we have witness retired brigadier general stephen anderson, united states army, who is originally from california. and we have 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.

. >> i would like to introduce the second panel, we have stephen anderson of the united states army. we have 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 -

. >> i would like to introduce the second panel, we have stephen anderson of the united states army. we have 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 -

general anderson, last month canadian prime minister stephen harper said that quote, when you look at the iranians threatening to block the straits of hormuz, i think that just illustrates how critical it is that supply for the united states be north america. general, do you think that this spill to legislate a permit for the keystone pipeline is guaranteed to reduce our dependence on oil transported through the straits of hormuz, if we don't have some provision which insures that the oil stay here in the united states? >> no, i do not believe that it will guarantee energy security at all for our nation. >> the american petroleum institute has sided our friendly relationship with canada, and polls find americans would prefer to import more oil from canada. under this spill, are there any guarantees that all of the friendly canadian oil that is sent to the pipeline will be sold here in the united states? >> know i'm not aware of any guarantees that will happen be back so, what i'm hearing you saying then is there's a threat because they are extracting the oil from tar that there's a gr