It will not be easy to reverse President Joe Biden's executive order halting construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, but Sen. Roger Marshall, who is working on a bill to keep the project alive, told Newsmax TV Friday that it is vital that the United States remain energy independent.
"It's not going to be easy with (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer," the Kansas Republican said on Newsmax TV's "National Report." "The United States' carbon footprint has decreased by over 10% in the last decade. We're in a 25-year low. Stopping this pipeline is going to drive the price of gasoline up for people at the pump, and it's going to make us more dependent upon oil from the Middle East. That's not what we need in the United States right now."
But instead of Biden turning down the temperature in the United States, as he promised, executive orders like the one on the pipeline will hurt everyday Americans through the loss of jobs, said Marshall.
He also slammed former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, Biden's nominee for transportation secretary, for commenting that people who lose jobs through the shutdown on the Keystone XL pipeline can always find other good union jobs.
"That's such a very callused, uneducated answer from the secretary nominee," said Marshall. "We're building the pipeline across Kansas, across a lot of states in the Midwest. Right now, those people may have already left their family to go traveling to build this pipeline, so there's certainly no jobs in the near future."
The senator also discussed the push to impeach former President Donald Trump, saying the constitution "clearly states" that impeachment should involve a sitting president, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court must preside.
Marshall also commented on the continued presence of National Guard troops in Washington after the impeachment has already been completed, particularly after some troops were forced to sleep in a parking garage rather than the Capitol complex.
"We have personally reached out to all the units from Kansas, trying to make sure that they have adequate housing, and invited them to come to our office," said Marshall.
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