[Senate Hearing 114-234]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 114-234
BUSINESS MEETING
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MEETING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JUNE 24, 2015
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COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman
DAVID VITTER, Louisiana BARBARA BOXER, California
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
MIKE CRAPO, Idaho BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
ROGER WICKER, Mississippi KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
Ryan Jackson, Majority Staff Director
Bettina Poirier, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
JUNE 24, 2015
OPENING STATEMENTS
Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma... 1
Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California... 4
Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode
Island......................................................... 301
Sullivan, Hon. Dan, U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska........ 302
Sanders, Hon. Bernard, U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont.... 302
Markey, Hon. Edward J., U.S. Senator from the State of
Massachusetts.................................................. 307
Vitter, Hon. David, U.S. Senator from the State of Louisiana..... 307
Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware.. 308
Sessions, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator from the State of Alabama...... 309
Wicker, Hon. Roger, U.S. Senator from the State of Mississippi... 309
Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L., U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland 310
Gillibrand, Hon. Kirsten, U.S. Senator from the State of New York 311
Booker, Hon. Cory A., U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey,
prepared statement............................................. 314
LEGISLATION
Text of S. 1647, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision
for the Economy Act............................................ 8
Text of the amendment offered by Senators Inhofe, Boxer, Vitter,
and Carper..................................................... 278
Text of the amendment No. 1 offered by Senator Fischer........... 288
Text of the amendment No. 1 offered by Senators Gillibrand and
Merkley........................................................ 291
Text of the amendment No. 2 offered by Senator Whitehouse........ 296
Text of the amendment No. 2 offered by Senators Wicker and Booker 300
BUSINESS MEETING
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:34 a.m. in room
406, Dirksen Senate Building, Hon. James M. Inhofe (chairman of
the committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Inhofe, Boxer, Vitter, Barrasso, Capito,
Crapo, Boozman, Sessions, Wicker, Fischer, Rounds, Sullivan,
Carper, Cardin, Sanders, Whitehouse, Merkley, Gillibrand,
Booker, and Markey.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Senator Inhofe. Our meeting will come to order.
Welcome to today's markup. It has been a long time, and we
have talked about it. We have been down this road before, and
now it is a reality today.
As I have said many times, my top priority this year is to
pass a fiscally responsible, long term highway bill. Ranking
Member Boxer, Senator Vitter, Senator Carper and I have worked
hard to put this together. I think they agree also.
People ask questions. What are you trying to accomplish? We
want a long term bill. We have gone through the agony of short
term extensions, and we do not have to do that again. For the
sake of America, we should not do that again. That is too
expensive.
Unfortunately, what used to be the best transportation
system in the world is now deteriorating. Senator Boxer made
some comments about her observations in China and some of the
things that are going on. We are just not in the position we
were at one time.
American businesses rely on an efficient and reliable
transportation network. More than 250 million vehicles traverse
the highway system each year and businesses require a reliable
transportation network to operate. However, every day, 20,000
miles of our highways slow below posted speed limits or
experience stop-and-go conditions. This type of congestion has
a huge negative impact on America's businesses.
The DRIVE Act has several key components that position
America's transportation system to support our growing economy.
This bill defines the Federal role to prioritize projects that
are most in the national interest. This bill creates a new
freight program that gives American businesses increased access
to energy production, agriculture, mining and the ports where
we trade with the rest of the world.
In order to implement these reforms, we are cutting red
tape to accelerate project delivery. This is something we have
successfully done on two other occasions.
We are carrying that forward again today. This is
accomplished by improving collaboration, eliminating
redundancies, and removing barriers that delay the process. We
are making the NEPA process more efficient so projects can be
delivered in a timely fashion.
A solution is urgent, because today we quite literally sit
at a crossroads. In order to repair deficient bridges,
eliminate waste, and reduce congestion, Congress must act now
and pass a long-term bill, the bill we have before us today.
Senator Boxer.
[The prepared statement of Senator Inhofe follows:]
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OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Senator Boxer. Mr. Chairman, this is what I call a really
good day in this committee. I hope it starts a trend in the
Senate.
