[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10873-S10874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR EMERGENCY REPAIRS AND RECONSTRUCTION
OF THE INTERSTATE I-35 BRIDGE
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3311, which was received
from the House.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3311) to authorize additional funds for
emergency repairs and reconstruction of the Interstate I-35
bridge located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that collapsed on
August 1, 2007, to waive the $100,000,000 limitation on
emergency relief funds for those emergency repairs and
reconstruction, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
amendment that is at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be
read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the
table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the
Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2654) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To improve expanded eligibility for transit and travel
information services)
In section 1112(b)(1) of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (as
added by section 3), strike subparagraph (B) and insert the
following:
``(B) use not to exceed $5,000,000 of the funds made
available for fiscal year 2007 for Federal Transit
Administration Discretionary Programs, Bus and Bus Facilities
(without any local matching funds requirement) for operating
expenses of the Minnesota State department of transportation
for actual and necessary costs of maintenance and operation,
less the amount of fares earned, which are provided by the
Metropolitan Council (of Minnesota) as a temporary substitute
for highway traffic service following the collapse of the
Interstate I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August
1, 2007, until highway traffic service is restored on such
bridge.
The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a
third time.
The bill (H.R. 3311) was read the third time and passed.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, my colleague from Minnesota is here. I
will yield to her if she wishes to proceed first.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I think everyone in this Chamber and
the country and the world is aware of the tragedy that befell our State
a few days ago. This is a bridge that is not just in my backyard, it is
actually in my front yard. It is only 8 blocks away. It is one of the
most well-traveled bridges in our State.
Senator Coleman and I were on the ground and saw the great damage
yesterday. When I looked down and saw that miracle bus on the precipice
and I thought about the fear in the eyes of those little children as
they watched as the concrete and the road basically fell down below
them, I couldn't even imagine what they went through.
But then I met the heroes, the people who dove in the water over and
over again looking for survivors. The death toll would have been so
much worse if our community had not come together--the police, fire
personnel, emergency personnel, and ordinary citizens--to save the
lives of our people.
Today we thank our colleagues because it is good news that they stood
by us in a bipartisan way to help the people of our State. The vote is
good news at the close of a week that has brought so much heartbreak to
our State. This was, as I said, the most heavily traveled bridge in our
State, and our people and our businesses depend on it.
Today in the Senate, as well as in the House of Representatives, the
Congress voted to give us the opportunity to access the funds we are
going to need to repair this bridge.
There was also a focus on transit money, which is so important. The
day we got into Minnesota, only 12 hours after this happened, our State
had already put on 25 extra buses. They had billboards showing people
the routes to go. It was an absolutely extraordinary effort. They were
prepared. But I don't think anyone, in any State, can ever be prepared
for a tragedy such as this.
I thank all my colleagues at the close of a very long week for their
words of support. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the victims and
with their families. Today, the Congress stood tall and proud and came
immediately to their aid.
Mr. President, I yield the floor to my colleague from Minnesota.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, my colleague from Minnesota has described
the spirit of a people confronted with great tragedy. It was horrible
to be there by that bridge and see those cars, some in the water,
others that had burst on fire--a tractor trailer--to see a school bus
on the precipice. I think it had dropped 20 feet. Had it gone a little
further to the side, it would gone over the edge. Had it gone a little
further forward, it would have been caught between crashing portions of
steel and concrete. Had it gone another distance, it would have been in
the water. Yet every one of those 60 kids walked away.
We saw tragedy. There are those who have lost their lives and
suffered great pain, but we also saw miracles. We saw the reaction of a
community that came together at every level--the first responders, the
citizens who came together to jump in the water to try and help folks
who were in situations that were hard to understand.
In addition to that, when Senator Klobuchar and I got there early in
the morning, we sat in on a briefing with the Governor and the mayor
and the first responders, the county commissioners, city council
members--some Democrats, some Republicans. It didn't matter.
I sat there as a former mayor remembering what it was like on 9/11,
remembering how unprepared we were on 9/11. And after 9/11, as a city,
we tried to take stock and recognize that our first responders weren't
tied into what was going on at hospitals, and various police and fire
from different communities could not communicate. What we did is we
went about the process of training and training and training, preparing
and preparing and preparing, and it came together. I watched in the
city of Minneapolis, and as a former mayor I took pride in the way the
people responded.
I think the Nation saw it, I think the world saw it, and it made me
proud to represent Minnesota.
I say that because I saw the same spirit in the Senate tonight. The
people in Minneapolis have some great needs. My colleague in the House,
Congressman Oberstar, put forth a plan that would provide authorization
to rebuild the bridge. There was also provided some extra money on the
table to deal with some very immediate needs.
I was there when the Secretary of Transportation made the pledge that
``we are going to be there to help,'' and we had some challenges then
in moving that forward. There were some technical issues. But what I
found along the way was my colleagues on both sides of the aisle simply
said, how can we help? How can we get this done? The chairman of the
Budget Committee a little while ago discovered there was one minor
technical issue. He said, we are going to take care of this.
