Washington, D.C. – Today, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement on President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline:

“Today the President said ‘no’ to energy, ‘no’ to American workers, and ‘no’ to securing U.S. national security interests.  After seven years of stalling and red-tape, I’m not surprised by this bad decision.

“This common-sense energy project would have meant tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and greater energy security.  It also would have sent a strong signal to the OPEC cartel and Vladimir Putin that the United States is serious about leveraging its role as the world’s leading energy producer to strengthen our allies and partners.  Mr. President, the American people and our allies deserve better.”

Note:  In September of 2008—more than seven years ago—Canadian pipeline company TransCanada filed an application with the United States Department of State to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border. The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement issued by the Secretary of State in January of 2014 determined that no significant environmental impact would be caused by the pipeline.

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