WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) today joined a bipartisan group of his colleagues in a colloquy on the Senator floor calling on President Obama to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to provide well-paying jobs for Arkansans.

“Keystone XL would benefit Arkansas tremendously and put people to work. We have a large Nucor plant in Blytheville that would supply a lot of the steel used in the pipeline. Welspun Tubular in Little Rock already made 500 miles of pipe but instead of increasing employment they’ve had to lay-off workers because of the indecision on this project,” Boozman said

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and every major labor union estimated the Keystone XL project would create 250,000 jobs over the course of the project, including 20,000 workers that would be on the job immediately. 

“We talk a lot about jobs in regard to this project, but that simply cannot be overemphasized,” Boozman said.

In January, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman gave the thumbs up to a revised Keystone XL route. President Obama had used the governor’s opposition as an excuse for delaying the project, but following the announced support, Boozman joined more than 50 of his colleagues in sending a letter to the President urging him to approve the project.

Background: The Keystone pipeline would transport 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to U.S. refineries and create thousands of American jobs. Despite reviewing the Keystone XL permit for three years and conducting two comprehensive environmental evaluations of the project, President Obama has refused grant a permit to allow construction of the pipeline.