My Chairman, Senator Jim Inhofe, and I have negotiated,
along with Senators Vitter and Carper, and, I have to say,
every member on our side and every member on his side, a
strong, 6-year surface transportation bill, which we are
calling the DRIVE Act.
This bill comes not a minute too soon, because we are 38
days away from the expiration of the current highway program
extension. Shortly after that, the Highway Trust Fund, which
funds highways and transit, will go broke.
We have 61,300 structurally deficient bridges in the U.S.,
and 50 percent of our roads are in less than good condition.
That is unacceptable. Our transportation systems used to be the
envy of the world, as my colleague pointed out, but now we lag
behind.
States and local governments rely on the Federal Government
to fund parts of their surface transportation programs. Some
States depend on Federal resources for 60, 70, 80, 90 and even
100 percent. Millions of American workers and thousands of
businesses are relying on us to pass this transportation bill.
I will go through the highlights for me.
One is increased funding above current levels, which will
begin to help us address the Nation's massive backlog. Second
is a national freight program, which will dedicate billions of
dollars per year to improving goods movement. It costs
businesses a fortune when they cannot move their goods in a
timely way.
Third is projects of national significance, which will
target funds to the most deserving mega-projects in the
country. Fourth is funding for transportation alternatives, to
continue investing in active transportation projects that
provide cost-effective transportation alternatives while also
improving safety, protecting public health, and reducing
congestion.
Fifth is a program about which I care deeply, a robust
TIFIA program that meets the current needs. I would remind
colleagues that every dollar of TIFIA funding is matched by 30
or more dollars from private sector and government sources.
Sixth is a new reform which was actually cheered by my
colleagues when I explained it to them. I thank you, Mr.
Chairman, for working so hard on this. This is a new reform
that allows local sponsors to get funding for their local
projects directly rather than having to go to the States and
the State takes off an amount of money for administration.
When we cooperate and really negotiate, everybody has to
give up a little. During the negotiations of this bill, in
order to get the things I just highlighted, there were things I
had to agree to that were painful for me such as accelerating
project delivery.
However, I want to make it clear that the provisions I
worked on with Senator Inhofe do not undermine current
environmental health and safety laws. They just speed things up
so that we can get the job done.
I have been clear from the start that the Democratic
conference would like to see an even more robust transportation
bill given the needs we have. President Obama has introduced
his idea. I think he calls it the GROW Act.
We will continue on our side to fight for a more robust
bill. We believe it is incredible that we have been able to
come together to get this bill done. We are proud of it, and we
are proud of our staffs across the aisle.
I do want to say to my Chairman, this was really a moment
for us again. We came close to losing the whole thing over the
weekend, but we never gave up, and we found the compromise we
needed.
I want to add something here that I think is important.
Yesterday, by chance, I had the opportunity to talk to Speaker
Boehner, who I just ran into in the hallway. He called me, and
he wanted to talk about this transportation bill.
Mr. Chairman and members, he told me he strongly supports a
6-year bill and that he is going to work hard to get it there.
When I told him of our bipartisan agreement, Mr. Chairman, he
could not have been more pleased.
This is really good to have the leaders in the House, I
know the Democrats feel the same way, if we can all work
together.
Yesterday in the House, a TSCA bill passed 398 to 1, what
an amazing, remarkable thing, to take a bill that was so
controversial and get it to a place where it could have that
kind of vote. I hope we can follow the lead on that.
I thank you so very much.
[The prepared statement of Senator Boxer follows:]
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Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Boxer.
As a reminder, I think we are all aware that in order to
pass the legislation, we have to have a quorum of 11 but just 7
to approve amendments. Right now, we are at 13, nobody leave.
We will begin considering the text circulated with the
notice provided to all offices as usual. I will ask if members
seek recognition on each amendment and allow each member to
call up their own amendments.
We can have committee counsel available, which they are
available and seated now at the table to answer questions
concerning the legislation and the amendments from the
committee members. At the conclusion of the member statements
and questions, we will vote on the amendments and proceed to a
vote on S. 1647.
