[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 76 (Thursday, June 3, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3743-H3746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 3550, TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT: A
LEGACY FOR USERS
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take
from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 3550) to authorize funds for
Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs,
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 (Mr. Ose). Is there objection to the request
of the gentleman from Alaska?
There was no objection.
Motion To Instruct Offered By Mr. Oberstar
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Oberstar 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. 3550) to authorize funds for
Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit
programs, and for other purposes, be instructed to insist on
the language contained in section 1101(a)(21)(A) and section
1120(a) of the House bill that establishes and provides
funding for a safe routes to school program for the benefit
of children in primary and middle schools.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule XXII, the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) each
will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar).
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted we have reached this point. I know that
the point of going to conference and appointing conferees, I know that
the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr.
Young) would, as I, have liked to have had this bill on the House floor
last fall; and I think we could have. We could well have had this bill
enacted by now, and we could well have been on our way to creating
475,000 new jobs and $80 billion in total economic activity if the
committee had been allowed to work its will, as we did in committee.
However, other forces intervened; and this is legislative process.
We are where we are now, thank heavens; and we will be able to move
ahead and I hope to reach the outcome that we all desire of getting a
robust investment in transportation through conference, through the
House and the other body and to the President for signature.
I pledge, as I have done from the outset of this process and
demonstrated, that we will bend every constructive effort toward that
purpose on our side, working in concert with the chair and the
majority.
I look forward to a good conference. We have a very good contingent
on our side as on the Republican side, and I know that we are all
committed together, constructively working to achieve the purpose of a
major investment in transportation over the next 6 years.
The motion that I offer instructs the conferees to insist on the
innovative Safe Routes to School Program included in the House-passed
bill. Innovation but one that has been widely tested, is enormously
popular and powerfully supported in more than 26 States across the
country since the two pilot projects were undertaken in Marin County,
California, and in Arlington, Massachusetts. In Marin County, basically
a bicycling to school project and in Arlington, Massachusetts,
principally pedestrian activity.
In Safe Routes to School, California, the nine participating
elementary schools in the Marin County region that joined in this pilot
program went from 2 percent of children walking and bicycling to school
to 54 percent today.
This is an enormous vote of support for a healthy life-style, and it
is this quality-of-life issue that is a driving force as we move ahead
with this transportation bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize this motion to recommit is one I support. It
is a motion that will I think make the bill's purposes be specifically
spelled out. And I would suggest that what the gentleman, the ranking
member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) said, this is a
working instrument, bipartisan, by all Members of both sides of the
aisle who have worked
[[Page H3744]]
very long and hard to arrive at a decision and passed a bill which we
believe is a very good piece of legislation.
But we requested going to conference. It is because of the
differences, as usual, between the Senate and the House, as it should
be. It is my hope, with the cooperation we have had in the past, we
will be able to talk to the Senate and convince them that we are in the
right position at the right time.
I will say, everybody knows where we came from, to begin with, it is
a considerable amount of more money than passed the House. The Senate
does have more money in the bill, and it is now our job to try to reach
a decision to do what is best for this great Nation of ours in our
infrastructure.
I have to stress that, and infrastructure is the key to our economy.
Infrastructure is what makes all other things work in this legislative
body. Without good transportation, we are unable to provide the monies
for Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drugs, border patrol, Social
Security, all those good things we talked about. The only thing that
drives that is infrastructure that makes people and product move. So we
believe that we have a good piece of legislation.
On the House side, it passed overwhelmingly, the largest single vote
that any Congress has ever voted on a transportation bill. It was done
in this House. We had less negative votes than any other time.
And, again, we passed it over to the Senate. They rejected it. We
rejected what they sent us, and now it is up to us to ask for this
conference. I am hoping that the Senate and House Members will work
together, collectively, and we will arrive at a very rapid solution to
this very, very important issue to this great Nation.
Again, I want to stress to Members that may be watching in their
offices is this is a friendly motion to instruct, one which I support;
and if there is a vote, and I expect to ask for a vote, I will ask for
a yes vote.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 45 seconds to extol the
labors of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski).
He has been a constant, solid, secure, wise, counselor as we worked
our way through the various provisions of this legislation in the
internal negotiations in committee and through the mark-up; and I look
forward to his continued participation as a seasoned hand in the House-
Senate Conference on Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), the ranking member on the Subcommittee on
Highways, Transit and Pipelines.
{time} 1330
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr.
Oberstar) for the time.
I want to stay that I strongly support this motion to instruct. This
is an enormously important program. It is one that the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member, has worked on for a long,
long period of time. It is something that I personally am very much
interested in, being a cyclist myself; and it is one that I know the
gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Chairman Petri) also have supported very strongly, and I appreciate
their support.
But in talking about the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) and
the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Petri), I want to once again
stress the fact that the product that we have produced out of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a product that the
Republicans and the Democrats shared equally in. We worked in concert.
We certainly did have some disagreements. There were certainly some
things that we did not see eye to eye on, but we resolved those in a
very honest, open manner.
