[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8163-S8164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HIGHWAY TRUST FUND

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in July, the House of Representatives 
responsibly passed legislation to prevent the highway trust fund from 
running out of money. They put the date that the $8 billion would be 
transferred at October 1, the end of the fiscal year, the beginning of 
the new fiscal year. That legislation passed by an overwhelming 
bipartisan vote of 387 to 37.
  The reason the bill receives such strong support is Democrats and 
Republicans in the House recognize that funding for these critical 
transportation projects is extremely important. This is infrastructure. 
For every billion dollars we spend in infrastructure, there are 47,500 
high-paying jobs, and a lot of other jobs spin off from that amount. So 
this $8 billion is about half a million jobs. Yes, that is a lot when 
you think about the problems we have in the country today economically.
  But when that bill reached the Senate before we left for the 
convention recesses, Republicans objected to it. Since that time, the 
legislation has even taken on more urgency. Gas prices have 
skyrocketed. Fewer Americans are driving, which has decreased the flow 
of the money into the trust fund.
  Second, the Bush-McCain economy has plunged America further into 
economic peril. Just last month, 84,000 jobs were lost, bringing to the 
total this year during the Bush-McCain era over 600,000 jobs lost this 
year alone. And today it was announced that this year will be the 
largest deficit in the history of our country. So we have an economy 
that is in deep trouble, we have 84,000 jobs lost just last month and 
more than 600,000 this year, and it

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has just been announced that the deficit is the largest we have ever 
seen as a country.
  The investments in this highway trust fund make our transportation 
safe. It is not just roads, it is mass-transit projects that are so 
important to this country. As I told the distinguished ranking member 
of the Budget Committee who was here objecting yesterday, maybe two or 
three decades ago, my being from Nevada, I may not have been concerned 
about mass transit, but we are now. Las Vegas is a metropolitan area 
with traffic congestion. We have to do something with mass transit. It 
cannot be handled on the highways.
  With this new urgency in mind, the Bush administration joined us in 
calling for a transfer of these funds immediately. I received a call 
from the Secretary of Transportation saying this needs to be done. I 
said: Why didn't you help us before? Basically, the Bush-McCain crew 
was just hoping they could squeeze through before the new President is 
elected before anything would happen. But even this President has 
acknowledged that we have to do something.
  Democrats and Republicans in the House, I repeat, have already voted 
to have this money transferred, and they did it last July. We want to 
follow suit. Yet some in the President's own party continue to refuse 
this economically vital legislation that is so important.
  We have had 92 filibusters led by the Republicans so far. I am not 
sure if we counted the last one. Anyway, we will say 92. I have 
expressed many times my disappointment about the Republicans blocking 
legislation supported by a majority of Senators--a majority of 
Senators. They have blocked legislation not only that we Democrats 
support but a majority of Senators, Democrats and Republicans.
  Here we have an interesting thing now. This is new. Republicans are 
blocking a bill supported by an overwhelming majority of both parties 
in the House and in the Senate and supported by the President of their 
own party. They are even blocking that. They are doing everything 
within their power to maintain the status quo. Yesterday, Republicans 
prevented us from passing this bill. It is so important that it be 
done. I have trouble understanding why the Republicans are objecting to 
a bill that Democrats and Republicans in the House support, Democrats 
and Republicans in the Senate support, and the President supports. They 
are objecting to their own best interests, it seems to me. But that is 
what they are doing. I think we should send this bill to the 
President's desk, as the President has requested.
  The people who are objecting are using all kinds of excuses. 
Yesterday, they said they had a few amendments. Tonight, I guess they 
have a few more amendments. They think it is really not right to take 
the money to replenish the highway trust fund from the general fund, 
but they haven't objected to almost spending a trillion dollars of 
borrowed money going to Iraq. They haven't objected to taking tens of 
billions of dollars from the general fund to give tax breaks to big oil 
companies. That didn't seem to bother them. But when it comes to $8 
billion to maintain our highways and our mass-transit projects that 
create jobs at a time when we have about 10 million Americans out of 
work, they are even blocking that. This legislation is prudent and 
necessary. It is a prudent and necessary investment in the economic 
well-being of our struggling Nation. I hope our Republican colleagues 
answer the call of President Bush and Secretary Chertoff. Judge 
Chertoff said the lack of investment in U.S. infrastructure is ``kind 
of like playing Russian roulette with our citizens' safety.'' That is 
what President Bush's Secretary of Homeland Security has said. So this 
is no time for games such as that.

  So, Mr. President, here is my unanimous consent request: That the 
Finance Committee be discharged from its consideration of H.R. 6532 and 
the Senate proceed to its consideration; that the amendment at the desk 
be considered agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time, 
passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any 
statements relating to this matter be printed at the appropriate place 
in the Record, with no intervening action or debate.
  But we don't have a Republican here to object, and so I am not going 
to take advantage of their not being here. But I hope the American 
people see what is going on. It is another day gone by with our not 
having the ability here because of the Republicans refusing to approve 
legislation that is extremely urgent. It is emergency legislation. We 
have been told so by the President and his Secretary of Treasury, and 
they still would not let us do this.
  I wonder where John McCain is. What is his idea on this? Should we 
let the fund go belly up? Where is John McCain? Couldn't he send a 
statement, a message from somebody saying: I agree with President Bush, 
or does he disagree, for one of the rare, 10 percent of the times when 
he disagrees? The word out is he supports the President 90 percent of 
the time. It is really 95 percent of the time.
  But is he now going to be part of the 5 percent where he says: I 
disagree with the President; I don't think that money should be 
replenished.
  Where is John McCain? Let us hear from John McCain.

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