ms. landrieu: thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i am so proud to join a fairly large group of colleagues, both republicans and democrats, to talk about the importance of energy for our country, domestic energy, and all facets of it and particularly the keystone pipe lierntion which will transport oil primarily, but potentially gas as well -- but oil right now from an important part of the country to the refineries that can refine it so that our people can use it here and, as appropriate, export it as appropriately around the world. canada is a very strong ally of ours. we have reduced our imports of oil because of a fallout of demand and increased production domestically, but we can do more. before i get into just my brief remarks, i see senator shaheen and senator portman on the floor, and i want to really commend he them for bringing an energy -- commend them for bringing an energy bill to the floor, a conversation energy bill to the floor that will not only make america more secure but it has the potential to create lit

ms. landrieu: i understand members can speak up to 10 minutes or so? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. ms. landrieu: i'd like to speak about an issue separated from the international concerns we all share because closer to home there was an action taken today by the house of representatives that has me extremely concerned as the senior senator from louisiana, and a leader in our delegation and an issue i've worked on literally since the first day that i came to the senate now almost 17 years ago. today the house of representatives, unfortunately, in presenting their wrda bill, which is a bill that was negotiated at great length, with great skill by senator barbara boxer, the chair of the committee of jurisdiction and the ranking member, senator vitter, who did an outstanding job for the country and for louisiana, negotiated quite skillfully a bill that was very balanced. it contained no earmarks, as has been eliminated by the majority of the congress. it did give a green light for projects that had received a positive chief's report, which

ms. landrieu landrieu: thank yo. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i thank the senator for yielding just for a question. and i really appreciate his leadership as an appropriator. senator mikulski was on the floor earlier today, the leader of our committee. and the debate about how much to spend, what we should spend our money on, does the senator understand that that could be done and it is done in the appropriations process. and if we could just get past this manufactured crisis, we could actually accomplish what many senators want to, do which is to discuss the level of spending. we can't even get there because we're stuck in a manufactured crisis by the senator from texas. is that your sense of where we are? a senator: that's absolutely my understanding. and, madam president, one of the things that my friend, the senator from louisiana, knows better than any is that the role of the appropriations committee and its subcommittees is to perform oversight. mr. coons: is to weave through the programs in the government that are effective and t

ms. landrieu of louisiana or mark pwe -- begich of alaska. pain and concerns of their constituents that we've heard in our districts. it is our hope they will listen to their constituents and he is kaeufp the clutch of -- and escape the clutch of harry reid as he's trying to do now. >>steve: your bill is now in harry reid's court. almost famously, ted cruz who is part of your party is saying he's going to filibuster your bill, even though he supports it, so harry reid can't do a procedural thing so that eventually they'll strip your provision that defunds obamacare from it. what do you think of what mr. cruz is doing? >> the one thing i'm certain of in the senate is everyone is unified around protecting america from the effects of obamacare. now it's a matter of process and procedures and what senator cruz is doing is everything he can, i imagine, to accomplish his goals of keeping the government open and protecting america from obamacare. i'm not familiar with senate procedures as they are, but i know his motives are pure and his intent is t