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ByDinaCappiello The Associated Press WASHINGTON TheRepub- lican-controlled Senate on Thursday approved a bipar- tisan bill to construct the Keystone XL oil pipeline, defying a presidential veto threat and setting up the first of many battles with the White House over en- ergy and the environment. The62-36 vote advanced a top priority of the newly em- powered GOP, and marked the first time the Senate passed a bill authorizing the pipeline, despite numer- ous attempts to force Presi- dent Barack Obama's hand on the issue. Nine Democrats joined with 53 Republicans to back the measure. This bill "is an impor- tant accomplishment for the country," said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "We are hoping the president upon reflec- tion will agree to sign on to a bill that the State Depart- ment said could create up to 42,000 jobs and the State Department said creates lit- tle to no impact on the envi- ronment." Still the vote was short of the threshold needed to override a veto, and the leg- islation still must be recon- ciled with the version the House passed. "We hope President Obama will now drop his threat to veto this com- mon-sense bill that would strengthen our energy se- curity and create thousands and thousands of new, good- paying American jobs," said House Speaker John Boehner. Democrats framed the bill as gift to a foreign oil company that would have little benefit for the Amer- ican people, because much of the oil would be exported. They tried and failed to get amendments on the bill to construct the pipeline with U.S. steel, ban exports of the oil and the products refined from it, and protect water re- sources. The Senate agreed to add an energy efficiency mea- sure, and went on the re- cord saying climate change was not a hoax and the oil sands should be subject to a tax that helps pay for oil spill cleanups. Oil sands are cur- rently exempt. "This bill is a disgrace," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Senate environment committee. "We tried on our side to make this a better bill and they turned us away." TransCanada Corp., the pipeline's developer, dis- puted the export argument Thursday, saying it didn't make sense. "Those who argue this pipeline is for export are not being factual," said Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer of Trans- Canada. "It's time to ap- prove Keystone XL so we can transport Canadian and American oil to fuel the ev- eryday lives of the American people." First proposed in 2008, the $8 billion pipeline proj- ect has been beset by delays in Nebraska over its route and at the White House, where the president has re- sisted prior efforts by Con- gress to force him to make a decision. In 2012, Obama re- jected the project after Con- gress attached a measure to a payroll tax cut extension that gave him a deadline to make a decision. The pipe- line's developer, TransCan- ada Corp., then reapplied. Obama has said he will not be forced to make a de- cision on the pipeline, which requires presidential ap- proval because it crosses an international border, un- til the review process con- cludes. Federal agencies' comments on whether the project is in the national in- terest are due Monday. Environmental groups have called on Obama to re- ject the project outright, say- ing it would make it easier to tap a dirty source of energy that would exacerbate global warming. The State Depart- ment's analysis, assum- ing higher oil prices, found that shipping it by pipelines to rail or tankers would be worse for the planet. It also concluded that the project, after construction, would create only 35 permanent jobs, a figure Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., compared to a fried chicken franchise. "The facts are clear: the Keystone XL pipeline will only create 35 permanent jobs while dumping millions of tons of carbon pollution into the air and threatening waterways and communities across the Midwest," said Tom Steyer, the investor and philanthropist who founded the NextGen Climate politi- cal action committee. Supporters say the pipe- line is a critical piece of in- frastructure that will create thousands of jobs during construction and boost en- ergy security by importing oil from a friendly neighbor. 62-36 VOTE Se na te p as se s bi ll a pp ro vi ng K ey st on e XL o il p ip el in e By Laurie Kellman The Associated Press WASHINGTON Senate Armed Services Commit- tee Chairman John McCain kicked protesters out of a committee hearing Thurs- day, calling them "low-life scum" as they hollered for the arrest of one of the wit- nesses, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Shortly after Kissinger, 91, took a seat at the wit- ness table, several pro- testers from the anti- war group Code Pink ap- proached from behind, waving signs and a pair of handcuffs, and chanting, "Arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes." "You know, you're go- ing to have to shut up or I'm going to have you ar- rested," McCain said from the podium, calling for U.S. Capitol Police to re- move them. As officers es- corted the protesters