To begin, the Ranking Member, Senator Vitter, Senator
Carper and I have developed a list of amendments that can be
agreed to. I would ask that the following amendments be adopted
en bloc.
Fischer No. 1 is modified. Gillibrand-Merkley No. 1 is
modified. Whitehouse No. 2 is modified. Wicker-Booker No. 2 is
modified. These amendments and modifications were stipulated
last night, and there is no objection.
Is there objection?
Without objection, so ordered.
[The referenced legislation follows:]
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Senator Inhofe. We will now proceed to amendments. Does any
Senator seek recognition concerning the bill or to offer
amendments?
Senator Whitehouse.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
Senator Whitehouse. First, let me thank you, Chairman, the
Ranking Member and our two subcommittee Chairs and Ranking
Members for the work you have done to bring us to this point.
We have an increase, not as much as many of us would like
to see, but an increase nevertheless. We have a long term bill
which we fought very hard for and which we have tried to
encourage our colleagues to adopt before.
I appreciate very much my measure related to composite
technologies has been included by agreement. Thank you for
that.
I would like to bring to everyone's attention a piece that
was left out. I will not call it for a vote here. I will
continue to work to try to get it into the bill.
We had a hearing in the Budget Committee just last week.
There is a new CBO chief who has been selected by the
Republican majority, who has very good Republican credentials.
In his testimony, he volunteered that we needed to be
prepared to address the climate change-related problem of
storms and sea level rise on our coasts. This is the Republican
CBO person volunteering that into his pre-filed testimony
before the Budget Committee.
I hope we can begin to take seriously what is happening
along our coastlines. If you go to the tide gauge outside Naval
Station Newport, it is up 10 inches. That means that coastal
roads around this country face new and different threats than
they did when they were built.
I hope that those of us from coastal States can join
together to try to seek a program that will help the particular
threat that coastal roads and infrastructure face as sea levels
rise and as the storms that batter them against our coasts
increase in power.
I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on
that, but I will close where I began which is with my
appreciation to the Chairman and the Ranking Member for pulling
this together on what I think is a very important and
consequential piece of legislation.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Whitehouse.
Let me assure you that our debate will go on in the future
on this issue.
Senator Whitehouse. I have no doubt about that, Mr.
Chairman.
Senator Inhofe. Are there others wishing to be heard?
Senator Wicker. Could I be heard on what Senator Whitehouse
just said?
Senator Inhofe. Senator Wicker.
Senator Wicker. I think this is a very sensible approach.
Certainly Senator Whitehouse and I have had spirited exchanges
about the cause of certain things that are going on in the
environment.
It seems to me that if you have a 10-inch rise in sea level
and more water pounding against the roadway, the sensible thing
to do is exactly what Senator Whitehouse said, make your
roadway a little higher and compensate for that perhaps with a
seawall or something like that.
I think we are a lot more likely as humankind, Mr.
Chairman, to be able to do that sort of thing than to think
about taking action that can actually lower the level of sea
level in that area.
Thank you very much. It is something that Senator
Whitehouse and I can agree on.
Senator Whitehouse. I appreciate Senator Wicker's comments.
Senator Inhofe. Are there other Senators wishing to be
heard?
Senator Sullivan.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAN SULLIVAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA
Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to commend you, the Ranking Member and
particularly the staffs on the hard work that has gone into
this legislation.
The one issue I think there will be, and we are starting to
see it in this bill and some of the amendments that were agreed
upon and bipartisan support for, is the whole issue of
streamlining our permitting system at the Federal level, not
cutting corners, but recognizing that in many ways, we have a
Federal permitting system on infrastructure, in particular,
that is broken.
We have all heard the different stories of 8 years, on
average, to permit a bridge. Nobody wants that. In the Commerce
Committee, we talked about airport infrastructure. We had a
witness, the manager of the Seattle Airport, who said it took
15 years to get Federal permitting done to expand a runway.
