US Senate Fails to Override Obama Veto on Keystone XL Pipeline

The US Senate failed to collect two-thirds majority votes to override Obama’s Keystone XL veto.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The US Senate failed to collect two-thirds majority votes on Wednesday to override US President Barack Obama’s veto on constructing the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“On this vote the ayes are 62, the nays are 37. Two-thirds of the senators voting, a quorum being present. Not having voted in the affirmative, the bill on reconsideration fails to pass over the veto of the president of the United States,” the presiding officer said.

President Obama vetoed the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline construction bill last week, explaining that US Congress tried to circumvent a long-standing procedure of determining if the cross-border project serves US national interests.

Following Obama’s veto, US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner called the president’s action a “national embarrassment,” and vowed that Congress would not give up its efforts to allow building the pipeline.

If constructed, the Keystone XL pipeline would connect Alberta, Canada and the US Gulf Coast. The pipeline would bring an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day to US refineries, according to the US Congress.