out of the hearing room, the six- term Arizona Republican, a decorated Vietnam vet- eran and former prisoner of war, growled, "Get out of here, you low-life scum." U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said three people were removed from the room, but no ar- rests were made. In a statement later, Mc- Cain noted a gap between the beginning of the pro- test and the arrival of of- ficers. "With no U.S. Capitol Police intervening, the ep- isode went on for several minutes," McCain said. He added that he had spoken with police officials and ex- pects that "those respon- sible will be held fully ac- countable for their ac- tions." The upheaval came Thursday during a com- mittee hearing that also featured testimony from former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and George P. Shultz, who were sitting at the witness table with Kissinger. Code Pink protesters routinely interrupt con- gressional hearings and are ushered out by po- lice. But Thursday's inci- dent was different, McCain said, because the protest- ers came within inches of Kissinger and waved what appeared to be metal hand- cuffs near his head. At one point, a protester alleged that from 1969 to 1973, Kissinger, who was a national security adviser to President Richard Nixon before being named secre- tary of state, "oversaw" the deaths of millions of peo- ple in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The protester said many thousands more people died from the effects of the defoliant Agent Orange, or from un- exploded U.S. ordnance lit- tering the countryside. COMMITTEE HEARING McCain to protesters: 'Get out of here, you low-life scum' J.SCOTTAPPLEWHITE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Protesters interrupt the start of a Senate Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday as they shout at former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, center, joined by fellow former State Department heads George P. Shultz and Madeleine K. Albright. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thank you! By Hillel Italie The Associated Press NEW YORK Rod McKuen, the husky-voiced "King of Kitsch" whose music, verse and spoken-word record- ings in the 1960s and '70s won him Oscar nomina- tions and made him one of the best-selling poets in his- tory, has died. He was 81. McKuen died Thurs- day morning at a rehabil- itation center in Beverly Hills, California, where he had been treated for pneu- monia and had been ill for several weeks and was un- able to digest food, said his half brother, Edward McK- uen Habib. Until his sabbatical in 1981, McKuen was an as- tonishingly successful and prolific force in popular cul- ture, turning out hundreds of songs and poems and re- cords, including the Acad- emy Award-nominated song "Jean" for the 1969 film "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." Sentimental, earnest and unashamed, he conjured a New Age spirit world that captivated those who didn't ordinarily like "poetry" and those who craved relief from the war, assassina- tions and riots of the time. "I think it's a reaction people are having against so much insanity in the world," he once said. "I mean, people are really all we've got. You know it sounds kind of corny, and I suppose it's a cliche, but it's really true; that's just the way it is." His best-known songs, some written with the Belgian composer Jacques Brel, include "Birthday Boy," ''A Man Alone," ''If You Go Away" and "Sea- sons In the Sun," a chart- topper in 1974 for Terry Jacks. He was nominated for an Oscar for "Jean" and for "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," the title track for the Peanuts movie. Frank Sinatra, Ma- donna, Dolly Parton and Chet Baker were among the many artists who recorded his material, although McK- uen often handled the job himself in a hushed, throaty style he honed after an early life as a rock singer cracked his natural tenor. McKuen is credited with more than 200 albums — dozens of which went gold or platinum — and more than 30 collections of po- etry. Worldwide sales for his music top 100 million units while his book sales exceed 60 million copies. He was particularly pro- ductive in the late '60s, re- leasing four poetry collec- tions, eight songbooks, the soundtracks to "Miss Jean Brodie" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and at least 10 other albums. 'KING OF KITSCH' Rod McKuen, mega-selling poet and performer, dies at 81 ALSCO, INC. 535 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff Call Russ Harman, Clint Heiber or Mark Owens at (530) 527-4001 SLIDEONIN FOR YOUR ONE-STOP IRRIGATION AND PUMPING NEEDS • Aluminum PVC Pipe, Hunter Toro and Nelson Sprinklers • Big Guns • Center Pivots • Wheellines • Test Pumping • Turbine, Submersible and Centrifugal Pumps • Kifco Arena Rain Gun • Apollo Gate Openers FUNK HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING & SHEET METAL 13111 BAKER ROAD OVER30YEARSEXPERIENCE AirConditioning—Heating—SheetMetal—HeatPumps Cal.Lic. #233456 527-5828 Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. 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