    [Senate Hearing 116-231]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                           S. Hrg. 116-231

                                BUSINESS MEETING

    =======================================================================

                                    MEETING

                                   before the

                                  COMMITTEE ON
                          ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                               FEBRUARY 11, 2020

                                   __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works

     [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                  ______

                  U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
     40-873 PDF             WASHINGTON : 2020

                   COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                        JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Chairman
    JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma            THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware,
    SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia      Ranking Member
    KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota           BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
    MIKE BRAUN, Indiana                  BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
    MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota            SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
    DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
    JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas               KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York
    ROGER WICKER, Mississippi            CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
    RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama              EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
    JONI ERNST, Iowa                     TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
                                         CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland

                  Richard M. Russell, Majority Staff Director
                  Mary Frances Repko, Minority Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

                               FEBRUARY 11, 2020
                               OPENING STATEMENTS

    Barrasso, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming......     1
    Wicker, Hon. Roger, U.S. Senator from the State of Mississippi...     2
    Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware..    33

                                  LEGISLATION

    S. 3239, the William T. Coleman, Jr., Department of
      Transportation Headquarters Act................................     4
    General Services Administration Resolutions......................     6

                                BUSINESS MEETING

                                  ----------

                           TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

                                           U.S. Senate,
                     Committee on Environment and Public Works,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee, met, pursuant to notice, at 9:47 a.m. in
    room 406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Barrasso
    (Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
        Present: Senators Barrasso, Carper, Capito, Cramer, Braun,
    Rounds, Sullivan, Wicker, Ernst, Cardin, Merkley, Gillibrand,
    and Van Hollen.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO,
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WYOMING

        Senator Barrasso. Good morning. I call this business
    meeting to order.
        Today, we are going to consider one bill and 18 General
    Services Administration Resolutions.
        Senator Carper and I have agreed that we will begin voting
    at 9:55. At that time, I will call up the items on the agenda.
        We are not going to debate the items on the agenda while we
    are voting. Instead, we are going to debate them before we
    begin voting.
        I will also be happy to recognize any member who still
    wishes to speak after the voting concludes.
        Today, we are going to consider S. 3239, the William T.
    Coleman, Jr., Department of Transportation Headquarters Act.
    Senator Wicker introduced S. 3239 at the end of January. I
    joined the bill as an original cosponsor, and so did Ranking
    Member Carper and Senators Booker, Cantwell, Casey, Harris,
    Toomey, Scott, and Inhofe.
        I want to thank Senator Wicker for his work on this
    bipartisan piece of legislation.
        William T. Coleman devoted his life to public service. He
    was the first African American Secretary of Transportation, and
    only the second African American to hold a cabinet level
    position. The bill commemorates his legacy by designating the
    United States Department of Transportation's headquarters as
    the William T. Coleman, Jr., Federal Building.
        A Republican, Coleman was an advisor to every President,
    Republican and Democrat, from Dwight David Eisenhower through
    George W. Bush. His service included appointments to several
    presidential commissions.
        As an esteemed civil rights attorney, Coleman was a lead
    strategist and co-author of the legal brief filed for the
    Supreme Court seminal case on racial inequality, Brown v. the
    Board of Education. His participation in this landmark case
    came just a few years after he broke new ground as the first
    African American to clerk for a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
        At Harvard Law School, Coleman was the third African
    American to serve on the Board of Editors of the Harvard Law
    Review. He graduated in 1946, ranked first in his class.
        Coleman broke down racial barriers for others who came
    after him. In 1995, Coleman was awarded the Nation's highest
    civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his
    contributions to the legal profession and to society.
        William T. Coleman, Jr., passed away in March 2017. It is
    an honor to join my fellow Senators to celebrate the life of
    such a distinguished American, and I encourage every Senator to
    support this legislation.
        Today, we are also going to consider 18 resolutions to
    approve prospectuses providing for General Services
    Administration's leases. These prospectuses will allow agencies
    including the Federal Bureau of Investigation to consolidate
    space, resulting in increased efficiency and saving taxpayer
    money. The Federal Government stands to save roughly three and
    a half million dollars each year if all of the prospectuses are
    approved.
        In a few seconds, I will turn to Senator Carper for his
    opening statement, and if any other member has anything that
    they would like to offer at this time, I would be happy to
    recognize them.
        As we are waiting for Senator Carper, who has been
    unavoidably detained, I would like to call on Senator Wicker at
    this time, as the piece of legislation that we are voting on
    today is one with you as the original sponsor, and a number of
    us as original cosponsors.
        Senator Wicker, at your convenience.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER,
               U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

