The Senate continued the amendment process on Keystone XL today by voting down three amendments and then voting to end debate. There will be a few more amendment votes this afternoon, and final passage is expected later tonight.
Conservation
Steve Daines (R-MT) offered an amendment to express the sense of Congress that reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund should be a priority--but to avoid actually reauthorizing it.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Land and Water Conservation Fund plays an important role in improving wildlife habitat and increasing outdoor recreation opportunities on Federal and State land; and
(2) reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund should be a priority for Congress and should include improvements to the structure of the program to more effectively manage existing Federal land.
The LWCF uses royalties from federal off-shore oil leases to provide matching grants for buying fish and wildlife habitat.
Conservation and hunting groups from Montana were not happy with Daines's effort at avoiding reauthorization of the program:
However, Daines’ move angered many conservation group leaders in Montana, who argued it was an attempt to stall the 50-year-old program
“Montanans are losing enough access already as more and more special interests roadblock our traditional access to public lands,” Tony Jones of Ravalli County Fish & Wildlife Association said in an email. “The last thing western sportsmen and women need are Washington, D.C. politicians making it harder for sportsmen to access our public lands.”
“Last year, the LWCF celebrated 50 successful years of bipartisan support in protecting some of America's great public landscapes,” John Sullivan of Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers said in an email. “Our public lands in Montana are under attack from all sides. We are disappointed with Sen. Daines’ attempt to dismantle such a successful public land conservation program. We hope Sen. Daines will reverse course and listen to the citizens of Montana.”
It failed
47 to 51.
Two Democrats—Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV)—joined Republicans in voting for it.
Eight Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it:
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Mike Lee (R-UT)
Rand Paul (R-KY)
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Richard Burr (R-NC) then offered an amendment to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
It failed 59 to 39, one vote shy of passage.
It was originally going to pass, but GOP leaders convinced David Perdue (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) to switch their votes.
14 Republicans did vote for it, however:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Mark Kirk (R-IL)
John McCain (R-AZ)
Rob Portman (R-OH)
John Thune (R-SD)
Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Renewable Energy Standard
Tom Udall (D-NM) offered an amendment to establish a "25-by-2025" renewable electricity standard (i.e., 25% of electricity coming from renewables by 2025).
It failed 45 to 53.
Four members from each party crossed party lines.
Four Republicans voted for it:
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Dean Heller (R-NV)
Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Four Democrats voted against it:
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Cloture
The Senate then voted on cloture--i.e., ending debate--on the bill. The cloture motion passed 62 to 35.
9 Democrats joined the GOP in passing the cloture motion:
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Bob Casey (D-PA)
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Mark Warner (D-VA)