Donnelly, Joe Sen

http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/joe-donnellylcv 60/54%<div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/conservative-democrats-dark-money-funded-rural-voter-project-has-everything-to-do-with-sinking-medicare-for-all/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/conservative-democrats-dark-money-funded-rural-voter-project-has-everything-to-do-with-sinking-medicare-for-all/</a></div><div>
</div><div>Two conservative former Democratic senators, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, have launched the One Country Project, a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization that aims to attract rural voters to the Democratic Party. However, according to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/14/medicare-for-all-opponents-one-country-project/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Maplight’s</a> Andrew Perez, working in partnership with The Intercept, the organization is also a “dark money” group, using the two former lawmakers to push an anti-Medicare-for-all agenda.<div class="p1_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Perez found that “the One Country Project’s website is registered to an executive at Forbes Tate Partners, a lobbying and public relations firm founded by former Clinton administration officials.” Forbes Tate Partners is leading lobbying efforts for Partnership for America’s Health Care Future (PAHCF), which, according to Maplight, is a “health industry-backed nonprofit created to crush momentum for a comprehensive universal health care system.”<div class="p2_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></div>Heitkamp had previous ties to Forbes Tate Partners, hiring a subsidiary called Columbia Campaign Group for polling and media campaign consulting for her 2018 Senate bid. Her former chief of staff, Tessa Gould, is now a partner there. The Heitkamp campaign, Perez reports, paid Gould $35,000 for consulting in March, part of the over $6 million the campaign had left over from a last-minute infusion of donations after Heitkamp declined to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.<div class="p3_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Heitkamp railed against Medicare-for-all in a May <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heidi-heitkamp-democrats-dont-ditch-the-aca-for-medicare-for-all/2019/05/08/b77780cc-71a9-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html?utm_term=.b1c65c001c08" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">op-ed</a> for The Washington Post, writing that “polling indicates that most Americans are satisfied with the health care they receive and do not want their coverage options taken away and replaced with a one-size-fits-all government program.” Both Heitkamp and Donnelly campaigned against such a proposal in their reelection bids, and both lost to Republicans.<div class="p4_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Two conservative former Democratic senators, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, have launched the One Country Project, a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization that aims to attract rural voters to the Democratic Party. However, according to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/14/medicare-for-all-opponents-one-country-project/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Maplight’s</a> Andrew Perez, working in partnership with The Intercept, the organization is also a “dark money” group, using the two former lawmakers to push an anti-Medicare-for-all agenda.<div class="p5_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div class="article-itemcontent am2-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Perez found that “the One Country Project’s website is registered to an executive at Forbes Tate Partners, a lobbying and public relations firm founded by former Clinton administration officials.” Forbes Tate Partners is leading lobbying efforts for Partnership for America’s Health Care Future (PAHCF), which, according to Maplight, is a “health industry-backed nonprofit created to crush momentum for a comprehensive universal health care system."Heitkamp had previous ties to Forbes Tate Partners, hiring a subsidiary called Columbia Campaign Group for polling and media campaign consulting for her 2018 Senate bid. Her former chief of staff, Tessa Gould, is now a partner there. The Heitkamp campaign, Perez reports, paid Gould $35,000 for consulting in March, part of the over $6 million the campaign had left over from a last-minute infusion of donations after Heitkamp declined to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.<div class="p7_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Heitkamp railed against Medicare-for-all in a May <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heidi-heitkamp-democrats-dont-ditch-the-aca-for-medicare-for-all/2019/05/08/b77780cc-71a9-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html?utm_term=.b1c65c001c08" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">op-ed</a> for The Washington Post, writing that “polling indicates that most Americans are satisfied with the health care they receive and do not want their coverage options taken away and replaced with a one-size-fits-all government program.” Both Heitkamp and Donnelly campaigned against such a proposal in their reelection bids, and both lost to Republicans.<div class="p8_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Before Donnelly left the Senate, he told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/28/politics/donnelly-medicare-for-all-cnntv/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">CNN’s Dana Bash</a> that “when you talk Medicare-for-all … you start losing the people in my state.” He added, “When we start talking about, ‘Hey, we’re going to work together with the insurance companies to lower premiums,’ that’s what connects.”<div class="p9_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In addition to his work with the One Country Project, Donnelly joined lobbying Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, which also has ties to anti-Medicare-for-All efforts through its lobbying for health care industry clients, who have also donated to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).<div class="p10_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />According to reporting by Alex Kotch in <a href="https://readsludge.com/2019/04/23/health-industry-lobbyists-pump-more-money-into-democrats-congressional-campaign-arm/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Sludge</a>, “Vic Fazio, a senior advisor at lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and former California Democratic congressman, has raised nearly $130,000 for the DCCC this year. He has lobbied for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a PAHCF member and the nation’s largest pharmaceutical trade association.”<div class="p11_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Support for broader health coverage is growing among Americans, though they remain divided on terminology, and on whether to abolish private insurance. According to an April 2019 poll from the <a href="https://www.kff.org/slideshow/public-opinion-on-single-payer-national-health-plans-and-expanding-access-to-medicare-coverage/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Kaiser Family Foundation</a>, 56% of Americans support a national health plan or Medicare-for-all.<div class="p12_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />“Yet,” the KFF report continues, “how politicians discuss these different proposals does affect public support.” The poll found 63% of respondents said they support Medicare-for-All or universal coverage, while 59% say they support a national health plan, and 46% support socialized medicine. The most common theme, researchers report, “is a desire for universal coverage.”<div class="p13_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />A February <a href="https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/428958-poll-voters-want-the-government-to-provide-healthcare-for" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">poll</a> from The Hill-HarrisX found that just 13% of respondents favored a health care system controlled entirely by the government with no private insurance and 32% of respondents favored universal coverage, operated by the government, that still included room for supplemental private insurance. Another 26% want a public option that doesn’t compete with private insurance.