[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2302-S2303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Hollings, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. 
        Inouye, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Ford):
  S. 1802. A bill to authorize appropriations for the Surface 
Transportation Board for fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001; to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.


      the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 1998

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Surface 
Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 1998. I am pleased to 
be joined in sponsoring this measure by several members of the Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, including Senator 
Hollings, Ranking Member, Senators Hutchison and Inouye, Chair and 
Ranking Member of the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine 
Subcommittee, as well as Senators Lott and Ford.
  Mr. President, the introduction of this bill today is intended to 
demonstrate our Committee's firm commitment to enact legislation 
extending the authorization for the Surface Transportation Board during 
this session of Congress. The bill we are introducing is simple. It 
proposes to reauthorize the STB for three years and provide sufficient 
resources to ensure the agency is able to continue to carry out its 
serious responsibilities.
  Mr. President, I want to stress to my colleagues that this is a 
working piece of legislation. The Senate Commerce Committee intends to 
fully explore the resource needs of the Board, along with proposals to 
provide for any statutory changes as may be necessary. The Surface 
Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee has already scheduled a 
hearing on the STB reauthorization for March 31st and I want to commend 
Chairman Hutchison for her expeditious action on this important 
reauthorization hearing.
  During the reauthorization process, I further anticipate we will 
continue our examination of rail service and rail shipper problems in 
addition to the more general reauthorization issues. The Surface 
Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee has held two fields 
hearings and a third hearing on rail service problems will be conducted 
next month.
  Rail service and rail shipper issues warrant serious consideration, 
but I believe specific rail service and rail shipper problems and cases 
are best resolved by the Board. The Congress established the STB as an 
independent non-political authority to deal with these very exact 
problems and I believe we must continue to assist the Board in 
fulfilling its statutory duties responsibly and independently.
  I look forward to working on this important transportation 
legislation and hope my colleagues will agree to join with me and the 
other sponsors in expeditiously moving this necessary transportation 
reauthorization through the legislative process.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1802

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Surface Transportation Board 
     Reauthorization Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION LEVELS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the Surface 
     Transportation Board $16,190,000 for fiscal year 1999, 
     $16,642,000 for fiscal year 2000, and $17,111,000 for fiscal 
     year 2001.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I am happy to cosponsor, along with 
Senators McCain, Inouye, Hutchison, Lott, and Ford, this bill to 
reauthorize appropriations for the Surface Transportation Board 
(Board). The Board is the independent agency which oversees the 
nation's rail transportation industry. The Board also has some 
authority over the interstate bus system, pipeline system, and rail 
labor-management disputes. It should be said that the Congress gave 
this small agency, with less than 150 people, the job that had been 
done by the old Interstate Commerce Commission with, at its peak, 1600 
people. We demanded that

[[Page S2303]]

the Board do more with less and we demanded that it be evenhanded, 
fair-minded, and tackle some very tough, contentious issues. I am happy 
to report that the Board has done all of that and more.
  Since its inception, the Board has had a pending caseload of between 
400 and 500 adjudications related to all of its functions. The number 
of rail cases pending at the Board remains relatively constant because, 
even as cases are resolved, new cases are filed. Even with its 
relatively meager resources the Board has met every rulemaking deadline 
set by Congress in the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act. 
It has resolved close to 200 motor carrier undercharge cases. It has 
set and met deadlines and established simplified procedures for 
handling pending cases. It has also dealt with the important and 
difficult issue of rail carriers providing rates to shippers in the so-
called ``bottleneck'' cases. While this issue is now before the courts, 
it is the Board that has tried to steer a course allowing the rail 
carriers to earn a decent return on their investment while providing 
shippers with needed transportation at reasonable rates.
  In the area of rail regulation, the Board has worked on several 
important rail restructuring cases, including several complex line 
construction cases, the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific merger, and the 
pending Conrail acquisition case (in which approximately 80 decisions 
have already been issued). It has tackled the rail service emergency in 
the West in many ways, including its issuance of an emergency service 
order on October 31, 1997, which has been extended and expanded upon 
twice and is in place through August 2, 1998. In addition, the Board is 
holding two days of hearings on the rail service emergency in the 
beginning of next month. We must applaud Linda Morgan, the Chairman of 
the Board, on her leadership and the men and women of the Board on 
their hard work and dedication and as we do so we must be mindful that 
more, much more, will be expected of them. Two additional rail mergers 
have been announced, both of critical importance to the nation. I have 
every confidence in Chairman Morgan and the STB to meet and surmount 
these latest challenges.
  This bill represents my commitment to seeing that the Board is 
reauthorized for a multi-year span and is given the resources it needs 
to continue its vital work. Absent the Board, neither shippers nor rail 
carriers would have an effective forum to adjudicate disputes and 
ensure a first rate nationwide rail transportation system.
                                 ______