Health & Fitness
Shea-Porter and Kuster: Wasting time with a failed amendment to Keystone XL Pipeline legislation
Granite Staters deserve better than political stunts to appease special interest groups.
(Manchester - May 22, 2013) Today, the House of Representatives will consider HR3, the Northern Route Approval Act. HR 3 would approve the Keystone XL Pipeline by deeming the State Department's first environmental review as satisfying all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Yesterday, Rep. Shea-Porter introduced an unrelated amendment to HR 3 to clarify that nothing in HR 3 approves or authorizes any proposed pipeline activity between Portland, Maine and Montreal, Canada. Congresswoman Anne Kuster joined Shea-Porter by cosponsoring her amendment. Shea-Porter's amendment along with other amendments to HR 3 was referred to the House Rules Committee to ensure they fulfilled House protocol.
This morning, the House released the list of amendments to HR 3, but Shea-Porter's was not included. The overarching legislation deals with the Keystone XL Pipeline, not an already existent pipeline in New England and Canada. Because Shea-Porter's amendment wasn't dealing with the underlying bill and House rules stipulate that amendments have to follow the bill, Shea-Porter's amendment did not clear the House Rules Committee and won't even make it to the floor of the House for consideration. Thus, the entire political stunt was a waste of time.
Congresswoman Shea-Porter has been the most vocal member of the New Hampshire delegation against the heavily bipartisan Keystone XL Pipeline despite the fact nearly 75% of Americans indicate they support or somewhat support the project.
Derek Dufresne, spokesman for Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire made the following statement:
"While Congresswoman Ann Kuster might be new to Congress, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, a three term Congresswoman, should understand the legislative process. It is a shame that New Hampshire's congresswomen are on the wrong side of an issue that creates jobs and lowers fuel costs, but it is even more of a problem when our representatives are using their time in Washington on a failed amendment that doesn't even follow the rules of the House of Representatives.
"Granite Staters deserve better than political stunts to appease special interest groups."