I want to compliment the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) once
again for the patience and the persistence that he has demonstrated in
moving this bill to the floor of the House of Representatives. I know
it has been very difficult for him. There have been many extenuating
circumstances that have delayed things, but it certainly was not any
fault of his.
I know that if the Senate will be as cooperative, as helpful, as
understanding as we in the House have been in putting this legislation
together that it should not take long for this conference committee to
agree upon a bill to bring back to the House and Senate and to move on
to the President so that we can really energize this economy in this
country.
There is no more important bill for the economy that this legislative
body can deal with than this bill dealing with highways and mass
transit in the United States of America. As my favorite President of
the 20th century said, this type of bill is a jobs, jobs, jobs bill. We
need that in this economy, but we need more ways to move people around,
and this is the way to do it.
I thank the gentleman very much for the time.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield what time he may consume to
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), the chairman of the
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency
Management, a member of the conference.
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the distinguished
ranking member of our full committee for making this the subject of the
motion to instruct conferees, and it is a tribute to not only him but
the bipartisan nature in which this committee works to build America's
infrastructure, and it continues his vision and the vision of those
that worked back with him in 1991 when they created ISTEA and continued
through TEA-21 and now moves forward into TEA-LU in that it recognizes
that there needs to be intermodalism and there is more to
transportation than just concrete, asphalt and moving people in their
automobiles.
The Safe Routes to School program is something that has worked very,
very well; and by expanding it to a national level and asking our
friends in the Senate in this motion to instruct to accede to the
language that we have included in the bill is exactly the right thing
to do, and I give the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) a lot of
credit for again making this the point that we are talking about today.
It is a great day for the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, and it is a great day for the Nation that we are moving
this process forward. There have been some fits and starts on this
bill. We had some differing levels when it came to funding. We had a
little tip from the White House over what that funding should be, but
only when we get in a conference and are able to talk with our friends
and colleagues from the United States Senate about what divides us on
the bill and engage the White House can we hopefully convince them
that, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) indicated, this is
a jobs bill. This bill is critically important to not only relieving
congestion; it is important to make sure that men and women in this
country are working.
The great thing about working is that these are jobs that cannot be
outsourced. There has been a lot of talk about outsource. These are
American construction jobs that are going to take place in American
cities and American towns all across the country.
So I am very pleased that we are at this stage today, and I want to
go back to this motion to instruct to conclude.
Sometimes around here we name things in a way that sounds nice, but
they are really not good programs. That is not the case with Safe
Routes to School. It is a good program, and it deserves our support;
and I hope we are able to convince our friends in the Senate to do the
same.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me begin my
remarks by thanking both the chairman and our ranking member for such a
cooperative spirit in this committee; and it is appreciated by, I am
certain, Members on both sides of the aisle.
I rise in strong support of the Oberstar motion to instruct conferees
to accept the Safe Routes to School program as included in H.R. 3550.
The House version outlines a stronger, more flexible program than the
Senate version. The House version will provide much-needed funding for
infrastructure improvement and safety initiatives, ensure that States
receive no less than
[[Page H3745]]
$2 million a year, and would improve the ability of kids to safely and
conveniently get to school by walking or biking.
In my home State of Texas, the requests for funding for this popular
initiative have been overwhelming, with request amounts far exceeding
our current budget amounts.
So I urge my colleagues to address the congestion around our Nation's
schools and provide increased physical fitness opportunities for kids
by supporting this motion to instruct.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers at this
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The inspiration for this initiative in this legislation was a report
by the Centers For Disease Control of the U.S. Public Health Service,
the Department of Health and Human Services some 4 years ago. I
participated in this conference and listened to the presentation that
over 300,000 Americans a year die of obesity and its complications, the
second-leading cause of death in America. Yet 25 percent of America's
15-and-under school children are clinically obese; 36 percent of all
Americans are obese or are seriously clinically overweight. We are
facing a health epidemic that 75 percent of children 15 and under do
not walk, do not bicycle to school or associated activities; they are
driven. That is a class in our society that is mobility challenged.
I heard these numbers and others that I will not repeat here that
just show an emerging health crisis with huge implications for obesity,
for cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and other related
illnesses.
The Centers For Disease Control raised the flag. I thought we ought
to have a response. I gathered together a group of active-living
organizations, those bicycling and pedestrian and other outdoor
activities, cited those figures and said I have got an idea to deal
with this: we will call it Safe Routes to School, to engage an entire
generation of Americans in a healthier lifestyle that will follow them
throughout their life. That is a wave throughout society that is
starting with elementary school age children. They will carry this all
through their young life into adulthood and pass it on to their
children.
With that, I persuaded the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration to commit $50,000 in grants to the Marin County schools
and another similar grant to honor Arlington County schools in Boston,
and the project was under way. It has been an enormous success, widely
imitated throughout the country, widely supported. This is a lifestyle
change.
