WASHINGTON – During his first day in office, President Joe Biden put a stop to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. At the Capitol, several North Dakota lawmakers say a presidential permit is not required and introduced legislation in the House and the Senate last Tuesday to build the pipeline.

If constructed, the pipeline would transport 830,000 barrels of oil from Canada’s boreal forest all the way to Texas. However, environmental and public safety concerns have made the pipeline the center of controversy since former President Barack Obama stopped its construction in 2015. The Trump Administration reversed that decision in 2017, but President Biden has halted it once again.

Congressman Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota introduced a House bill Tuesday that would authorize continued construction, pushing back on criticism over the pipeline’s safety.

“The permit was lawfully issued. The Keystone XL pipeline has gone through numerous state lawsuits. It has been permitted from every federal alphabet soup agency and then with a stroke of a pen, all of that work gets undone. And that’s just not the way that’s not the way this country can work. Nor should it,” Armstrong said.