[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 133 (Monday, October 23, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S10894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            PIPELINE SAFETY

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, one of the more glaring disappointments of 
the 106th Congress has been the recent rejection by the House of 
Representatives of comprehensive pipeline safety legislation. This 
legislation, S. 2438, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000, 
passed the Senate unanimously on September 7, 2000. It is the result of 
months of an extraordinary bipartisan effort by Senators John McCain, 
Patty Murray, Slade Gorton, Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici. 
Significant contributions to the legislation were also made by Senators 
John Breaux, Fritz Hollings, Sam Brownback, Ron Wyden, John Kerry, Kay 
Bailey Hutchison and Byron Dorgan.
  I also feel some ownership of this effort. I serve on the Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which prepared the 
bill for the Senate's consideration, and my home state of Mississippi 
hosts many, many miles of pipelines. These issues are important to me.
  Mr. President, S. 2438 is an excellent bill. It is probably the most 
significant rewrite of our pipeline safety laws in more than a decade. 
It is a tough bill. It comes on the heels of horrific accidents in 
Bellingham, Washington, Carlsbad, New Mexico, and in locations in 
Texas, that resulted in the deaths of a total of 17 people. The authors 
of this bill were determined to put the necessary specific requirements 
into the pipeline safety statutes that would prevent these kinds of 
accidents from happening in the future. They were successful. The bill 
represents a watershed change in the types of requirements on pipeline 
operators for inspection, pipeline facility monitoring and testing, 
employee training, disclosure of information, enforcement, research and 
development, management and accountability. It is as comprehensive, 
tough, and complete as to be expected of a bill that emerged from a 
thorough process of hearings, both here and in the field, data 
gathering, and working with the Administration, states and local 
groups. It is the kind of legislative work product to be expected from 
the experience, independence and determination of the Senators who 
worked on S. 2438. The pipeline industry had no choice but to submit to 
this legislation. Ultimately it received the affirmative vote of more 
than three-fourths of the Congress--all of the Senate and just under 
two-thirds of the House. It received the written praise of the 
Secretary of Transportation and the Vice President of the United 
States.
  However, this comprehensive bill was opposed bitterly by a minority 
of the House, a minority who was still of sufficient number to prevent 
the bill's passage by the House under suspension of the rules. The 
Administration did not lift a finger to help pass the bill in the 
House. The motivation of this opposition may have been to prevent 
enactment of good legislation so the 106th can be called a ``do 
nothing'' Congress. It may have been aimed at keeping an issue 
unresolved so it can be exploited in the future. There may have been 
other motivations. Whatever the motivations were, admirable or not so 
admirable, the result is another form of tragedy--there will be more 
accidents resulting in more deaths because thus far the 106th Congress 
has been prevented from implementing this improvement of public safety.
  Mr. President, there is no question that this bill would make much 
needed improvements in pipeline safety. The Administration and the 
pipeline industry could have begun work on these improvements--and 
could still if the bill were yet to pass in the waning days of the 
106th Congress. But if, on the other hand and as is likely, this 
minority in the House gets its wish, and the bill does not pass, these 
safety improvements will not be made. They will not be made until that 
time in the future when we have returned to this issue and overcome 
this minority's opposition.
  In the meantime there will be pipeline accidents. I would not want to 
be the one to have to explain to the victims of such an accident that I 
sacrificed the protections of this good bill so that a future Congress 
could enact protections too late. I say shame on those in the House and 
in the Administration who are letting these protections die.
  Mr. President, the protections of S. 2438 should be put in place now. 
If additional protections are shown to be needed, they should be added 
by the next Congress. Senator McCain and his coalition in the Senate 
have pledged to continue their good work on pipeline safety in the 
future. However, Congress should not adjourn empty-handed. To do so 
with such an excellent bill in our hands now makes no sense.
  The most powerful source of cynicism about government is the 
suspicion by our citizen's that politicians put political advantage 
above doing the work of the public. In looking at the House minority's 
actions on pipeline safety, I find much justification for that 
cynicism.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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