of energy plan for our country. and what i would

mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank the distinguished senator from utah for his leadership both today on this floor but for many years. and pick up on a point that he emphasized and did so very eloquently. and he's in a unique position to comment on it and that's the importance of having this open amendment process having regular order on the senate floor, allowing senators to -- republican and democrat alike to come forward bring their ideas forward, bring their amendments forward, have this discussion and do it in an open way. and, you know, the whole effort here is to produce good energy legislation that will help this country move forward but also to foster bipartisanship to foster bipartisanship on this bill and other legislation so that we can get the work done that this body needs to get done on behalf of the american people. that's what this is all about. this is about getting the work done for the american people on the importan

mr. hoeven: with that -- with that mr. president, i would yield the floor and also note the absence of a quorum. i yield the floor at this point. the presiding officer: thank you. under the previous order the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. >> the senate taking a break now for weekly party lunches. they will be back at 2:15 eastern time and the second expect vote on a number of amendments to the keystone xl pipeline bill including one from minnesota democrat al franken which requires not only us-made manufactured goods be used to build a pipeline. the senate is not expected to finish the bill today. lawmakers will gavel out later in reconvene at 8:30 eastern to president obama's state of the union address. our preview of his speech begins at 8:00 eastern with a speech scheduled start at nine. you much vote on our companion network c-span. joined us later the second 40 that on the foreign policy priorities of the european union from the brookings institution. the eu high representative for foreign affairs will deliv

mr. hoeven: along with senator joe manchin and actually a total of 6 spo i hav >> now with sen. senator joe mansion and a total of 60 sponsors i filed s1 a keystone approval bill. legislation we have seen before in this body. what it does, it it authorizes congress to approve the project. it runs from canada to refineries in texas along the gulf coast. this project some oil from canada, some domestic oil from the balkan region in montana and north dakota which is part of building the infrastructure so that we can build a comprehensive energy plan for our country. we are producing more and more oil and gas. in texas natural gas new york, pennsylvania, ohio and what we are working toward is energy security. what does that mean? we produce more energy than we consume. obviously it is a global market. but the.is working together with our closest friend and ally, canada we produce more energy than we consume. it is important because it is about creating jobs economic growth, a national security issue. why do we continue to rely on oil from the middle east, sending dollars to the midd

mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank the senator from west virginia. and i want to thank him not only for his support on this project but for his willingness to work hard to work together to find bipartisan solutions, whether it's this legislation or other legislation. that is what is incumbent upon us to do. and it is not easy but we've got to be willing to engage in the hard work it takes to get this legislation to get these solutions in place for the american people. and so i again want to thank you for your leadership and i look forward to continuing to work with you and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come to good solutions. that's what this effort is all about. and i want to turn to the senator from the state of montana. the pipeline project goes right through his state. here's somebody who has dealt with the issue on the house side of congress and who's got the project in his home state. so he's talking on behalf of people where the pipeline is right there. and i'd like to turn to him and say what do the people in montana say? you k

mr. hoeven: thank you mr. president. i'm very pleased to join my colleague this morning and the chairman of our energy committee, the senator from alaska is doing a fantastic job leading our energy committee. and i so appreciate her leadership on the committee her knowledge of energy and her words this morning very well spoken and i think really goes to the heart of what we're trying to do with this legislation, not only pass important energy legislation for the country but have this open process, open dialogue, have a real energy debate. and not just a debate but actually get the people in our community to vote. republican and democrat alike we're saying bring your amendments let's have a serious discussion about energy and about building the energy future of this country. offer your amendments, make your case and then let's vote. if you can get 60 people to support your amendment, if you can get 60 votes that gets attached to the legislation. that's the way it's supposed to work around here. we're encouraging our colle

mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank both the bill manager on our side of the aisle the good senator from alaska, as well as the bill manager on the democrat side, the senator from the state of washington for working together and trying to, you know, get a list of all the amendments and do everything possible to get them scheduled for a vote. and i would just like to ask members on both sides of the aisle to work with the bill managers to try to, you know, get a list of amendments and get them scheduled for a vote. as the senator from alaska said, we've already had 19 amendments. we know that there's more amendments that -- that the senators would like to have a vote on. we appreciate that. we understand that. but i think there's a real effort here to try to get those votes scheduled. so again my -- my message is one, thank you to the bill managersing for their hardbillmanagers for their hard work and, two to work ask members to work with the bill managers where they would like to have a vote an

mr. hoeven: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank the senator from alaska and the senator from washington as bill managers, i think they've done an can exceptional job. i know that's not just my opinion but it's an opinion shared on both sides of the aisle. and it's not just that they were able to do the work on this bill but actually to facilitate the debate that really enabled us to move through an open amendment process and a return to regular order. and not easy to do. because, obviously, you know, we had people that had ideas on a whole variety of issues and clearly, we have strong support for the legislation but there are those who oppose the legislation as well. so to find a way to keep that amendment process going and end up with more than 40 amendments and, of course get to a final vote and pass the legislation is a real testament to both of the bill managers and so i really want to thank them for it and i want to thank all the members of this body who supported the legislation. bipartisan vote, you

mr. hoeven: mr. president i rise to discuss the legislation before this body, the keystone x.l. pipeline act. i want to address thee issues that have been brought up as we continue this discussion. again, i want to start out by thanking the senator from alaska and the senator from washington, who are leading this effort to bring forward amendments from both sides of the aisle. i think they're doing great work. i know they're heavily engaged in trying to make sure people's amendments are brought forward and that we have a vote. and so i want to thank them for that and again encourage everyone to work with both these bill managers who i believe all of us are doing an excellent job. and, let's get going let's get voting on these amendments. let's make them pending and have that vote. this is again after all an effort not only to advance this legislation but also to reestablish regular order in this body and move to an open amendment process, which is so important, again not just in terms of people being heard on this legislation having votes on their amendments, but for other legis

[applause] mr on newsmakers, republican senator john hoeven of north dakota is our guest. he is the sponsor of a bill been worked on in the senate that would authorize construction of the keystone xl pipeline. he talks about the bill and president obama's threat to veto the legislation. >> the president has been increasingly critical of the pipeline in the safed -- in the last several months. he has to saying the jobs are temporary and not as good as perhaps some other broader infrastructure jobs. he has been saying it won't lower gasoline prices. we can debate the fact all day. what i want to hear from you is what do you think of these negative comments? what can congress do at that point? can he try to approve it? >> we addressed every one of those criticisms and we used his own administration's information, his own environmental impact statements to rebut the reasons or excuses he has given for not improving the project. if he is opposed to it and has some rational to turn it down why are we still sitting here six years later and he hasn't done it? and then when you hav

mr. hoeven: thank you mr. president. i'm very pleased to join my colleague this morning and the chairman of our energy committee, the senator from alaska is doing a fantastic job leading our energy committee. and i so appreciate her leadership on the committee her knowledge of energy and her words this morning very well spoken and i think really goes to the heart of what we're trying to do with this legislation, not only pass important energy legislation for the country but have this open process, open dialogue, have a real energy debate. and not just a debate but actually get the people in our community to vote. republican and democrat alike we're saying bring your amendments let's have a serious discussion about energy and about building the energy future of this country. offer your amendments, make your case and then let's vote. if you can get 60 people to support your amendment, if you can get 60 votes that gets attached to the legislation. that's the way it's supposed to work around here. we're encouraging our colle

mr. president we'd hoped to begin work on the bipartisan hoeven keystone jobs and infrastructure bill today. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: we'd hoped to continue offering amendments tomorrow. unfortunately, some of our colleagues across the aisle objected to proceeding to this bipartisan legislation. so that forces a few changes to the schedule. first, it means we'll have to file cloture on the motion to proceed, which i just did. and then, as a result, it means that under the rules of the senate we won't be able to begin offering amendments until next week. you know, frankly, it is unfortunate. many senators on both sides had hoped to use tomorrow to work on the bill and i did as well. but we'll work through this because we're determined to get bipartisan jobs legislation on the president's desk as soon as we can. mr. president, i yield the floor. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from o

