Rosendale and Other Officials hold ‘Where Are the Jobs’ Forum

On Friday, Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale participated with 13 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives for an online forum called ‘Where are the Jobs’?, referring to the Keystone XL Pipeline and other energy projects cancelled by the Biden Administration.

Rosendale introduced a commissioner from Fallon County in eastern Montana, Steve Baldwin.

“Montana knows firsthand just how detrimental President Biden's executive orders have been, which is why I want to introduce Fallon County commissioner Steve Baldwin,” said Rosendale. “The commissioner is from Baker, Montana, a small town of about 1,800 people. Fallon County is one of seven counties in Montana that the Keystone XL pipeline would have run through. I invited Commissioner Baldwin here today to highlight the President's reckless actions.”

Baldwin thanked Congressman Rosendale for the opportunity to be a part of the forum in which so many took part from 13 states.

“We're so dependent on natural resources. We have MDU (Montana Dakota Utilities) Danbury Resources; we have Continental Resources and the TC energy project was a godsend for us with oil have been down the last few years,” said Baldwin. “It was definitely going to be a pickup for our community.”

Baldwin said the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline will have a permanently devastating effect on his and many other eastern Montana counties.

“Up and down the mapping of the TC energy line, as Representative Rosendale can attest to, is going to have a severe impact on those communities, mainly because of those revenues,” he said.  “Obviously we do road work, but our critical access hospital here is a key element to our community. We also have some funding that goes their schools and all the roadwork in the area, as well.

Baldwin said it’s unfair for so many counties teetering on the edge of poverty to have such an economic opportunity be snatched away for purely political reasons.

“I've been through boom and bust in this community for 62 years,” he said. “So we're dependent on it as much as I hate to say that we are dependent on it. If we're not able to at least get these little projects, well this is a big project, but the little projects mean a lot as well to our community. We've got a lot of mom and pop oilfield maintenance companies here that are hurting tremendously.”

Rosendale joined lawmakers from Alaska, Texas, California, Arizona, Louisiana, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alabama, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Oregon on the ZOOM conference call.