LA times: After weeks of unusually robust debate, the Senate on Thursday approved legislation to expedite construction of the massive Keystone XL pipeline, brushing aside President Obama`s threat to veto the measure.
Passage secured not only a top Republican policy victory but also a political success for new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who made Keystone his first priority.
The vote was an early test of McConnell`s promise to return the Senate to a place of freewheeling debate....