WASHINGTON, D.C.—Following passage of legislation last week containing a provision requiring President Obama to make a decision regarding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue today issued the following statement: “If the president is serious about job creation and energy security, now is the time to act on the Keystone XL pipeline. This is the perfect example of a shovel-ready project that makes sense for our economy. The strong, bipartisan support for a provision requiring a prompt decision indicates that the Congress understood that there is simply no reason to delay a decision on Keystone until after the election. “Over the past three years, the State Department has conducted two Environmental Impact Assessments and closely studied 13 different pipeline routes. The American economy needs both the 20,000 immediate jobs that Keystone provides and the additional 500,000 barrels of oil from Canada that we will be able to import. We strongly urge the president to move swiftly to approve the permit and move forward with this project, which is clearly in our national interest.” The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy has launched the Partnership to Fuel America, comprised of over 200 American businesses and industries that understand that the United States needs more energy to fuel our economy and that Canada’s resources can help us achieve that goal. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.