I think what we need to focus on, and this legislation
starts to focus on, is fixing a problem that the vast majority
of Americans would agree that we cannot have a permitting
system that takes years and sometimes over a decade to permit
important infrastructure projects.
I think this legislation starts to address that. I think it
is a very important bipartisan accomplishment.
Thank you.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Sullivan.
Senator Sanders.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BERNARD SANDERS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT
Senator Sanders. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to congratulate you, Senator Boxer and Senators
Vitter and Carper, for your very hard work.
I think, as you indicated, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Boxer,
as well, it is an international embarrassment when in this
great country we have an infrastructure which is crumbling. Who
can defend that?
Who believes that by not paying attention to it or turning
our backs on it, that it is going to get better? It is not
going to get better. It is an expensive proposition, and it is
one that we have to invest in.
While this is an excellent start, I am strongly supportive
of this legislation, but we should understand that according to
the American Society of Civil Engineers, the guys who know a
lot about this, we have a long, long way to go beyond this
legislation.
Our job is to rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges, water
systems, wastewater plants, our rail system, our levees and our
dams. When we do that, as you have indicated, Mr. Chairman, we
will make America more efficient, safer and more productive.
At a time when real unemployment is close to 11 percent, we
are going to create millions of decent paying jobs in areas
where we really need work to be done.
Again, I want to congratulate you, Senator Boxer and the
Ranking Members, for their excellent work on this legislation.
[The prepared statement of Senator Sanders follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Sanders.
Are there other Senators who want to be heard?
Senator Markey.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS
Senator Markey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to echo the praise of every other member thanking
you, Senator Boxer, and Senators Carper and Vitter, for your
excellent work, working together in partnership and bipartisan
fashion.
I would like to thank you for including the language which
I suggested adding safety to the historic concept of access in
terms of ensuring that highways are designed with the safety of
bicyclists and pedestrians also in mind.
I would like to also thank you for including language about
transit-oriented development. I think this change toward how we
view development, ensuring that there is up front financing
available so that these core centers of development can have
high anticipation of being able to build out around a transit
location is very, very important.
I would also say I have concerns about the change in
Section 4(f) of the historic site protections. I am not going
to make an amendment here today, but I do think many across the
country are going to be concerned about this change in terms of
the protection of historic sites.
I am going to attempt to work with the committee between
now and the floor to see if we cannot find a way of
accommodating those historic protections.
Again, congratulations, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Markey.
Senator Vitter.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID VITTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
Senator Vitter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to briefly thank you for your leadership, as
well as Senator Boxer and Senator Carper. I really enjoyed
working with all of you on this important bipartisan bill.
I am glad it is called the DRIVE Act. We talked about a lot
of important aspects of this issue, economic growth and safety,
but it is also about relieving congestion, improving people's
daily lives, letting them spend more time with families. It is
about all of those things.
Certainly it is very important to Louisiana, as it is to
all of your States. Our highway system is 40th in the Nation,
our interstates are 48th in the Nation, our bridges rank 10th
in the Nation on the bad end as the most deficient and New
Orleans and Baton Rouge both rank in the top 25 areas for
traffic congestion.
This bill does key things to help with all of those things
like bundling bridge projects together, making it a lot more
efficient; a new freight program that will relieve congestion
in New Orleans and Baton Rouge; prioritizing major projects
like I-49 and LA-1; improving safety measures; creating
certainty; and infrastructure investment in rural areas.
I look forward to passing this out of committee and passing
it through the Congress, a full 6-year bill. There is no reason
we cannot do this. There is no reason we cannot do it now if it
is a priority.
It is great to hear other leaders like Speaker Boehner
saying it is a priority. We need to prove it is priority by
passing this full 6-year bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Vitter.
It is a priority. Let us keep in mind the Constitution is
still out there. It states these are the two things we are
supposed to be doing here, defending America and roads and
bridges.
Senator Carper.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE
Senator Carper. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Again, my thanks to you, Senator Boxer and Senator Vitter.
