[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H5751-H5754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SAVINGS ACT OF 2010
Mr. PERRIELLO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 5604) to rescind amounts authorized for certain surface
transportation programs.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5604
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Surface Transportation
Savings Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. SAFETY BELT PERFORMANCE GRANTS.
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), of the amounts
authorized for fiscal year 2010 by section 2001(a)(4) of
SAFETEA-LU (119 Stat. 1519) to carry out section 406 of title
23, United States Code, $80,994,029 is rescinded.
(b) Limitation.--The amount rescinded pursuant to
subsection (a) shall be decreased as necessary to ensure that
not less than $28,505,971 is available for fiscal year 2010
to carry out section 406 of title 23, United States Code.
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.
Of the amounts authorized for fiscal year 2010 by section
2001(a)(11) of SAFETEA-LU (119 Stat. 1520), $6,547,000 is
rescinded.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL DRIVER REGISTER.
Of the amounts authorized for fiscal year 2010 by section
2001(a)(7) of SAFETEA-LU (119 Stat. 1520) for the National
Driver Register authorized under chapter 303 of title 49,
United States Code, $78,000 is rescinded.
SEC. 5. NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH.
Of the amounts authorized for fiscal year 2010 by section
2001(a)(2) of SAFETEA-LU (119 Stat. 1519) to carry out
section 403 of title 23, United States Code, $1,829,000 is
rescinded.
SEC. 6. TRANSIT FORMULA AND BUS GRANTS.
Of the amounts authorized for fiscal year 2010 by section
5338(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, to carry out
sections 5305, 5307, 5308, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5316, 5317,
5320, 5335, 5339, and 5340 of title 49, United States Code,
and section 3038 of the Federal Transit Act of 1998 (112
Stat. 392), $17,394,000 is rescinded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Perriello) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. PERRIELLO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5604.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. PERRIELLO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Surface Transportation
Savings Act of 2010 and appreciate the work of Congressman Schauer and
the chairman and many others in working for this.
In the long journey towards reducing this Nation's deficit, we also
need to look at small steps as well as large ones. As we look at pay-
as-you-go legislation and bipartisan budget commissions, we also must
find in every place that we can look opportunities to save some money.
One of those places we should be able to start, if nothing else, is
looking at areas where the agencies themselves have said we cannot use
this money or we do not want this money. We have compiled within
Transportation and Infrastructure's jurisdiction over $107 million that
is left sitting on the table. But we know too often in this town, money
left on the table disappears very quickly.
This bill will lead to real savings. It reduces the contract
authority that is currently available for certain highway safety and
transit programs by $107 million. In fiscal year 2010, it takes this
$107 million off the table so that it cannot be used to increase
spending in the future.
There are two ways that this money could be used to increase spending
in the future if not rescinded now. First, the future appropriations
act could increase the obligations limitations that control spending
for these highway safety and transit programs, thereby allowing this
$107 million to be spent instead of reducing the deficit.
Second, the future appropriations act could rescind this authority
and use it as a rescission to offset increased spending on other
programs. In fact, and unfortunately, we have already seen attempts to
do this. They become somewhat routine for appropriations bills to
rescind contract authority to offset other spending. In fact, H.R.
4899, the FY 2010 emergency supplemental, used about $2.2 billion in
rescissions of highway contract authority.
What we see here is a commonsense attempt with ideas from both sides
of the aisle to look at opportunities where the agencies have said
these are resources we will not spend or cannot spend. To me, this is
one step where we should be able to agree at least in such areas that
that money and that contracting authority should be taken off the table
so that it is not spent and put towards deficit reduction.
I rise today to support this savings act, to appreciate all those and
thank all of those who have worked on it. While these savings may seem
small relative to the size of a budget deficit, it is a start. As they
say, even the longest journey can begin with a single step. I urge my
colleagues to consider H.R. 5604 in this light and support this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1510
Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of this bill, and I commend the gentleman from
Virginia, who just finished making his remarks.
H.R. 5604 rescinds $106.8 million in contract authority from the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Transit
Administration. This rescission of contract authority will come from
the following programs: $81 million from NHTSA's safety belt
performance grant program; $8.5 million from NHTSA's administrative
expenses, the National Driver Registry, and research and development
programs; and $17.4 million from FTA's formula and bus grant programs.
In total, H.R. 5604 rescinds approximately $107 million in contract
authority, which is a type of budget authority. However, the
Congressional Budget Office has determined that H.R. 5604, while
certainly well intentioned and worthy of support, will not have any
impact on outlays or direct spending.
According to the CBO, the budget deficit is defined as the amount by
which the Federal Government's total outlays exceed its total revenues.
Because CBO's official cost estimate for H.R. 5604 finds that this
legislation will not reduce the Federal Government's outlays, this
bill, unfortunately, will not reduce the budget deficit. This bill
could ultimately lead to savings if the Congress does not simply spend
this money someplace else.
