[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 108 (Thursday, September 14, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7627-H7628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 4475, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 4475) making appropriations for the 
Department of Transportation and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes, with a Senate 
amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to the 
conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.


                 Motion To Instruct Offered By Mr. Sabo

  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.
  The Clerk read as follows:
       Mr. SABO moves that the managers on the part of the House 
     at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses 
     on the bill, H.R. 4475, be instructed to insist on no less 
     than $43,144,000, the amount provided in the Senate 
     amendment, for the pipeline safety program.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Sabo) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) each will be 
recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo).
  (Mr. SABO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this motion to instruct conferees is very 
straightforward. It is a motion to help make our communities safer and 
cleaner by providing increased resources to protect them from the 
dangers of and damage from pipeline explosions, failures, and leaks.
  As the conference on the differences between the House and Senate 
versions of the fiscal 2001 transportation appropriations bill begins, 
we now have an opportunity to provide these additional resources to the 
Office of Pipeline Safety that the Office of Pipeline Safety needs.
  For fiscal year 2001, the Secretary of Transportation has requested 
$47 million for pipeline safety activities, an increase of $10 million 
more than last year. And while neither the House nor the Senate 
transportation appropriations bills provide the full increase 
requested, we ought to get as close to that mark as we possibly can in 
the final conference agreement.
  This motion to instruct directs the House conferees to agree to no 
less than $43 million that is included in the Senate amendment for the 
Office of Pipeline Safety. The Senate level would provide $3 million 
more than the House level of $40 million and $6 million more than last 
year. This is the minimum amount that we should provide.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. 
Udall).
  (Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, on a warm summer, predawn day 
on August 19 of this year, several families were sleeping at a campsite 
20 miles south of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Without notice, a 30-inch 
diameter natural gas pipeline blasted through the earth, sprouting a 
350-foot high fireball and causing a 20-foot-deep, 86-foot-long and 46-
foot-wide blast crater.
  This accident tragically killed a total of 12 people, including five 
children camped near the site of the explosion. Examination of the 
broken pipe determined that corrosion had eaten away one-half of the 
50-year-old pipeline's wall in places.
  Mr. Speaker, in order for Americans to be assured that the oil and 
gas pipeline industry is properly regulated and the communities have 
the opportunity to oversee these operations, we must fully fund the 
Office of Pipeline Safety. Fully funding of the Office of Pipeline 
Safety is a proper start to regulating an industry that has gone too 
far and too long without proper oversight.
  The bill I have cosponsored with the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
Inslee), H.R. 4792, the Comprehensive Pipeline Safety Improvement Act 
of 2000, emphasizes increased pipeline inspections and public 
notification of where pipelines are located. It also would require 
stricter certification for pipeline operators and employees.
  This issue is a matter of community and worker safety. We must be at 
the forefront of this topic by providing full funding for the Office of 
Pipeline Safety so that we can better protect our citizens from natural 
gas catastrophes.
  I urge all Members to support the motion to instruct.
  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Inslee).
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I stand here to say that our national oil 
and gas pipeline safety standards are a national disgrace. They are 
more like Swiss cheese than safety standards. And as a result of those 
wholesale failures to inspect pipelines, we had three young people die 
in Bellingham, Washington, and we have entire families being 
incinerated in New Mexico. And while these tragedies occur, indeed 
Congress fiddles.
  For every one safety inspector in this country, we have almost 50,000 
miles of pipeline. We have a wholesale failure to do these inspections. 
And this will take one step forward to increase probably 30 inspectors 
so we can move on with these inspections.
  Let me say that giving resources to the Office of Pipeline Safety is 
not enough. It is not simply a matter of resources. It is a matter of 
will and statute. We have wholesale failure of having an adequate 
statute, as well.
  We are calling upon this House in this Congress to adopt meaningful, 
aggressive, comprehensive revisions of our oil and gas pipeline 
standards. We have several bills pending in the House. We are calling 
for the leaders of the House of both parties in this Chamber to adopt a 
comprehensive inspection standard.
  Let me advise the House there is a bill that has come from the other 
Chamber. It is woefully inadequate. It does not require inspections by 
statute. It again goes down that rose-colored path of giving discretion 
to the Office of Pipeline Safety. That is the path of

[[Page H7628]]

 failure. We have to adopt a standard that cannot give any wiggle room 
to the industry or to the bureaucrats.
  Let us pass a strong comprehensive bill this year out of this 
Chamber. America deserves no less.
  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I accept the instruction and pledge to work with the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo) and our staff with his staff to get 
this number to the highest possible that we can. So, publicly, I think 
it is a good instruction. Let us just not do an instruction and walk 
away and nothing ever happen. Let us get the number up.
  So I will work with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo), and I 
completely agree and we accept.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his generous comments. My 
friend, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), has always been someone 
highly committed to safety in the various transportation modes, and I 
congratulate him for his continued effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo).
  The motion was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the Chair appoints the 
following conferees:
  Messrs. Wolf, DeLay, Regula, Rogers, Packard, Callahan, Tiahrt, 
Aderholt, Ms. Granger, and Messrs. Young of Florida, Sabo, Olver, 
Pastor, Ms. Kilpatrick, and Messrs. Serrano, Forbes, and Obey.
  There was no objecton.

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