I also wanted to take a minute and thank our staffs. We
have worked hard. You and Senator Boxer worked especially hard,
but our staffs really knocked themselves out. I just want to
say to everyone in the room who helped on this, maybe you have
given us a lot of input, and we appreciate that. Thank you all.
We are trying to impart a sense of urgency. God knows we
need to. The pastor at our church sometimes likes to say he
would rather see a sermon than hear one. Today, we are sort of
hearing the sermon but we need, as a collective body, to
actually show the people a sermon on being able to get things
done.
One of our favorite colleagues, Lamar Alexander, whom I
affectionately call LA, and I talked about our days as
Governors. He talked about transportation and tells this story.
He used to say when he was Governor, would not say let us raise
this tax or raise that tax in order to pay for something. He
would say, here is my vision for what Tennessee could be if we
were to do this or that in terms of transportation, bring the
auto industry to expand this business or that business, that
was the vision.
The people would say, that is a great vision, we love that
vision, but how are we going to pay for it. He would say,
first, let us agree on the vision, and then we go to work and
figure out how to pay for it.
Today, I think we are presenting a very appealing,
attractive and encouraging vision. The next challenge is to
figure out how to pay for it. I know we all have different
ideas of how to do that.
One of the ideas I think I talked to just about everyone on
this committee, everyone on the Finance Committee and a lot of
people on the Ways and Means Committee, and said what is your
idea of how to pay for this stuff. There were a lot of ideas,
some good, some very good. One of the ideas I consistently
heard was there has to be a way to fix the bill to fix roads,
highways, bridges, and transit systems in a more cost effective
way. There has to be a way to do that.
I just want to commend, especially the folks, the leaders
on our committee, who really tried to find more cost effective
ways. Time is money, and we sought to find ways to save some
time and hopefully to save some money.
I will close with this. Another one of my pastors back in
Wilmington, Delaware, likes to say, it is not so important how
high we jump in church that counts, it is what we do when our
feet hit the ground.
We are in church today and we are jumping up high. The
important thing is what we do when we hit the ground in the
Finance Committee, the Ways and Means Committee and those other
places. Hopefully, we will do the Lord's work and the peoples'
work at that time.
God bless you all. Amen. Church is over.
Senator Inhofe. Those were great observations. I agree with
that. Let us keep in mind though we have a couple other
committees that have a lesser role but a similar role. Our job
is exactly what we are doing today. That is why we should be
focused on what we are focused on. I think we will get it done.
Are there others who want to be heard?
Senator Sessions.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF SESSIONS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA
Senator Sessions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You and Senator Boxer have done an excellent job. I know
the commitment you both have to improving our highway program
and our infrastructure.
Senator Carper, I remember in our church, speaking of
churches, Mr. L.W. Brown would lay out this great vision, and
the treasurer, Mr. George Harster, would say, how are we going
to pay for it? I think you made a very important point.
The way I look at the numbers at first glance, it appears,
Mr. Chairman, this is a very frugal budget. We talk about
numbers that do not increase a lot over the next 6 years. We do
have a plan that would add $2 billion for the freight
transportation system but when you think about it, that is a 5
percent increase in a $40 billion to $50 billion budget. Then
there is some cost of living that we may see in there.
I just saw Senator Hatch in the hallway as I walked over. I
said, are you going to find our money? He said, yes. Maybe we
can relax.
I do think we need to watch and be responsible because
every committee, whether you have the National Institutes of
Health, the Defense Department, Education, you want more money
for your goal, and we all do. If we will stay responsible in
our spending and get legitimate pay-fors, I believe we can
shift some money to priorities. I do believe our infrastructure
is a priority.
Thank you for your leadership.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you.
Are there other Senators who wish to be heard?
Senator Wicker.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
Senator Wicker. Senator Carper, when I first joined the
First Baptist Church in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1982, at the end
of the service, we would all join hands and sing, There's a
Sweet, Sweet Spirit in This Place. Maybe we can adjourn by
doing that.
I do want to thank the leadership for working with Senator
Booker and me on several initiatives and for accepting some of
our proposals. I talked to Senator Booker at breakfast this
morning, and I know he has conflicts today. I had hoped I could
save this one matter until he got here.