        Senator Wicker. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and
    fellow members, Republican and Democrat. I do appreciate the
    support, the co-sponsorship of this important step that the
    Committee will take today. To honor a man of heroic achievement
    and inspiration, a pioneer, and what better month to do it than
    February, Black History Month.
        William T. Coleman, Jr., was an accomplished legal scholar,
    World War II veteran, and civil rights leader who had already
    left his mark on history, and then he became a cabinet
    secretary. He was the first African American to clerk for the
    U.S. Supreme Court. As a young attorney, he worked on five
    cases for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, cases that lead
    directly to the Court's landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of
    Education.
        He was also co-council in the McLaughlin v. Florida case
    that led to the end of State bans on interracial marriage. How
    far we have come since then. Our honoree would later serve on
    presidential commissions during the Eisenhower, Kennedy,
    Johnson, and Nixon administrations.
        In 1975, he was tapped by President Gerald Ford to be the
    Nation's fourth Secretary of Transportation, the first African
    American to hold such a position, and only the second African
    American to hold any cabinet level position.
        Secretary Coleman provided a forward looking vision for the
    future of transportation, spearheading the first comprehensive
    national study on transportation policy, and several important
    reform efforts. The William T. Coleman, Jr., Department of
    Transportation Headquarters Act would name the Department of
    Transportation's headquarters after this groundbreaking leader.
        I want to thank my colleagues, Chairman Barrasso, Ranking
    Member Carper, and Senators Cantwell, Tim Scott, Harris,
    Toomey, Casey, Booker, and Inhofe, for cosponsoring this
    important legislation, and I am sure others will want to
    cosponsor it also, but we just needed to go ahead and bring the
    bill up at this point.
        So, Mr. Chairman and my fellow Senators, I think we will
    all agree this is a fitting tribute, will be a fitting tribute,
    a lasting tribute to a distinguished public servant which will
    honor his legacy for generations to come.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Barrasso. Well, thank you very much, Senator
    Wicker. We appreciate your leadership on this and are looking
    forward to getting this out of Committee today.
        Would anyone else like to make any comments or statements
    prior to the vote? Because we do have enough members who have
    arrived, and Senator Carper has agreed to hold his opening
    statement until after the vote. Because we know a number of
    people have conflicts starting in a few moments.
        So now that enough members have arrived, I would like to
    move to vote on the item on today's agenda.
        The Ranking Member and I have agreed to vote on S. 3239,
    the William T. Coleman, Jr., Department of Transportation
    Headquarters Act, and the 18 General Services Administration
    Resolutions, en bloc, by voice. Members may choose to have
    their votes recorded for a specific item in that block after
    the voice vote.
        I would now like to call up S. 3239, the William T.
    Coleman, Jr., Department of Transportation Headquarters Act and
    18 General Services Administration Resolutions en bloc.
        [The text of S. 3239 and the General Services
    Administration Resolutions follow:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Barrasso. I move to approve and report S. 3239 and
    approve 18 GSA Resolutions en bloc.
        Is there a second?
        Senator Carper. Second.
        Senator Barrasso. All those in favor, say aye.
        [Chorus of ayes.]
        Senator Barrasso. Opposed, say nay.
        [No audible response.]
        Senator Barrasso. In the opinion of the Chair, as the eyes
    have it, we have approved S. 3239, which will be reported
    favorably to the Senate. We have also approved 18 GSA
    Resolutions.
        The voting part of the business meeting is finished. I
    would be happy to recognize any member, but want to start with
    Senator Carper. So any other members may make a statement on
    the legislation or resolutions that we have just approved.
        Senator Carper.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER,
                U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE

        Senator Carper. Senator Cardin said, don't take this
    personally, I don't.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Carper. Good morning, everybody, and thanks Mr.
    Chairman, and thanks to our staff for the work you have done,
    that has been done on the agenda today, two agenda items today.
    As our Chairman has already noted, even before I got here, we
    have considered legislation to designate the U.S. Department of
    Transportation headquarters building as the William T. Coleman,
    Jr., Federal Building.
        I believe the naming of that headquarters after Mr. Coleman
    is a fitting tribute as we celebrate African American History
    Month again this year. Mr. Coleman was the fourth Secretary of
    Transportation and the second African American to hold a
    cabinet-level post in our Nation's history. Think about that.
        Mr. Coleman wrote in his autobiography these words,
    passionate words, he said, ``We cannot simply build highways
    willy nilly. We need coordinated regional transportation plans
    that preserve the quality of urban life, conserve energy, and
    reduce air pollution, including that from the new threat of
    greenhouse gas emissions.''
        That was like, decades ago. Talk about somebody who was
    ahead of his time. Mr. Coleman's words have even greater
    meaning today as we confront this global climate crisis.
        I asked my staff, I said find a quote from William Coleman
    that I might slip into my remarks, and that one really nails
    it. But to dedicate the Department of Transportation
    headquarters when the Federal Government takes possession of
    the building next month, is an honor befitting Mr. Coleman's
    lifetime of service.
        I am happy to be an original cosponsor of the legislation
    along with you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased that we are moving
    this legislation today.
        Today, we are also taking up 18 General Services
    Administration Prospectuses Resolutions which will release most
    of the backlog that has built up here at our Committee. I would
    be remiss if I did not mention that many concerns still remain
    from the Old Post Office Lease, to recent news by USDA and the
    Bureau of Land Management to what needs to be done for and with
    the FBI headquarters building.
        Regarding the FBI, for example, we still have, I didn't
    believe this at first, I double checked with my staff, but I am
    told we still have questions for the record that have gone
    unanswered. These questions for the record are from an
    oversight hearing this Committee held almost 2 years ago.
        Let me just say that again. We have not received answers
    from GSA to questions from members of this Committee from a
    hearing almost 2 years ago. In that same hearing, GSA indicated
    that they would be sending up prospectuses regarding the FBI
    headquarters. Two years later, we are still waiting.
        Let me say that again, too. At that same hearing, GSA
    indicated that they would be sending up a prospectus regarding
    the FBI headquarters. Two years later, we are still waiting for
    that, too.
        We know the Hoover Building in downtown Washington, DC, is
    unsafe, but action remains unseen.
        I hope we can continue to work together to press for
    answers with you, Mr. Chairman, and with all of our colleagues
    on this Committee.
        With that, I look forward to again concluding this meeting
    this morning.
        I want to thank you, Senator Barrasso, I want to thank you
    as our Chairman, along with our colleagues and members of their
    staff for all the work that has been done to make this meeting
    both swift and productive.
        Thanks.
        Senator Barrasso. Well, thank you very much, Senator
    Carper, for your ongoing leadership on these very important
    issues.
        I do ask unanimous consent that the staff have authority to
    make technical and conforming changes to each of the matters
    that have been approved today.
        With that, our business meeting is concluded, and we are
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 10 a.m., the business meeting was
    concluded.]