Lawmaker: If Senate flips, Keystone will be front and center

A key Republican lawmaker is predicting swift action on a Keystone XL pipeline bill in a Republican-controlled Senate.

Should the GOP pick up the six seats needed to secure the majority in the upper chamber, Nebraska GOP Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said that “one of the first things I think would happen is Keystone pipeline going to the Senate floor.”

{mosads}Terry, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce’s panel’s subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, has helped lead the effort to give Congress the authority to approve construction of the pipeline.

Some expect President Obama to make a final call on Keystone in the next couple of months. Others believe that will happen after the mid-term elections.

Terry’s legislation on Keystone easily passed the House and 62 senators backed a non-binding budget measure that would give the controversial project the green light.