Wicker-Booker Amendment No. 1, which I will not offer,
perhaps he and I will be able to push this through in a vote on
the floor. Here is what it deals with. Again, I stress I will
not offer this amendment.
This Congress used to earmark a small portion of our road
money for local concerns. This was much appreciated by the
local officials who cannot afford the roads and streets in
their own communities. That was controversial, and it was felt
by many members of the public that this added to the cost of
the bill, so we have abandoned the process of earmarking funds
for local concerns.
Wicker-Booker Amendment No. 1 would set aside 10 percent of
the money allocated to the States and allow local governments
to compete in a process set up by the State for those local
projects, giving the mayors, the county commissioners, and
boards of supervisors who come to see us at least some hope
they would have a chance to compete for a small portion of the
funding that will flow to the States through this Act.
To me, it has been something I think local officials have
been very excited about, very hopeful about, and I am sure
there will be some disappointment that it is not in the
committee's mark.
I will reiterate, we are not going to offer it at this
point, but it is, to me, a worthy suggestion and a worthy
project not to increase one penny of the spending in this bill,
but to set aside a small portion to give local counties and
municipalities some hope they will be able to meet the
infrastructure needs of their constituents.
Thank you again.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Wicker.
Senator Cardin.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND
Senator Cardin. Mr. Chairman, let me join the others in
congratulating you and Senator Boxer for reaching this
bipartisan agreement on a 6-year reauthorization of our Surface
Transportation Program.
I have been saying for months, I think most of us have,
that we needed a 6-year reauthorization. I congratulate you for
reaching, with Senator Boxer, I think a fair compromise, one
that I will strongly support. It provides the type of certainty
that is needed and provides for a modest increase in our
transportation funds which I think we need to get done, and it
is bipartisan.
I want to thank you for the manner in which you have
handled the transportation alternative programs. Senator
Cochran and I have worked on this for a long time, and I
appreciate the fact that you are not only including this
program that has been included in past authorizations but have
provided a modest increase in funds and greater local roles.
The local governments will have an even greater say as to
how their transportation alternative programs should be
structured in their own communities because they know best.
They are the ones who know how they can best handle the
problems of their own communities.
I thank you for doing that. I look forward to supporting
the bill. I intended to offer an amendment in regards to
transportation alternative programs, but I am not going to
offer that amendment.
I will later, when we get to the amendment process
reiterate the point that, as Senator Sanders said, I would hope
we could do more. To me, this is an important bill to get done.
Do not get me wrong, but I would hope that we could get
additional revenue, which is not this committee, and have a
more robust transportation commitment at the Federal level.
I think the Chairman and Ranking Member would both agree if
the funds are available, we would like to do more. I will give
a blueprint where I think we could do that as far as
authorization, if the funds were available.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Cardin.
Are there other Senators wishing to seek recognition?
Senator Gillibrand.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam
Ranking Member.
I am very grateful for this bill. I would like to speak on
an amendment I sponsored with Senator Merkley.
Our amendment reduces highway maintenance costs for States
by directing the Secretary of Transportation to use existing
authorities, programs and funding to encourage and facilitate
the use of pollinator-friendly vegetation in highway rights-of-
way.
This is an issue typically discussed in the Agriculture
Committee because obviously we need our pollinators to have
fruits and vegetables. There have been some real challenges to
them most recently with Colony Collapse Disorder.
This country is actually facing a pollinator crisis. This
past year, beekeepers reported colony losses at over 40
percent. This is economically devastating for commercial
beekeepers, but these losses concern us all.
In the U.S., the value of insect pollination to agriculture
is estimated at $16 billion annually. More than 30 percent of
the food produced in America requires insect pollination. This
includes apples from New York, plums from Idaho, almonds from
California, grains and seeds from South Dakota, grapes from
Oregon and many others.
The economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop
yields and increased production costs, has been estimated at
$5.7 billion per year, a staggering sum that affects our
States.
The potential causes of the declining bee population are
still being debated, parasites, pesticides, farming practices.