I got a call today from the director of the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Administrator. I got a call yesterday from the head of the
SBA. At the scene yesterday we had the head of the Transportation
Safety Board. We had the Secretary of Transportation, the highway
administrator. They were all there. Everyone had come together. And on
the floor of the Senate I saw that tonight, that spirit, and I simply
say thank you to my colleagues. On behalf of the people of Minnesota
and the
[[Page S10874]]
people of Minneapolis, I say thank you for the support you have shown
and the spirit in which you have come together.
At times, there is so much rancor in our Nation today--this partisan
divide. It is so uplifting to be in this Chamber to see my colleagues
on both sides of the aisle come together, and so I say thank you.
Let me end by asking that we not forget there has been a great
tragedy; that lives have been lost. Let us keep the families of those
who have lost loved ones in our prayers. Let us make sure we continue
in the effort to ensure that the resources are there to rebuild, and
let us do it quickly. Let us do those things to expedite the process.
This is a major thoroughfare, a major piece of the transportation
system in the State of Minnesota. We need to get the money back to
Minnesota and get the people on the ground who can get the work done.
We can do it, and we can do it quickly. We will rebuild this bridge,
we will rebuild quickly, we will find out what caused this terrible,
terrible tragedy, and we will keep those who have suffered loss in our
prayers.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Rhode Island is
recognized.
Extension of Temporary Protective Status for Liberians
Mr. REED. Mr. President, let me first begin by commending Senators
Coleman and Klobuchar for their very aggressive and appropriate
response to a crisis in their home State of Minnesota. We were proud,
all of us, to join with the Senators in helping their people in the
face of great need.
This is interesting, because I rise for the moment to speak about
another measure which both Senator Coleman and Senator Klobuchar have
joined with me as cosponsors of, and that is the temporary protective
status for Liberians. The Presiding Officer, Senator Whitehouse, is
also a cosponsor, along with Senators Kerry and Leahy. It is a
bipartisan measure. It is in response to a situation where there are
thousands of Liberians here legally, but they are in danger of being
deported because their status could change by October 1.
The House of Representatives earlier this week passed unanimously by
voice vote H.R. 3123, which would extend for 1 year their temporary
protected status. In fact, the minority leader, Mr. Blunt, was the key
leader in this effort, along with our colleague from Rhode Island,
Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and I again thank Senators Coleman and
Klobuchar, and all the cosponsors.
The Liberian individuals we are talking about were in the United
States in the late 1980s and early 1990s when a brutal civil war broke
out in Liberia. They could not go home, and this country granted them
protective status. That status, in one form or another, has been
continued for now almost 15, 16 years. There are many families of
Liberians in this country whose children are American citizens--in
fact, who are about on the verge of college or even older.
Today, Liberia has made some progress. It has a democratically
elected president. She is a remarkable woman, leading her nation. But,
still, it is not a country that is ready to accept individuals who are
in the United States, who are part of our community, who have American
children, and who are contributing to our communities. We should, I
think, give them the opportunity to make a choice of whether they
should stay here or go back to their homeland of Liberia.
Every year they face a precipice that comes on October 1, when they
worry whether their status will be extended; when they worry whether
they will have to leave children behind, give up their jobs, leave
their community and be lifted up, literally, to go back to a country
which is, quite frankly, not ready to accept them and to use their
talents. So each year we have been able to, either through
administrative decision or through our efforts here, extend their stay.
I urge that my colleagues consider taking up H.R. 3123, and I requested
on behalf of my cosponsors a unanimous consent to do that. I am told
that on the Democratic side there were no objections, but, apparently,
there are some objections on the other side. I want to make it clear to
all my colleagues I will renew this request time and time again when we
return in September.
We have to act before October 1. It would be unfair, unjust, and
unwise not to grant this exemption. It was accepted on a bipartisan
basis overwhelmingly in the other body, and I think we should do the
same here in the Senate. I urge any of my colleagues who have
questions--and I think at this juncture there are many who might have
legitimate questions--please, I would be happy to answer them. I would
be happy to respond. I believe I can make a compelling case that in
terms of fairness, in terms of equity, in terms of recognizing what
these individuals have done to contribute to communities all across
this country, they should be granted at least 1 more year. This is not
a permanent adjustment, this is an additional year.
Let me stress one thing also. We have had a great deal of discussion
in this Congress about immigration. These individuals are legally here
in the United States, and they have been given the opportunity to work,
they pay taxes, and they are not qualified for any social benefits. I
am very proud of Rhode Island because we have a large community,
relatively speaking, and they have become extraordinarily productive
members of our community. So I feel very strongly, and I know my
colleague, the Presiding Officer, does, that we are going to do all we
can over the several weeks before October 1 to make sure this is
adopted; that we follow the other body in doing so. I don't want anyone
to mistake my objection to other provisions that are going forward. I
am sincerely committed to getting this done. I hope we get it done, and
I thank the Presiding Officer for his cosponsorship and leadership.
I yield the floor.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, the Senator from Rhode Island has been so
persuasive in his argument, I ask that he add me as a cosponsor to the
bill.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator be
added as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Connecticut is recognized.
____________________