Today, the House of Representatives voted for the flagrantly unconstitutional Northern Route Approval Act. The act eliminates the need for TransCanada Corp., the company constructing the pipeline, to get a cross-border permit from the President, overriding executive authority and long-standing tradition. Obama has said that he would veto the bill if it came to his desk. I've written about the danger of Keystone in past diaries; if you'd like a refresher, here's a good article on why you should oppose the pipeline.
The final vote was 241 to 175 with 19 Democrats voting with the Republican majority in favor of the pipeline. One Republican---Justin Amash (MI-03)--simply voted present. He explained his vote in a later tweet:
Keystone bill violated Rule of Law by exempting one entity from laws every similar entity must follow. I favor general dereg, not privilege.
Who were those 19 Democrats?
John Barrow (GA-12)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
William Enyart (IL-12)
Al Green (TX-09)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Sean Maloney (NY-12)
Jim Matheson (UT-04)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
William Owens (NY-21)
Colin Peterson (MN-07)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)
The Democrats offered nine amendments that the GOP allowed to go to a vote. I would like to highlight the two that I find to be most important.
First of all, Rush Holt (D-NJ) offered an amendment that would require that all oil transported by the pipeline be used within the United States. Basically, he is trying to call the bluff of the Republicans and conservaDems who argue that the pipeline would make the U.S. more energy independent rather than just allow Canada a route to export the oil abroad.
The Holt amendment failed 162 to 255. 3 Republicans voted for it, and 36 Democrats opposed it.
10 Representatives voted both for Keystone and for the Holt amendment. That includes 7 Democrats....
John Barrow (GA-12)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
William Enyart (IL-12)
Sean Maloney (NY-12)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)
....and 3 Republicans:
Rodney Davis (IL-13)
Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08)
Chris Gibson (NY-19)
As noted above, 36 Democrats voted against the Holt amendment. 24 of them opposed the Keystone bill but voted against the Holt amendment. I can understand the logic of those who voted for both, but I can't understand the logic of the Democrats who voted against both. Nevertheless, here they are:
The 12 who voted for Keystone but against the Holt amendment, admitting that they are just shills for Big Oil:
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Al Green (TX-09)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Jim Matheson (UT-04)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
William Owens (NY-21)
Colin Peterson (MN-07)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
The 24 that Voted against Keystone and against the Holt amendment. I frankly don't understand these people:
Ron Barber (AZ-02)
Bob Brady (PA-01) *Progressive Caucus member
André Carson (IN-07)
Joaquin Castro (TX-20)
John Dingell (MI-12)
Mike Doyle (PA-14)
Elizabeth Esty (CT-05)
Marcia Fudge (OH-11) *Progressive Caucus member
Pete Gallego (TX-23)
Jim Himes (CT-04)
Steven Horsford (NV-04)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) *Progressive Caucus member
Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) *Progressive Caucus member
Hank Johnson (GA-04) *Progressive Caucus member
Rick Larsen (WA-02)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Jared Polis (CO-02) *Progressive Caucus member
Nick Rahall (WV-03)
Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Tim Ryan (OH-13)
Kurt Schrader (OR-15)
Albio Sires (NJ-08)
Peter Visclosky (IN-01)
Timothy Walz (MN-01)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) offered an amendment that provided evidence that the reliance on oil sands crude would increase greenhouse gas emissions and that would thus prevent the bill from taking effect until these emissions are offset.
Waxman's amendment likewise failed 146 to 269. 47 Democrats voted against this.
Three Democrats, strangely, voted for both Keystone and the Waxman amendment:
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)
The 16 other Keystone sell-outs voted against Waxman's amendment. 31 Democrats who didn't vote Keystone voted against Waxman's amendment, which just seems strange to me.
Ron Barber (AZ-02)
Bob Brady (PA-01) *(Progressive Caucus member
André Carson (IN-07)
Joaquin Castro (TX-20)
Joe Courtney (CT-02)
John Dingell (MI-12)
Mike Doyle (PA-14)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Chaka Fattah (PA-02) *Progressive Caucus Member
Bill Foster (IL-11)
Pete Gallego (TX-23)
Denny Heck (WA-10) *Progressive Caucus Member
Steven Horsford (NV-04)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Derek Kilmer (WA-06)
Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Rick Larsen (WA-02)
Joe Larson (CT-01)
Daniel Lipinski (IL-03)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04)
Mike Michaud (ME-02)
Rick Nolan (MN-08) *Progressive Caucus Member
Bill Pascrell (NJ-09)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Nick Rahall (WV-03)
Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Tim Ryan (OH-13)
Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Mel Watt (NC-12) *Progressive Caucus Member
Timothy Walz (MN-01)
If you want to check out the roll call votes for the other amendments, such as those regarding oil spills and air pollution, you can find them here.
Addendum
I decided to look up past roll call votes for Keystone XL, and some of the votes I deemed strange are the votes of prior Keystone supporters---that explains it to some extent, I guess.
On July 26, 2011, the House of Representatives voted for Keystone XL 279 to 147, with 47 Democrats joining the Republicans in favor of it. Then again as now, Justin Amash voted present.
Thanks, I would assume, to the efforts of the activists who have been pushing legislators on this issue, 16 Democrats who supported Keystone back in 2011 now voted against it.
Bob Brady (PA-01) *Progressive Caucus member
Mike Doyle (PA-14)
Chaka Fattah (PA-02) *Progressive Caucus Member
Brian Higgins (NY-26)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) *Progressive Caucus member
Daniel Lipinski (IL-03)
Stephen Lynch (MA-08)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04)
Bill Pascrell (NJ-09)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Nick Rahall (WV-03)
Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Albio Sires (NJ-08)
Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Peter Visclosky (IN-01)
As a native Philadelphian, I find it ridiculous that Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah voted for Keystone back in 2011, especially since they tend to be more progressive than Allyson Schwartz, who has consistently voted against it.
Anyways, because, as we all know, money talks, here's a fun fact: the average supporter took 6 Times more From oil industry interests than the opponents.