<div class="p14_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Mostly, there’s a lot of confusion. As Mohamed Younis, editor-in-chief of Gallup, <a href="https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/428994-gallup-editor-says-most-americans-want-to-see-a-change-to" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">told</a> The Hill TV’s Krystal Ball, “Folks are clearly saying the system is still sort of broken to some degree, but there isn’t a lot of consensus around how to fix it in one way or another.”<div class="p15_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Neither Heitkamp nor Donnelly responded to Maplight’s requests for comment.</div><div></div></div>The memo notes that they believe Justice Anthony Kennedy will soon retire, and the effort to replace him will be “far more contentious” than the effort to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch.“If President Trump nominates a principled, constructionist nominee for Justice Kennedy’s seat or any other vacant seat, we anticipate engaging with both grassroots and under-the-dome tactics, bringing paid and earned media and events to support the confirmation.” The memo notes that the network sponsored pressure effort on Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., all of whom eventually voted to confirm Gorsuch.In Indian Wells, California, last month, the network held a retreat with 700 donors. Several journalists were invited to attend as long as they promised not to name the donors present.Operatives from the network also led sessions to explain how to move forward into the midterm elections. The Koch brothers intend to spend <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/28/politics/koch-network-2018-outlook/index.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out; color: rgb(0, 156, 244); text-decoration-line: none;">$400 million</a> to preserve the Republican majority in Congress and maintain GOP power at the state level.In recent days, Koch network groups have purchased ads targeting Democratic lawmakers in key elections across the country. This week, a new ad <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/koch-brothers-ad-blitz-goes-after-mccaskill-for-opposing-republican/article_b9a2c6fe-daa7-5b36-b566-30902c175c55.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out; color: rgb(0, 156, 244); text-decoration-line: none;">began airing</a> in Missouri criticizing Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, who is up for re-election this year.“We’ve made more progress in the last five years than I had in the last 50,” Charles Koch reportedly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-koch-charles-koch-network-is-going-all-in-for-2018-midterms/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out; color: rgb(0, 156, 244); text-decoration-line: none;">said</a>. “The capabilities we have now can take us to a whole new level.”<h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); cursor: pointer; word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/andrew-wheeler-epa-coal-2559631467.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word; font-size: 25px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 31px;">Former Coal Lobbyist Confirmed as No. 2 at EPA</a></h1><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url expanded" data-elid="2559631467" data-authors="Climate Nexus" data-headline="Former Coal Lobbyist Confirmed as No. 2 at EPA" style="margin: 10px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Helvetica; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description"><div class="widgetbrief">The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm former Inhofe staffer and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">coal</a> lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to the position of deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">EPA</a>), to serve as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Scott Pruitt</a>'s second in command.Democrats Heitkamp, Manchin and Donnelly joined with Republicans to give approval for Wheeler to move into a position regulating the industry on whose behalf he was just lobbying (for Murray Energy.)</div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="transition: all 350ms; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;">And because Wheeler would become acting administrator in the event that Pruitt resigns or is fired, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) likened it to "a shadow confirmation vote for the next administrator of the EPA.""Andrew Wheeler's coal credentials are without equal. He is, without question, a member of the coal industry's Hall of Fame," said Markey, the AP <a href="https://apnews.com/3e74d6b9fd0045a7853b96f56846fbb0/Senate-Republicans-aim-to-confirm-EPA-deputy-administrator" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">reported</a>."Sadly, I am concerned that Andrew Wheeler's background means that he will never understand that saving coal is not the job of the EPA," Markey added. "It is the EPA's job to regulate coal to protect public health and the environment."According to the AP, environmental groups said that Pruitt and Wheeler could be a devastating combination."Before the Trump administration, it would have been inconceivable that a coal and chemical industry lobbyist with a long history of hostility toward environmental policy would be the No. 2 at EPA," said Ken Cook, president of the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Environmental Working Group</a>.As reported by the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-senate-is-about-to-confirm-a-coal-lobbyist-as-top-epa-deputy/2018/04/12/b1bb6844-3dbe-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?utm_term=.584c38fe6a6b" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Washington Post</a>, "Wheeler has changed his tune" about <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Trump</a> after vehemently opposing his candidacy:"Wheeler wrote a post on his personal Facebook account the day before Super Tuesday pleading with those considering voting for Trump to reconsider. In his six-point critique, Wheeler questioned Trump's character, business acumen and viability as a general-election candidate. Trump was a 'bully,' Wheeler wrote in the since-deleted Facebook post obtained by The Post. He said that Trump 'hasn't been that successful' in business and 'has more baggage then all of the other Republican candidates combined.' Wheeler added that Trump 'has demonstrated through the debates and interviews that he doesn't understand how the government works.'"For a deeper dive:
News: <a href="https://apnews.com/3e74d6b9fd0045a7853b96f56846fbb0/Senate-Republicans-aim-to-confirm-EPA-deputy-administrator" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">AP</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/climate/epa-pruitt-deputy-wheeler-confirmation.html" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/04/the-senate-just-confirmed-the-coal-lobbyist-who-could-replace-scott-pruitt/" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Mother Jones</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/politics/andrew-wheeler-environmental-protection-agency-scott-pruitt-congress/index.html" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-senate-is-about-to-confirm-a-coal-lobbyist-as-top-epa-deputy/2018/04/12/b1bb6844-3dbe-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?utm_term=.584c38fe6a6b" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Washington Post</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-confirms-andrew-wheeler-for-no-2-spot-at-epa-1523568483" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">WSJ</a>, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/andrew-wheeler-epa_us_5a874fc7e4b004fc3192118b" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">HuffPost</a>, <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12042018/epa-andrew-wheeler-senate-confirmation-vote-murray-energy-coal-lobbyist-climate-denial-inhofe-pruitt" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Inside Climate News</a>, <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/382873-senate-approves-trumps-pick-for-no-2-at-epa" target="blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">The Hill</a>, <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/senate-confirms-former-coal-lobbyist-to-epa-99a71c8baa3a/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(82, 149, 70); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Think Progress</a></div></div></div>

