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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Washington (CNN)The Senate passed a bipartisan bill on Thursday to clear
construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a controversial project that would
transport oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
The vote was 62 to 36. Nine mostly centrist Democrats joined with
Republicans to support the bill despite President Barack Obama's promise to
veto it. The President has said the decision should remain within the
executive branch.
Passage was a victory for newly empowered Republicans who made the bill
their top legislative priority and the first taken up on the Senate floor.
Keystone supporters, frustrated by the lengthy and still ongoing Obama
administration review of the project, are trying to force the President's
hand to let it be built. While the GOP glee is likely to be short-lived as
the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary to overcome a
potential veto, for now, Republicans are pleased.
"This is a happy day on several counts," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, who told reporters he was pleased with both the success of the
bill and the legislative process it took to get there -- most notably the 41
amendments from members of both parties that got votes.
When they were in the minority, Republicans pledged to restore a more "open"
amendment process than they faced when Democrats were in charge. The open
process worked initially during the Keystone debate but broke down
temporarily last Thursday, when -- in a session that ran past midnight --
Republicans abruptly tried to end debate on the bill. It quickly got back on
track, but only after Democratic supporters of the pipeline refused to go
along.
In a rare exchange on the Senate floor on Thursday, McConnell and Sen. Dick
Durbin, the assistant Democratic leader, actually praised each other's
handling of the debate.
"What I've seen on the floor the last several weeks is the Senate I remember
, the Senate I was elected to," Durbin said. "I hope that in our role in the
minority we can work with you, with a feeling of mutual respect, to achieve
, at least, debate on the floor if not some significant legislation."
"I agree that this has been good for the Senate, good for both parties, good
for America for getting back to normal and I thank the senator for his
comments and his cooperation," McConnell responded.
The kind words though don't mask the deep policy differences between the two
leaders on the Keystone issue.
Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, was in the Capitol
as the debate carried on. He told CNN the Senate was hurt by the way
Democrats ran things in recent years, particularly when they didn't allow
amendments from either side. He said that a new spirit of cooperation from
the both Democrats and Republicans is a good thing.
"Look you're going to have partisanship. But I think the institution is
being damaged by what has happened the last two years," he said. "If they
can get it back on track it would be good for America. |
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