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