However, it is known that habitat loss is a main contributing
factor. Pollinators need places to forage, to eat in areas rich
with pollen and not treated with pesticides. In the U.S., there
are 17 million acres of rights-of-way next to highways that, if
managed properly, could provide this much needed area for
forage.
Finally and importantly, Mr. Chairman, this amendment saves
money for States. At least 20 State DOTs, including West
Virginia, Mississippi, Idaho, Arkansas, and Nebraska currently
utilize or invest in native and pollinator-friendly roadside
plantings.
Pollinator-friendly vegetation management requires less
frequent mowing, offers lower maintenance costs and better
control of invasive species, all without affecting road safety.
One study found that the cost savings from reduced mowing would
save 25 percent in roadside maintenance.
This amendment is a simple fix to address a major problem.
It saves money and is an easy step to save the pollinators that
are necessary for agriculture in our States. I hope all my
colleagues support it.
On another issue, I would like to speak on an amendment but
withdraw it, Gillibrand Amendment No. 2.
This amendment would give States the flexibility to use
funding they receive through the National Highway Performance
Program for bridge projects that are not on the national
highway system.
The Federal Government funded the construction of bridges
on the Federal-Aid Highway System. We have a responsibility to
ensure they are properly maintained. States and local
governments simply do not have the funds necessary to
adequately repair and reconstruct all of the Federal-aid
bridges not on the National Highway System and desperately need
our help.
In New York, one in three bridges is in need of repairs. It
would cost $1.8 billion to repair or replace all of them. This
is not a story unique to my State. States and localities across
this country lack adequate funding for bridge maintenance.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, one out
of every nine bridges in the United States is rated
structurally deficient, meaning that it is in need of repair.
While I appreciate the set aside in the Surface
Transportation Program for the non-NHS bridges that was
included in the bill, the set-aside does not fully solve the
problem if we only limit funding to 15 percent of existing STP
allocations.
By giving States like New York, which have a large number
of Federal-aid highway bridges that are not on the National
Highway System with the flexibility this amendment provides,
States can better prioritize and fund the bridge projects with
the most need, regardless of their designation on or off the
National Highway System.
I will not offer the amendment here in committee, but I
will offer it on the floor. I hope people will look at it, see
how it affects their States and whether they can support it.
My other amendments, Amendment Nos. 3 and 4, I will not
offer today. However, I will state briefly it is very important
for my State that we continue to work with local governments to
develop comprehensive safety policies similar to what New York
has done with the Vision Zero Program to reduce traffic
fatalities.
Additionally, we should also be working to find innovative
ways to accelerate project delivery for cities like New York
that have the capacity to work directly with the Federal
Government to carry out transportation projects.
I am very grateful for the work of this whole committee. I
think the bill is very strong, and I look forward to it moving
to the floor.
Senator Inhofe. I would remind Senator Gillibrand that we
did have your Amendment No. 1 as a part of the Manager's
Amendment which has now been adopted.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you all.
Senator Inhofe. Are there others? I do not want to start
losing people.
Senator Boxer. Thirty seconds?
Senator Inhofe. Thirty seconds.
Senator Boxer. Thirty seconds.
I just want to say how happy I am right now after hearing
from everyone and how rare these moments are. I believe in
marking good things. I look at Senator Sessions because I was
nervous about his response, but what he said was absolutely
true. We have done this to meet the need.
Yes, there will be struggles over how to pay. Dwight
Eisenhower said it very well, ``We cannot be a secure Nation if
we cannot have an infrastructure that works.'' I remember, I
was a little girl when he did an experiment where he tried to
get a convoy from the East Coast to the West Coast. It was
disastrous, and that is what made him realize this one Nation
under God has to have a good infrastructure system.
In closing, I would say this. We have to be a team across
party lines. With all of our concerns, we like to do things a
little different, let us just work together because I have also
spoken with Mitch McConnell's staff, and they were very
encouraging.
If we have Mitch McConnell encouraged, if we have John
Boehner encouraged, we have proven we can do this. Let us be
the strongest, united voice we can be to get this done. We have
36 days before the Trust Fund goes bust. This is a great day.
