[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 23 (Friday, February 27, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1853-S1854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we will resume consideration 
of the gun manufacturers liability bill. We have made real progress 
over the course of the week. The managers are here to discuss the 
legislation and other Senators are expected to come to the floor for 
further debate over the course of the day.
  There will be no rollcall votes today. Therefore, the next vote will 
occur on Monday. As to the timing of that vote on Monday, I will have 
more to announce over the course of the day after consultation with the 
bill managers and the Democratic leader.
  Pursuant to the agreement that was reached on Wednesday, we will 
finish this bill on Tuesday. I thank everyone for their assistance in 
reaching that consent agreement. I commend the bill managers for their 
efforts during the negotiations.


                        Highway Reauthorization

  We have a very important outstanding issue before we finish our 
business this week. As Members know, the current highway authorization 
expires this weekend. Thus, it is imperative that we pass an extension 
of the authorization before we conclude our work today. I have talked 
to Members on both sides of the aisle, as well as to our House 
counterparts, as to how best to achieve this temporary extension.
  Yesterday the House passed a 2-month extension, and they have 
adjourned for the week. Regardless of what Senators think about the 
long-term solution for this legislation--legislation which we debated--
we have an issue that we must settle today in terms of the extension. 
The House, again, passed a 2-month extension. They sent that to us and 
they have adjourned.
  The real issue is that we absolutely must extend the current law to 
keep people working until we find some agreement. We will need to 
address this over the next several minutes because of the sense of 
urgency, the significance of not passing this highway extension today, 
this week. That is because beginning Monday, 3 days from now, no funds 
will be available to pay

[[Page S1854]]

for the operation of surface transportation programs or the salaries of 
individuals who run them. That is why we must act today.
  That means, as of this Monday, more than 4,600 Department of 
Transportation employees will be furloughed, if we fail to act today. 
The Federal Highway Administration will have to stop paying bills on 
Monday. That includes reimbursements to States for ongoing highway 
projects.
  Federal Highway Administration employees, 2,925 Federal Highway 
Administration employees, will be furloughed, in Washington, DC, and, 
indeed, in State offices around the country. If they are furloughed on 
Monday, these Federal Highway Administration employees will not be able 
to carry out the necessary steps required to approve the federally 
approved, funded highway projects. We have construction contractors and 
their suppliers who will suffer economic losses and hardships.
  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also will be 
affected. They would have to stop paying bills on Monday. There are 630 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration employees who would be 
furloughed. The operation of our Federal highway safety programs would 
be dramatically impacted. States would receive no Federal funding for 
things such as alcohol-impaired driving and safety belt programs.
  In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would 
have to stop its operations. The Motor Carrier Safety Administration 
employees, numbering 1,078, would have to be furloughed, and the agency 
and its partners would not be able to carry out the new entrant safety 
audits on motor carriers.
  The issues go on and on. I state those at the outset because by the 
end of the day we have to come to some agreement to make sure that what 
could happen doesn't happen. It is important for people to understand 
the significance of where we are, in particular the leadership, as we 
address the other important issues we will talk about shortly.
  For clarification, the House sent us two vehicles, a 2-month 
extension as well as a 4-month extension. The House is not in session 
today. The practical reality is we must pass one of the extensions--I 
think it would be the 2-month extension today--or 4,600 people are 
going to be laid off on Monday. We cannot let that happen.
  Now the challenge is to figure out how we are going to address that. 
Again, it is a very important issue, which I know my colleague from 
Arizona will address shortly and we need to resolve it.
  At this point, I am prepared to ask unanimous consent to allow us to 
pass the short-term extension. I know Senators will want to comment.

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