Though the new U. S. Senate has been in session for less than a month, South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds said Thursday that the body has already voted on approving the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline more times than they did all of last year.

He also says the bill is an example of using the “regular order of business,” something that the Democratic majority didn’t practice.

“For the first in years, we’re actually doing multiple amendments," Rounds said in a telephone news conference with South Dakota media. "And people are getting a chance to express what they think about different projects. The Keystone is the first one.”

Rounds said the Senate will likely take up the measure again next week.

Meanwhile, the Lakota Voice reports that the "hactivist" group Anonymous will wage a cyberwar in the event Congress passes a bill authorizing the pipeline or if it overrides a Presidential veto.

More From KXRB