Newly empowered Republicans are wasting no time in the new Congress, pushing to revive the Keystone XL Pipeline. North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven teamed up with Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia to file a bill for the pipeline on Tuesday in hopes of bringing it to the Senate floor by the end of the week.
The White House said President Barack Obama won't sign the bill for the pipeline if one is approved by Congress.
On the day lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill for the opening of the 114th Congress, Hoeven told CNBC that Obama's pushback against the project over the past six years is "a strategy to defeat through endless delays."
"This is a pipeline that will move energy more safely, most cost effectively, it will take congestion off the rail and have a comprehensive energy plan for this country," Hoeven said in a "Squawk on the Street" interview. "But we have got to have the infrastructure."
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Hoeven said 70 percent of the American people want the pipeline.
TransCanada applied for permission to build the 1,179-mile pipeline in 2008. Proponents argue it will create thousands of jobs while environmentalists worry about the possible health implications. Another bill to approve the pipeline failed in the Senate last November.
"Working with our closest friend and ally Canada and producing energy in this country, we can truly be energy secure," Hoeven said. "It's jobs, it's energy security, and it helps us compete in this global economy, so it's good all around."
The House will also vote on a similar bill on Friday.