mr. obama's biggest reason to delay a decision just disappeared, but the president is sticking to his veto threat. we brought in two key senators. from north dakota, republican john hoeven, and from delaware. democrat chris coons. last month the president said there was one big issue delays a decision on keystone. here it is. >> you've been a nebraska judge that's still determining whether or not the new path for this pipeline is appropriate. once that is resolved, then the state department will have all the information it needs to make its decision. >> now, on friday the nebraska supreme court threw out that challenge to the pop line, but senator coons the white house still says that the president is going to veto a bill once it gets through congress as expected, and he'll send it back to the state department for more months of review. this process has been going on for six years sir. >> the process has taken a while. it was put on hold while nebraska citizens were asserting their rights in a nebraska court, but two things happened. first the nebraska court came to a final decision but second the house took up and passed the keystone pipeline bill that would take consi

mr. president, thanks to the bill manager efforts that i just referred to, along with years-long work undertaken by members on both sides senator hoeven in particular, we expect this bipartisan bill to finally pass the senate. we expect the filibuster of good american jobs to soon come to an end. that's good news for the senate. it's even better news for the people we represent. it would show their congress is capable of defying the powerful special interests who oppose keystone so we can get things done for the middle class. constructing this infrastructure project would pump literally billions of dollars into our economy. it would support thousands of jobs and it would do all with minimal environmental impact. that's according to what we've heard from the president's own state department. so it just makes sense to get this bipartisan legislation to the president for his signature. we hope he will sign the keystone jobs bill into law. the president should expect more good ideas to head his way. that's the goal of this new congress. we want to get washington functioning again and we want to pass commonsense ideas. the keystone debate

mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i'd like to resume my time for the colloquy. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. hoeven: i just want to take a minute to respond to couple of the points that my colleague on the energy committee just brought up in regard to both the process and also in regard to the timeline for approval of this project and then i want to turn too to my cosponsor the senator from west virginia and get some of his input on the project and now we're getting into the debate we've wanted from day one. i had the good fortune to serve as governor of the great state of north dakota and the good senator here on the floor with me from west virginia at the same time was governor of his state of west virginia. we worked together on many different issues, i'm a republican he's a democrat, and we found common ground on important issues as governors and we found common ground here and that's what this is all about. that's what we want to have happen among our colleagues so that we can get t

mr. hoeven. the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. who yields time? ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president we have an amendment before us, a side-by-side to the amendment that has been offered by the senator from hawaii. and what we do within this side-by-side is effectively lay out findings contained within the administration's e.i.s. that outlines the environmental impact of a keystone x.l. pipeline recognizing that the impact to the environment will be less if this line is actually constructive. we further go into a sense of the senate that acknowledges again, after the vote that we just had that climate is real and that there is an impact. with that, i would recommend that folks look at the language that has been introduced. i will be supporting the hoeven amendment. mrs. boxer: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president we're about to vote on something that i think will be recorded as a breakthrough moment in the climate

mrs. boxer: parliamentary inquiry. i would like to speak on the hoeven amendment and take the minute that our side has. we're on the lee amendment? all right. ms. cantwell: i ask for -- ms. murkowski: i ask for the yeas and nays, mr. president. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: mr. president i'd like to again address the legislation that we're working on right now. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. hoeven: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: thank you mr. president. mr. president, again i return to the floor today to discuss the legislation under consideration. i want to begin by, as i did yesterday, again thanking both the senator from alaska on our side of the aisle and the senator from washington on the other side of the aisle, who are the bill managers, the legislation managers in this case of the keystone x.l. pipeline approval legislation that i put forward with senator manchin. i would like to begin by thanking both of the managers for their diligence and for their bipartisanship and for working together to advance this legislation, but also to make sure that all the members of this body are getting a chance to bring their amendments forward, debate those amendments and ha