WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate vote on construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline:

“This vote to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline should have happened years ago, and while I am disappointed it failed by a single vote in the Democrat-led Senate, it is only a matter of time before it is passed in the next Congress by the new Republican majority and sent to President Obama’s desk. At that time, the President will finally be forced to decide whether increases in energy security and American jobs trump special interest politics.

“There is overwhelming support for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline across the country because Americans understand the importance of this shovel-ready project to job creation and increasing the supply of North American energy. That is why the House has overwhelmingly approved legislation to authorize construction nine times. I look forward to the Senate joining the House in approving the Keystone XL Pipeline in the very near future. This is merely the first of many issues to finally receive the Senate’s attention after years of being denied votes.”

The Keystone XL Pipeline is an additional phase to the original Keystone Pipeline that currently moves crude oil from Steele City, Nebraska, through Kansas to the processing facility in Cushing, Oklahoma. Portions of the Keystone XL Pipeline have already been built and are in operation, including a pipeline linking Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas. The newest addition voted on today would link the existing Keystone infrastructure to the oil-rich Bakken granting greater accessibility to domestic natural resources. Unfortunately, the White House has refused to approve the permit application for the remaining 1,200 miles of pipeline to be built despite President Obama’s own State Department’s view that this project can move forward. The Administration’s delays have prevented the creation of new well-paying jobs and economic growth for Americans.

LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York prosecutor says the nation is facing an “absolute epidemic of debt collection abuse practices” so widespread that even one of the FBI’s top officials got a call.

Prosecutor Preet Bharara made the comment as he announced the arrest Tuesday of seven members of a Norcross, Georgia, debt collection agency.

He said the defendants were “ruthlessly persistent” as they threatened people with imminent arrest unless they paid debts they sometimes didn’t even owe.

He said the firm bullied people in all 50 states from 2009 through April, collecting more than $4 million from over 6,000 victims.

The company was shut down after the Federal Trade Commission brought a civil action against it. But FBI official Richard Frankel said the workers just opened another company under a different name.

DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democrat-controlled Senate has defeated a bill to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The Senate’s 59-41 vote Tuesday night was a nail-biter to the end.

The bill needed 60 votes to reach the White House. The House passed it overwhelmingly last week.

President Barack Obama did not support the bill, but the White House has been mum on whether or not he will veto it.

Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu pushed for the vote in an effort to save her seat in a Dec. 6 runoff election in Louisiana. She faces an uphill battle against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who authored the House bill.

All Republicans said publicly they supported the Senate bill, as did several moderate Democrats.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has cleared the way for additional gay marriages in the state.

The court on Tuesday evening lifted its hold on marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Johnson County. The justices last month blocked such licenses while reviewing a petition from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

But the Kansas court did not address whether the state’s ban on gay marriage is constitutional and said it wouldn’t consider the issue until the federal courts resolve a lawsuit filed month on behalf of two lesbian couples.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week told the state it couldn’t continue enforcing its gay-marriage ban while the ACLU’s lawsuit makes its way through the federal courts.

Since then, local officials have had different policies on marriage licenses to gay couples.

MCPHERSON- The McPherson County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are continuing to investigate the suspicious death of 39-year-old James E. Croft, originally from Portland, OR.

The Sheriff’s office reported that Mr. Croft’s body was found just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening in a vehicle in a ditch in the 2100 block of Moccasin Road approximately .3 mile east of 21st Avenue north of Galva.

An autopsy has been performed and the official results have not been released. Three persons of interest have been identified.  Authorities have not revealed if an arrest has been made.

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators are demanding that automakers expand a recall of cars with driver’s air bags made by Takata Corp. to cover the entire nation.

Previously, cars have been recalled only in areas along the Gulf Coast with high humidity. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it’s basing the decision on a recent incident that happened outside of those areas.

Air bags made by Takata can explode with too much force, sending shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

The safety agency says if Takata and automakers don’t agree to the recall quickly, it will use its legal powers to make sure the inflators are recalled.

The owner of a 2007 Ford Mustang recently complained to the government about suffering an injury when an air bag malfunctioned in North Carolina.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new study shows Kansas is among 14 states with a big decline in the number of immigrants who are living illegally in the United States.

A Pew Research Center report released Tuesday estimates 20,000 unauthorized immigrants left Kansas between 2009 and 2012. The group estimates that 75,000 immigrants were living unlawfully in Kansas in 2012.

The report attributes the immigrant population decreases in states like Kansas to a decline in the number of Mexican-born immigrants.

Pew estimates unauthorized immigrants account 3.5 percent of the Kansas labor force and 2.6 percent of the state’s population. About 7 percent of elementary and secondary school children in Kansas have a parent who is unlawfully in the United States.

The undocumented immigrant population rose in seven states and leveled off nationally.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Projected budget shortfalls in Kansas have some Republican legislators weighing proposals to backtrack on tax-cutting policies championed by GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

But House Appropriations Committee chairman and Wichita Republican Gene Suellentrop said Tuesday that such measures should be a last resort.

Brownback and the Republican-dominated Legislature must close shortfalls in the current and next state budgets totaling more than $714 million after lawmakers open their annual session in January.

Legislators aggressively cut personal income taxes at Brownback’s urging in 2012 and 2013 to stimulate the economy.

Overland Park Republican Sen. Jim Denning said he wants to “smooth out” tax cuts lawmakers already have promised for the future.

He also proposed taking away part of an exemption from personal income taxes granted to the owners of 191,000 businesses.