JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri lawmakers have passed a resolution encouraging President Barack Obama’s administration to approve a proposed oil pipeline route through the middle of the United States.

The Senate approved the measure endorsing the Keystone XL pipeline with a 24-5 vote on Thursday. The same resolution passed the House earlier this year.

Obama told a group of governors at a White House meeting in February that he expects to make a decision on the project’s future in a couple of months.

The Missouri resolution also encourages the U.S. to drill for oil off the northern coast of Alaska.
Missouri’s two U.S. senators and Gov. Jay Nixon have also come out in favor of the Keystone pipeline project.