If we're going to create the best business climate to create higher paying jobs and retain our young people, we're going to have to build a workforce prepared for the opportunities of the future.

The key to revenue growth is tax reform that closes loopholes and that is pro-growth. Then with a growing economy, that's where your revenue growth comes in, not from higher taxes.

The reality is that nearly 80 percent of the world's purchasing power lies outside the United States, and if we don't tap those markets, others will.

Nowadays, business is all about productivity - and our folks produce.

The irony of environmental opposition to the Keystone XL project is that stopping the pipeline to the U.S. will not stop production in the oil sands of Canada. Instead of coming to the United States, the oil will still be produced and shipped by rail or a pipeline similar to the Keystone XL to Canada's Pacific Coast.

Since 2006, we have surpassed Alaska, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and California in oil production to become the second largest oil-producing state in the nation, trailing only Texas. In 2012, North Dakota produced more than 245 million barrels of oil and provided nearly 11 percent of all U.S. output.

Pipelines are by far the safest way to transport petroleum. They are safer than tankers, safer than trucks, safer than rail.