mr. randal thompson who is a rancher in nebraska and we welcome you to the hearing. we appreciate you being here very much. and at this time general anderson, i recognize you for your five-minute opening statement. and i think that the little box on the table there with the red light will come on when the five minutes is up. so you are recognized for five minutes. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm steve anderson, i'm owner of a small business in knoxville, tennessee. i'd like to thank the opportunity for this community and thanking my president for the courageous decision he made to deny the keystone xl pipeline. frankly, as a political conservative and a long time registered republican, i don't often agree with president obama. but on this matter, he absolutely got it right. i strongly oppose the keystone xl pipeline because it will degrade our national security. the critical element is simply this. the pipeline keeps our great thags addicted to oil. a dependence that makes us both tra steejicily and operationally vulnerable. as retired general officer with

mr. randall thompson who is a rancher in nebraska, and we welcome you to the hearing. we appreciate your being here very much. and at this time, general anderson, i will recognize you for your five minute opening statement. and i think a little box on the table there, a red light will come on when the five minutes is up, so you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm steve anderson, a concerned citizen and part owner of service disabled veteran owned business based in knoxville, tennessee, but i'd like to begin by thanking the subcommittee for this opportunity to thanking my president for the courageous decision he made to deny the keystone xl pipeline. frankly, as a political conservative and a longtime registered republican, i don't often agree with president obama, but on this matter he absolutely got it right. i strongly oppose the keystone xl pipeline because it would be great our national security. the critical element is simply this, the pipeline keeps our great nation addicted to oil, a dependence that makes both strategically and operat

mr. randall thompson who as a rancher in nebraska. we welcome you to the hearing and we appreciate you being here very much. at this time, general anderson, i will recognize you for your five-minute opening statement. the red light will come on 25 minutes is up. >> i am a concerned citizen and part owner of a small business based in knoxville, tennessee. i would like to thank the subcommittee for this opportunity and the thinking -- and thanking my president for denying the pipeline. as a long time registered republican, i don't often agree with president obama. on this matter, he absolutely got it right. it will degrade our national security. the critical element is this. the pipeline keeps our great nation addicted to oil. it makes us both strategically and operationally vulnerable. as a retired general officer, i believe that i am fully qualified to comment on both of these vulnerabilities. the pipeline will keep us dependent on outside sources to meet most of our general -- energy needs. keystone only addresses the symptom of the

mr. randall thompson who as a rancher in nebraska. we welcome you to the hearing and we appreciate you being here very much. at this time, general anderson, i will recognize you for your five-minute opening statement. the red light will come on 25 minutes is up. >> i am a concerned citizen and part owner of a small business based in knoxville, tennessee. i would like to thank the subcommittee for this opportunity and the thinking -- and thanking my president for denying the pipeline. as a long time registered republican, i don't often agree with president obama. on this matter, he absolutely got it right. it will degrade our national security. the critical element is this. the pipeline keeps our great nation addicted to oil. it makes us both strategically and operationally vulnerable. as a retired general officer, i believe that i am fully qualified to comment on both of these vulnerabilities. the pipeline will keep us dependent on outside sources to meet most of our general -- energy needs. keystone only addresses the symptom of the