For the first 9 months of fiscal year 2010, we are running a budget
deficit of $1 trillion, and the deficit will reach at least $1.4
trillion by the end of the fiscal year on September 30. These are
staggering, incomprehensible sums, and these deficits will only add to
our growing Federal debt, which is already at over $13 trillion.
By the end of this year, the Federal debt will represent 62 percent
of the Nation's economy, the highest percentage since World War II,
according to CBO. This mounting debt will be passed on to our children
and grandchildren. I believe, and most people believe, that Congress
isn't doing enough to reduce the current budget deficit or our swelling
national debt.
While this bill is certainly a step in the right direction, it will
not reduce the current budget deficit or the national debt. And so
while this is good legislation that I do support, we are going to have
to go further if we're going to do what the American people expect and
need us to do.
I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H5752]]
Mr. PERRIELLO. I appreciate the support of the gentleman from
Tennessee and his concern about the deficit. We certainly need to
continue to look at the big picture with pay-as-you-go legislation and
budget commissions and other ways to get it to balance. In the
meantime, there is nothing wrong with taking smaller steps in the right
direction, whether that's looking at blocking congressional pay raises
or anyplace that we can save. $107 million is nothing to sneeze at,
even if it's not large by Washington standards.
Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Schauer).
Mr. SCHAUER. Thank you, Mr. Perriello and Mr. Duncan.
We need common sense in Washington, and unfortunately there is too
little of it at this time. That's why I decided to sign on and be a
primary cosponsor of this bill, the Surface Transportation Savings Act
of 2010. The bill will lead to real savings and real deficit reduction,
and we need to fight for that at this very difficult time in our
country.
As has been said, the Surface Transportation Savings Act of 2010
reduces the contract authority that is currently available for certain
highway safety and transit programs by $107 million. Let me say that
again, $107 million. That's real money. While this may not, in and of
itself, directly reduce outlays this current fiscal year, it takes $107
million off the table so that it cannot be used to increase spending in
the future.
Now, as my colleague, Mr. Perriello, said, there are a couple of ways
that this $107 million could be used to increase spending and increase
the Federal budget deficit. We know that a future appropriations act
could use these dollars and appropriate them and spend them on these
current programs within the Department of Transportation. But let's be
clear, there is a very real threat. The Congressional Budget Office may
not see it, and I can understand why they may not trust the Congress to
act responsibly, but twice already this Congress has tried to use these
available dollars within other programs.
H.R. 4899, the FY 2010 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill
that was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month
included $2.2 billion of rescinded highway contract authorities. So
these are dollars that were budgeted but were not spent. And again, if
we don't act, those kinds of available dollars will be spent.
Now, to make it even more directly relevant to this bill and to the
Congressional Budget Office's analysis, H.R. 4899, this Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations bill, tried to spend $25 million that would
be taken off the table by this Surface Transportation Savings Act. So I
don't think we could be any more clear than the threat that is before
us.
I couldn't agree more that we must address real deficit reduction one
step at a time. This is a critical, critical step to do that. And I'll
tell you, the people in Michigan's Seventh Congressional District
believe $107 million is real money.
By not acting, the threat is real that these available dollars will
be spent. By passing this bill today, the United States House of
Representatives will remove $107 million that would likely be spent for
some other program.
We must act to make sure that we restrain and constrain spending in a
way that results in deficit reduction. That's why I'm proud to stand in
support of this bill and hope that both my Democratic and Republican
colleagues take decisive action to make sure that neither this Congress
nor future Congresses spend money that we can't afford.
Mr. DUNCAN. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRIELLO. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the chairman.
Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his
leadership on this issue.
The gentleman from Virginia has been very diligent and vigilant on
deficit reduction and on careful investment of the public resources, as
has the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Schauer), and there is no one who
can exceed those qualities other than the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
Duncan), a gentleman whose entire career has been one of public probity
and clarity.
As the gentleman from Michigan said, where he comes from and where I
come from in northern Minnesota, where the gentleman from Virginia
comes from, $107 million is real money. We could build 100 lane miles
of new road at $1 million a mile in my part of the country. But being
very clear, this is contract authority that is not going to be used.
It's very clear it's not going to be used. The agencies have said
they're not going to use it.
But in the curious construct of our budget processes in both the
executive branch and the legislative branch, on this side of the Hill
and the other side of the Hill, that money can be used in an obscure
fashion that it takes a very long time to explain to ordinary citizens.
Say, in a passing comment in a Fourth of July parade, you can't plumb
the depths of this curious budget process. Sure, there are no outlay
savings, but that's why the Appropriations Committee year in and year
out, under both Republican and Democratic leadership, have used the
rescission process to claim savings on the one hand and spend money on
the other hand, real general revenue dollars on the other hand for
projects that they consider to be important.