We get an opportunity to do something like this once in a career in
the Congress. I greatly appreciate the support of the chairman of the
full committee; the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Petri); the kind words of the gentleman from Ohio; my
colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski); and my
colleague, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the gentleman from
Alaska (Chairman Young) has given us strong, vigorous, unflagging,
unfailing leadership in moving this legislation from the time we
conceived the bill to the time we introduced the bill to the time we
moved it through committee. It was his persistence, his insistence and
vision of investing in America, creating jobs, moving America forward,
restoring our economic vitality, meeting congestion head-on, investing
in the future of America at the base of our economy, to stimulate the
whole economy. We will need that continued visionary, strong, forceful
leadership as we go into conference with the differences that are
considerable between the two versions of this legislation.
It is my hope that TEA-LU will prevail in policy and that we may move
closer to the other body's version in investment and that at another
date, after we get this enacted, we will come back and do the real bill
at the $375 billion level that we all know is needed to move America
forward.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. OBERSTAR. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments the
gentleman has made, and he knows this has been a joint effort. The
gentleman has worked well with us, and I can assure him that we are on
the same page; and as we go to conference, there will be some
differences of opinion, but I think if we stand shoulder to shoulder,
our policy will prevail.
Now our problem is to try to get the money to take and implement that
policy, and that is going to be our responsibility, and I think we can
do it. I am very positive about it. I always have been, always will be
because it is the right thing to do, and we will continue our efforts;
and I thank the gentleman for his comments.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman has had a positive, upbeat
attitude from the outset; and that is what it is going to take to get
us through the coming weeks.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Without objection, the previous
question is ordered on the motion to instruct.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct
offered by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum
is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on the motion to instruct will be followed by a 5-minute
vote on suspending the rules and adopting House Resolution 655.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 377,
nays 30, not voting 27, as follows:
[Roll No. 227]
YEAS--377
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Bachus
Baird
Baker
Baldwin
Ballenger
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Becerra
Bell
Bereuter
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boehlert
Boehner
Bono
Boozman
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Bradley (NH)
Brady (TX)
Brown (OH)
Brown (SC)
Brown, Corrine
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Burns
Burr
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Capito
Capps
Cardin
Cardoza
Carson (IN)
Carter
Case
Castle
Chabot
Chandler
Chocola
Clay
Clyburn
Coble
Cole
Conyers
Cooper
Costello
Cox
Cramer
Crane
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cubin
Cummings
Cunningham
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
DeFazio
Delahunt
DeLauro
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dooley (CA)
Doolittle
Doyle
Duncan
Edwards
Ehlers
Emanuel
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Everett
Farr
Fattah
Feeney
Ferguson
Filner
Foley
Forbes
Ford
Fossella
Frank (MA)
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gephardt
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gonzalez
Goode
Goodlatte
Gordon
Goss
Granger
Graves
Green (TX)
Green (WI)
Greenwood
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall
Harman
Harris
Hart
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Herseth
Hill
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoeffel
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley (OR)
Hostettler
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Inslee
Israel
Issa
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (NC)
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kirk
Kleczka
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kucinich
LaHood
Lampson
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lewis (KY)
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (KY)
Lucas (OK)
Majette
Maloney
Manzullo
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCotter
McCrery
McDermott
McGovern
McHugh
McIntyre
McKeon
McNulty
[[Page H3746]]
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Mica
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (MI)
Miller (NC)
Miller, Gary
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Murphy
Murtha
Musgrave
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Nethercutt
Neugebauer
Ney
Nunes
Nussle
Oberstar
Olver
Ortiz
Osborne
Ose
Otter
Owens
Oxley
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Payne
Pearce
Pelosi
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Regula
Rehberg
Renzi
Reyes
Reynolds
Rodriguez
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Sabo
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Sandlin
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (GA)
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sessions
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Skelton
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Souder
Spratt
Stark
Stearns
Stenholm
Strickland
Stupak
Sullivan
Sweeney
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tiahrt
Tierney
Towns
Turner (OH)
Turner (TX)
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Upton
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Vitter
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Wexler
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wolf
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NAYS--30
Barrett (SC)
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Bonilla
Bonner
Cannon
Cantor
Culberson
DeLay
Flake
Franks (AZ)
Hayworth
Hoekstra
Hyde
Isakson
Kingston
Linder
Miller (FL)
Myrick
Northup
Norwood
Royce
Schrock
Shadegg
Tancredo
Thornberry
Tiberi
Toomey
Wilson (SC)
NOT VOTING--27
Ballance
Brady (PA)
Burton (IN)
Capuano
Carson (OK)
Collins
Deal (GA)
DeGette
DeMint
Deutsch
Dreier
Dunn
Emerson
Gerlach
Istook
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson, Sam
Lynch
McInnis
Obey
Quinn
Scott (VA)
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Tauzin
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose) (during the vote). Members are
advised 2 minutes remain in this vote.
{time} 1406
Messrs. TIBERI, CULBERSON, LINDER, DeLAY, ROYCE, CANTOR, TANCREDO,
BONNER, FRANKS of Arizona, ISAKSON, BARRETT of South Carolina, BISHOP
of Utah, HAYWORTH, SCHROCK, HOEKSTRA, TOOMEY, Mrs. NORTHUP and Mrs.
BLACKBURN changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
Mr. WELLER changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________