Senator Booker. Mr. Chairman, I know how much you really
want to hear my prepared remarks.
Senator Inhofe. I can put them in the record.
Senator Booker. I am going to deny you that and just put
them in the record as requested. I am sorry to disappoint my
fellow Senators.
I do want to just give some gratitude to Senator Wicker who
has been a strong partner with me in working to advance some
critical issues.
Thank you, sir.
[The prepared statement of Senator Booker follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Inhofe. He made that statement before he talked
about yours.
Seeing no further members wanting to seek recognition or
offer amendments, I am going to move to accept the underlying
text.
Senator Cardin. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to offer an
amendment. I did not know we were past that stage. I am going
to offer and withdraw, but I did not realize that was going to
be precluded. I will only take 30 seconds or maybe 60 seconds.
I wanted to call up Amendment No. 3, and I will withdraw
it. This is the Grow America Act which would increase the 6-
year authorization to $478 billion consistent with the
President's budget. I do that respectful of the strong support
for the underlying bill. I will withdraw the amendment.
I serve not only on this committee but the Senate Finance
Committee. I am going to be part of the process to find the
revenue necessary. I know there is a bipartisan group that
believes we can find additional revenue.
We think through international tax reform, there is an
opportunity for some permanent and one-time only revenues and
that infrastructure is critically important to this country. If
we are going to be able to be globally competitive, able to
deal with the safety challenges we have in our communities,
able to deal with the growth needs and able to get places
without the extreme congestion that exists today, able to do
all those issues, we need a program that is able to meet those
needs.
I think the Grow America Act would do that. I would
encourage us to keep an open mind if we can get the additional
revenues for a more robust plan than is currently being
submitted for approval here.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I would ask consent to withdraw
the amendment.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Senator Cardin.
I move to accept S. 1647, as amended and report the
legislation favorably to the Senate. Is there a second?
Senator Boxer. Second.
Senator Inhofe. There is a second. The Clerk will call the
roll.
The Clerk. Mr. Barrasso.
Senator Barrasso. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Booker.
Senator Booker. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Boozman.
Senator Inhofe. Aye by proxy.
The Clerk. Mrs. Boxer.
Senator Boxer. Aye.
The Clerk. Mrs. Capito.
Senator Capito. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Cardin.
Senator Cardin. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Carper.
Senator Boxer. Aye by proxy.
The Clerk. Mr. Crapo.
Senator Inhofe. Aye by proxy.
The Clerk. Mrs. Fischer.
Senator Fischer. Aye.
The Clerk. Mrs. Gillibrand.
Senator Gillibrand. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Markey.
Senator Markey. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Merkley.
Senator Boxer. Aye by proxy.
The Clerk. Mr. Rounds.
Senator Rounds. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Sanders.
Senator Sanders. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Sessions.
Senator Sessions. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Sullivan.
Senator Sullivan. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Vitter.
Senator Inhofe. Aye by proxy.
The Clerk. Mr. Whitehouse.
Senator Whitehouse. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Wicker.
Senator Wicker. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Chairman.
Senator Inhofe. Aye.
Senator Boozman. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Boozman votes aye.
Senator Inhofe. Senator Boozman votes aye in person.
The Clerk. Mr. Chairman, the yeas are 20, and the nays are
0.
Senator Inhofe. The bill passes.
I want to thank everyone for a good turnout this morning. I
appreciate you.
I want to get one more motion in here. I ask unanimous
consent that staff have the authority to make technical and
conforming changes to the measure approved today.
Senator Whitehouse. Mr. Chairman, I did not want to hold
anyone while the vote was pending, but I do want to also
particularly thank everyone for their support for what had been
known as the Projects of National Regional Significance. It is
now known as the AMP Project for big things because there are a
lot of big projects that need to be done. I think this will
allow that to happen. It is a very significant piece of the
bill. I thank all of our leaders for making sure that was
included.
Senator Inhofe. We have no more. We are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:14 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]
[all]