The supplemental appropriation bill earlier this month rescinded $25
million of highway safety contract authority that will be rescinded by
the bill before us.
{time} 1520
The supplemental appropriation bill rescinds $2.2 billion of Federal-
aid highway contract authority so they can use it as something else.
This is real. What we are doing here is saying this is done. These
authorities that exist in law that will not be used, for which
obligations will not be made, and for which projects will not be
advanced is terminated, and the Appropriations Committee then can't use
that gimmick for something else they want to do.
So what we do is real in this legislation. It takes $107 million off
the table. It makes it unavailable for rescission and unavailable for
gimmickry through the appropriation process in either this body or the
other body. We take a real positive step, one that is within the
authority of this committee. We are not the Budget Committee. We are
not Ways and Means. We have jurisdictional issues, and we are
identifying other savings of this nature that will be considered on the
House floor in the coming week before the August recess.
So I applaud the deficit hawks of our committee on both sides of the
aisle for their vigilance and for pursuing this matter.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5604, the ``Surface
Transportation Savings Act of 2010''. I commend the work of the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Perriello) and the gentleman from Michigan
(Mr. Schauer) for introducing this legislation.
This bill rescinds $107 million in excess contract authority that the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal
Transit Administration (FTA) cannot use in fiscal year (FY) 2010. In
doing so, H.R. 5604 will take these funds off the table so that they
cannot be used to increase spending in the future.
The largest rescission contained in this legislation will occur in
NHTSA's safety belt performance grants program. This program received
$124.5 million in FY 2010 to carry out an incentive grant program to
encourage States to enact and enforce laws requiring the use of safety
belts. This funding level is equal to the amount authorized for this
program in FY 2009 under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (P.L. 109-
59).
According to NHTSA, only three States are expected to qualify to
receive an incentive grant under this program this year, requiring no
more than $28.5 million in FY 2010 to carry out the authorized
activities of the program.
NHTSA does not have the authority to redistribute the unused program
funds this fiscal year, and they will remain unallocated in 2010. H.R.
5604 rescinds $81.0 million in unusable contract authority from this
program.
The Surface Transportation Savings Act also rescinds $8.5 million in
contract authority from NHTSA's administrative expenses, the National
Driver Register, and research and development programs.
This excess contract authority was made available under the extension
of current surface transportation programs passed as part
[[Page H5753]]
of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act).
Because the amounts of contract authority provided for these programs
under the HIRE Act is greater than the funding levels provided by the
FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, NHTSA cannot use these funds
this year.
H.R. 5604 also rescinds $17.4 million of contract authority from
FTA's formula and bus grant programs. The HIRE Act provides $8.361
billion in FY 2010 to carry out FTA's formula and bus grant programs,
$17.4 million more than the funding level provided in the FY 2010
Consolidated Appropriations Act. FTA does not have the ability to
utilize these funds this year.
Although the $107 million that would be rescinded by H.R. 5604 cannot
be used at the present time, there are two ways this $107 million could
be used to increase spending in the future if it is not rescinded now.
First, a future appropriations act could increase the obligation
limitations that control spending for these highway safety and transit
programs, thereby allowing this $107 million to be spent. Second, a
future appropriations act could rescind this $107 million and use that
rescission to offset increased spending on other programs.
There are skeptics who claim that this bill will not reduce spending.
They are closing their eyes to the budgetary shell game played out in
this body over the past decade. It has become somewhat routine for
appropriations bills to rescind surface transportation contract
authority in order to offset other spending that no appropriations
committee proposes. In fact, H.R. 4899, the ``Supplemental
Appropriations Act, 2010'', that passed the House earlier this month,
rescinds $25 million of the highway safety contract authority that
would be rescinded by the bill before us today. The Supplemental
Appropriations bill also rescinds $2.2 billion of Federal-aid highway
contract authority.
The Committee on Appropriations includes such rescissions in
appropriations bills because they offset other spending that the
committee supports. Even if a contract authority rescission is
``scored'' as only reducing budget authority, not outlays, a budget
authority offset is often all that is needed to facilitate additional
spending in an appropriations bill.
To the extent that this bill takes $107 million off the table and
makes that amount unavailable for rescission, or use, by some future
appropriations bill, it will indeed result in ``real'' savings.
H.R. 5604 is one step in a continuing effort to find savings within
programs under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure. While these savings may seem small relative to the size
of our budget deficit, it is a start. Even the longest journey begins
with a single step.
I want to again thank Mr. Perriello and Mr. Schauer for their hard
work on behalf of the American taxpayers in introducing this
legislation. This proposal is a common sense step toward improving the
Nation's fiscal foundation and ensuring that the nation's Federal
surface transportation funds are invested as efficiently as possible.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5604.
Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr.
Oberstar), our outstanding chairman of the full committee, for his very
accurate explanation of the confusing, convoluted way we go about the
budget and contract authority differences in this Congress.
I want to commend the gentlemen from Virginia and from Michigan for
bringing this legislation to the floor. It is a good bill.
As I said, even though the CBO may not count it as reducing the
deficit by $107 million, it is a step in the right direction, and we
should be looking for savings in every Department and agency in this
Federal Government, and we are going to have to if we are ever to get
the Federal deficit and our national debt under any type of control.
What we first need to be doing, though, is to stop spending hundreds
of billions of dollars on very unnecessary foreign wars and turning the
Department of Defense into the Department of Foreign Aid with all the
nation-building that they are doing. Then we need to go to every
Department and agency, and instead of building other countries with
money that we don't have, we need to start building our own country. I
think no one has been more of a leader in that regard than our
chairman, Chairman Oberstar, but we need to start taking care of our
own country and start putting the American people first once again.
I do think that this bill is a step in the right direction; so I urge
my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Will the gentleman yield to me for just a moment?
Mr. DUNCAN. I will be happy to yield.
Mr. OBERSTAR. I would like to make the observation, Madam Speaker,
that the gentleman took the lead in our Public Buildings Subcommittee
many years ago, during his first term in Congress, on courthouses. The
gentleman has saved the taxpayers of this country tens of millions of
dollars, perhaps now in the hundreds of millions, by requiring, through
his persistent campaign, courtroom sharing.
Madam Speaker, I'll say to the gentleman from Tennessee that I don't
know how CBO scores that, but I know that, in our committee, I score it
as a net savings to the public. We have built better courthouses, more
courthouses and more efficient service to the public in requiring this
very simple step of sharing courtrooms. To his great credit, the
gentleman from Tennessee led the effort on it; and it has resulted in
real savings, just as this legislation is resulting in real savings.
I tip my hat to the gentleman from Tennessee for his persistence in
looking at those very specific ways in which we can achieve our goals.
Mr. DUNCAN. Well, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota, Chairman
Oberstar, for those kind words. No one in this Congress admires the
chairman more than I do. Certainly no one knows the work of the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee better than Chairman
Oberstar.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERRIELLO. Madam Speaker, again, I want to thank the gentleman
from Tennessee and the others who have been a part of this.
If we can't at least agree to take the money that agencies say they
don't even want or can't even use and put that to deficit reduction,
how on Earth will we ever move forward in the simplest possible terms?
If this $107 million is left on the table, it will be spent on
something. If we remove this contracting authority, it will not; and
that will save the taxpayers money. That is the important thing. If we
can't at least agree on these small steps, how are we going to take the
big steps together?
So I appreciate the cooperation on this bill to find $107 million, to
take that off the table and to make sure that it does not get spent
wastefully.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5604,
``The Surface Transportation Savings Act of 2010.'' By rescinding
amounts authorized for certain surface transportation programs, our
nation will save about $107 million and thus reduce our budget deficit.
This legislation would rescind millions of dollars in excess contract
authority from programs including the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration's safety belt performance grants program, which
according to the NHTSA, only three states are expected to qualify to
receive an incentive grant this year. The amount rescinded is reduced
as necessary to ensure that 28.5 million is still available to carry
out safety belt grants programs in Fiscal Year 2010.
In addition, H.R. 5604 rescinds funds that The Hiring Incentives to
Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act) Act already provides funding for,
including NHTSA's administrative expenses, transit formula and bus
grant programs.
It is clear that the public is concerned about the current fiscal
state of the federal government. An NBC/Wall Street Journal Survey
conducted in May showed that the share of individuals rating ``the
deficit and government spending'' as a top priority for the federal
government to address has jumped since January from 13 to 20 percent--
second only to job creation and economic growth. According to Gallup,
``federal government debt'' now ties with terrorism for the top spot in
perceived threats to our future well-being.
The public's attitudes reflect our need to tackle our nation's
serious budget challenge and exercise fiscal belt-tightening where it
makes sense. H.R. 5604 is one step towards that goal. It contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments. This legislation is a small but
necessary effort to help us gradually get our fiscal house in order.
With the Nation's budget deficit forecasted to swell 14 percent this
year, largely due to the longest war in our history and unfunded tax
cuts for the wealthy, we must explore common ground to achieve fiscal
responsibility. If we don't, then by the time our grandchildren or
great grandchildren are in college, our debt will exceed our GDP.
I will continue to support smart measures designed to return our
Nation to fiscal health
[[Page H5754]]
and strength as steadily and as sustainably as possible. To this end, I
urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5604 to help reduce our budget
deficit.
Mr. PERRIELLO. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Perriello) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5604.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. PERRIELLO. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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