GOP inks Keystone bill at ceremony

Republican leaders signed legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday.

“The new majority is getting America back to work,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday.

{mosads}Friday’s ceremony highlighted the distance between Republicans and the president, who has vowed to veto the bill, on the issue.

“Everyone is on board, except for the president,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), an author of the bill.

Hoeven pressed President Obama to sign the bill, arguing that a veto would be “music” to the ears of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Hoeven asked if the administration really wants to rely on OPEC with the current terror situation with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

While a ceremony is typical for a bill that is signed into law by the president, it is more unusual for lawmakers to hold a ceremony for the bill’s enrollment.

Republicans capitalized on Friday’s event to send a signal to the White House.

After signing the bill, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) gave the pen to Hoeven, who was credited by Republicans for shepherding the bill through the Senate along with Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski.