Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) stunned CNN host Kate Bolduan Wednesday by suggesting that the Ukraine crisis could be solved by approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
Ryan began the interview discussing Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) assertion that President Obama’s response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi was to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
“There are a lot of moves that this administration has made in the area of foreign policy with respect to the Russians, Syria, missile defense, that I think has projected weakness. And, I think when you have the world superpower having a foreign policy that, in my opinion, is weak and a defense policy now that shows weakness, I think it invites aggression. I think that it creates a vacuum that is filled by these types of actions.”
When pressed on what Congress could do in the wake of this kind of international crisis, Ryan stated: “We should move forward on natural gas exports very quickly. I think we should approve an LNG terminal on the East Coast to go to Europe. I think we should approve the Keystone Pipeline. I think we should show that the U.S. is going to be moving forward on becoming energy independent and supplying energy to Europeans.”
An incredulous Bolduan replied: “Moving forward with the Keystone Pipeline?” To which Ryan replied: “Absolutely.”
Stunned, Bolduan retorted: “That development would take years though to actually make that happen.”
Ending this portion of the interview, Ryan replied: “Kate, the signal that America is open for energy business and America is going to be helping our allies with energy resources so that they can be less dependent on Russian energy resources. The signal is very, very important.”
You can watch a portion of the interview below:
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