HR0877 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0877 LRB097 20866 CEL 67617 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Keystone XL pipeline will be an integrated infrastructure system to deliver Canadian bitumen and synthetic crude oil, derived from bitumen, to U.S. oil refineries that will be able to use this commodity chemical in the same way as crude oil pumped directly from the ground; and

WHEREAS, Much of the Keystone XL pipeline is already in place and supplying fuel for a job-creating oil refinery complex in Wood River, Illinois, and thus indirectly providing diesel fuel and gasoline for motorists throughout the Midwest; and

WHEREAS, Although the soaring price of motor fuel is currently causing frustrations for consumers throughout Illinois, there are State and national policies that can be changed to help ordinary Americans; and

WHEREAS, The oil industry has repeatedly requested granting of the final federal government permits to enable expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline system, and this expansion would enable more bitumen oil sands to be mined in North America and further decrease our continent's dependence upon uncertain oil supplies pumped from hostile regions of the world; and

WHEREAS, Completion of the Keystone XL pipeline system will not only create jobs in pipeline construction and oil refining, but will be a necessary element of our future national security; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commend the members of Congress of the United States who have called for the expansion and completion of the Keystone XL pipeline system; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon the current President of the United States and his administration to speed up the process of granting the final permits to enable construction to begin on the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline network for reasons of consumer protection and national security; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we request that the United States Department of Defense make a public statement as to the desirability of maximizing the production of fossil fuels within the boundaries of North America as part of our overall worldwide strategic position in relations to nations that do not wish well to the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent to the members of the Illinois congressional delegation, the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, the United States Secretary of the Interior, the United States Secretary of Energy, and the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.