Sen. Joe Manchin encouraged opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline to "look at the bill," arguing on "Fox & Friends" that it would provide jobs and security to the United States by offering less reliance on foreign oil.
President Barack Obama has vowed to veto the Keystone pipeline bill, which is expected to reach his desk later this week.
Nine Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to approve the pipeline which, when finished, would stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
"All we're asking for is look at the bill. Look at the jobs it creates. Look at the security it gives our nation. It makes us less dependent on foreign oil," the West Virginia Democrat said on Tuesday.
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Manchin said Canada had agreed to a number of concessions in the project, including using American-made steel in all the pipes laid, paying "8 cents [per barrel] into the spill fund recovery," and also abiding by "all the commerce rules that you can't ship the oil out of this country."
"It's treated the same as if it was extracted in Texas. We've hit every barrier," he said.
Environmentalists should have less concern about transporting the oil through the pipeline than the current method of using rail and truck, Manchin said, adding Obama could leave "such a strong legacy" by approving the project.
"We have a chance to grow the economy, if we had a good energy policy, if we got our fiscal house in order. And, basically people ... could depend on government working with them and not against them," he said.
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