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By a straight party-line vote of 54-42, the U.S. Senate <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://kos.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=78WarpnWEZV9D%2FK%2FaYDeM8NBatoIcZkc" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 15.6px; outline: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">failed to pass</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> a constitutional amendment that would have overruled the awful <i style="line-height: 15.6px; outline: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Citizens United<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">decision.<br style="line-height: 15.6px; outline: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But our work had an impact. All five Senate Democrats whose support was unknown—Mary Landrieu, Mary Pryor, Joe Donnelly, Tim Kaine & Mark Warner—ended up voting “yes.”

(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Senate passed two resolutions on Tuesday to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing its<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/03/fact-sheet-president-obama-announce-historic-carbon-pollution-standards" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 82, 145); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">Clean Power Plan</a> (CPP), the centerpiece of President Obama’s “historic” attempt to reduce carbon emissions 32 percent by 2030.<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/23/text" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 82, 145); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">Senate Joint Resolution 23</a>, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) with 47 co-sponsors, stated that “Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to ‘Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units’”.The Senate also passed a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/24/text" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 82, 145); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">resolution of disapproval</a> sponsored by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) stating that the CPP “shall have no force or effect.” The House is expected to pass a similar measure.The resolutions, which were both approved 52 to 46, were introduced under the <a href="https://www.senate.gov/CRSReports/crs-publish.cfm?pid=%270E%2C*P%5C_%3D%22P%20%20%0A" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 82, 145); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">Congressional Review Act</a>, which allows Congress to disapprove regulations that have an economic impact of more than $100 million.Three Democratic senators - Joe Donnelly (IN), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), and Joe Manchin (WV) - joined the Republican majority in support of the resolutions.Three Republican senators - Kelly Ayotte (NH), Susan Collins (ME) and Mark Kirk (IL) - voted against them.Republican presidential candidates Lindsey Graham (SC) and Marco Rubio (FL) did not vote.

<a href="http://indiana105.com/news/region-news/137978-sen-donnelly-supports-new-keystone-xl-pipeline-bill.html">http://indiana105.com/news/region-news/137978-sen-donnelly-supports-new-keystone-xl-pipeline-bill.html</a>

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.2px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Indiana Democratic US Senator Joe Donnelly is supporting new bipartisan legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline without requiring a permit from President Obama to move forward. Earlier this month, the Obama Administration announced plans to indefinitely extend the government’s review of the pipeline.  Donnelly said, “I’m supporting this bipartisan bill because it would enable Congress to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, ending the long delay. This legislation is simple: If Congress passes legislation to green-light the Keystone XL pipeline, this project will move ahead. I have long been a strong supporter of constructing the Keystone XL pipeline and will continue to push for its approval because of its potential to create jobs and improve our energy and national security.”  The legislation introduced Thursday has the backing of 56 Democrats and Republicans. Indiana is not part of the nearly 12-hundred mile pipeline route, which would start in Canada and travel through Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska.  Donnelly’s support for the bill follows the April 10, 2014, letter that Donnelly and ten of his Senate colleagues sent to President Obama a letter calling on the President to make a final decision no later than May 31, 2014, on the Keystone XL pipeline permit application. To read the letter, click <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.landrieu.senate.gov/files/documents/2014_04_10_Dem_Lettter_to_POTUS_on_KXL.pdf" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 1, 1); font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.2px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">here</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.2px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.   You can hear comments from Senator Donnelly to the Region News Team online at News Audio on Demand here at our website.

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