April 30, 2012–The legislative battle over the Keystone XL pipeline rages on now that Senate and House members have been appointed to the transportation conference committee tasked with coming up with language acceptable to both chambers.
The move comes after the House passed a second 90 day extension of current transportation programs that included language that would allow construction of the full Keystone XL pipeline to begin. The pipeline has been at the center of the transportation debate since House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sought to attach its approval to the transportation bill he favors (H.R. 7). Although Boehner’s bill has been stalled, other bills and amendments to bills that would approve construction of the pipeline have been voted on repeatedly in Congress, particularly in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Many of the conferees have previously voted to approve the project.
MapLight has conducted an analysis of contributions from interests associated with the Oil & Gas sector to conferees on the transportation bill.
Senate
The Senate conferees include two of the original sponsors of the Senate version of the transportation bill (MAP-21), Barbara Boxer and Jim Inhofe. The short list also includes John Hoeven, who introduced the amendment to MAP-21 that would have approved the Keystone pipeline.
- Among the six Republican conferees in the Senate, four of them (John Hoeven, Kay Bailey Hutchison, James Inhofe, and David Vitter) count the Oil & Gas sector among their top two largest contributing interests.
- Of the Democratic conferees, Max Baucus was the only one to vote 'YES' on the Hoeven amendment. Baucus also received 3.4 times as much from the Oil & Gas industry ($157,150) as the remaining Democratic conferees received on average ($46,024).
- Overall, the Senate conferees who voted for the Hoeven amendment received on average 6.1 times as much ($281,011) from the Oil & Gas industry between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2011 as conferees who voted against approving the pipeline ($46,024).
Below is a chart showing the Senate conferees, their vote on the Hoeven amendment, the amount they received in campaign contributions from the Oil & Gas industry as well as the industry's position in their top 10.
| Senator | Vote on Hoeven Amdt. | Amount received from Oil & Gas industry | Oil & Gas in Top 10 Contributing Interests |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Vitter (R-LA) | Yes | $536,000 | Yes (#2) |
| James Inhofe (R-OK) | Yes | $472,000 | Yes (#1) |
| Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) | Yes | $336,386 | Yes (#2) |
| John Hoeven (R-ND) | Yes | $251,789 | Yes (#1) |
| Orrin Hatch (R-UT) | Yes | $162,850 | No |
| Max Baucus (D-MT) | Yes | $157,150 | No |
| Chuck Schumer (D-NY) | No | $74,800 | No |
| Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) | No | $59,550 | No |
| Tim Johnson (D-SD) | No | $55,800 | No |
| Richard Shelby (R-AL) | Yes | $50,900 | No |
| Bob Menéndez (D-NJ) | No | $45,600 | No |
| Bill Nelson (D-FL) | No | $42,967 | No |
| Dick Durbin (D-IL) | No | $24,300 | No |
| Barbara Boxer (D-CA) | No | $19,150 | No |
House of Representatives
House conferees include Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and Ranking Member Nick Rahall.
- Out of the 20 Republican conferees in the House, 12 count the Oil & Gas sector among their top 10 contributing interests, with four Republicans finding Oil & Gas in their number one spot.
- House conferees who voted 'YES' on the PIONEERS Act received on average 5.7 times as much from the Oil & Gas industry ($48,751) as conferees who voted 'NO' ($8,493) between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011.
The chart below shows how much House conferees received in contributions from the Oil & Gas sector as well as its position in their top 10. It also displays their vote on the PIONEERS Act, which would have approved the Keystone XL pipeline, in addition to other Oil & Gas-related projects.
| House Member | Vote on PIONEERS Act | Amount received from Oil & Gas industry | Oil & Gas in Top 10 Contributing Interests |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Lankford (R-OK) | Yes | $156,760 | Yes (#1) |
| Fred Upton (R-MI) | Yes | $120,700 | Yes (#4) |
| Dave Camp (R-MI) | Yes | $111,100 | No |
| Doc Hastings (R-WA) | Yes | $97,171 | Yes (#1) |
| Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) | Yes | $60,750 | Yes (#6) |
| Ed Whitfield (R-KY) | Yes | $55,500 | Yes (#4) |
| Ralph Hall (R-TX) | Yes | $55,208 | Yes (#1) |
| Bill Shuster (R-PA) | Yes | $46,250 | Yes (#5) |
| Rick Crawford (R-AR) | Yes | $38,922 | Yes (#4) |
| Don Young (R-AK) | Yes | $37,550 | Yes (#5) |
| Patrick Tiberi (R-OH) | Yes | $33,550 | No |
| Ed Markey (D-MA) | No | $32,250 | Yes (#10) |
| John Mica (R-FL) | Yes | $31,500 | No |
| Larry Bucshon (R-IN) | Yes | $30,200 | Yes (#6) |
| Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) | Yes | $29,600 | Yes (#10) |
| Rob Bishop (R-UT) | Yes | $21,750 | Yes (#1) |
| Richard Hanna (R-NY) | Yes | $19,500 | No |
| Tim Bishop (D-NY) | No | $15,050 | No |
| Steve Southerland (R-FL) | No | $13,900 | No |
| Nick Rahall (D-WV) | No | $13,400 | No |
| Reid Ribble (R-WI) | Yes | $11,000 | No |
| John Duncan (R-TN) | Yes | $10,500 | No |
| Chip Cravaack R-(MN) | Yes | $6,500 | No |
| Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) | No | $6,300 | No |
| Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) | No | $5,262 | No |
| Jerry Costello (D-IL) | No | $4,750 | No |
| Elijah Cummings (D-MD) | No | $4,250 | No |
| Henry Waxman (D-CA) | No | $3,250 | No |
| Peter DeFazio (D-OR) | No | $2,500 | No |
| Corrine Brown (D-FL) | No | $1,000 | No |
| Leonard Boswell (D-IA) | Yes | $1,000 | No |
| Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) | No | $0 | No |
METHODOLOGY: MapLight analysis of reported contributions to congressional campaigns of House and Senate members on the conference committee on the transportation bill, from interest groups from the Oil & Gas sector from July 1, 2009–June 30, 2011 for the House of Representatives and July 1, 2005–June 30, 2011. This analysis leaves out non-voting delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington D.C. Campaign contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org).
