[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 14, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1660-S1662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FINAL PASSAGE OF S. 1813

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I didn't want to take a lot of time before 
the vote because I knew we were anxious to get it done, and certainly 
we have been through this so many times--passing a transportation bill 
and a reauthorization bill. I was asked by one of my Republican 
Members: We have done so many of these extensions, what would be the 
difference between an extension and a short 2-year bill? I commented: 
You can't get any of the improvements. You can't do any of the 
planning.
  I would also like to say this to my Republican friends: I regret some 
of them voted against it, not being fully aware of some of the great 
reforms we have in the bill. I appreciate the fact that Senator Boxer 
was agreeing to some aspects that she didn't agree with

[[Page S1661]]

philosophically, such as some of the streamlining and enhancements. We 
have now resolved the enhancement problem so decisions can be made by 
the States. So I think that was good.
  I wanted to at this point mention our staff, even though I already 
mentioned Ruth VanMark earlier. I was kidding when I said she is off of 
probation. She has been loyal to me for 22 years and been through 
several of these bills with me. Let me also mention James O'Keeffe, 
Murphie Barrett, Kyle Miller, Dimitri Karakitsos, and Alex Renjel. So 
we have a great team over here, and, of course, they have a great team 
also on the Democratic side, with Bettina Poirier, David Napoliello, 
Andrew Dohrmann, Grant Cope, and Tyler Rushforth from Senator Boxer's 
office.
  So, Mr. President, some good reforms have taken place, and we need 
now to get serious about what we are going to do in the next short 
while in preparation of a much longer and better and more robust 
highway reauthorization bill. Of course, first is to get with the House 
Members, get into conference and see what we can accomplish.
  Again, I thank all the staff, all the people working on this bill, 
Senator Boxer, and, of course, the majority leader, Harry Reid, as well 
as Mitch McConnell.
  I yield the floor.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following my 
remarks Senator Landrieu be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I again thank everybody. During our 
earlier morning business period I praised all of the staffs from both 
sides of the aisle, all of the chairmen, and all of the ranking 
members. So thank you so much. It was a great vote, 74 to 22. If 
Senator Lautenberg had been here, it would have been 75. So what more 
can a chairman ask.
  Thank you very much.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I want to take a minute to thank Senator 
Boxer and Senator Inhofe and the staffs of both of those excellent 
Senators who have worked so hard on this bill that is so important to 
our country. From New York to California, from Alaska to Florida, this 
bill represents over $110 billion of investments in America. Whether we 
are talking about two-lane roads, farm-to-market roads, one-lane or 
two-lane roads, interstate, or rail that is running in our urban areas 
that are congested, time consuming, and frustrating for our drivers; 
whether it is for the trucking industry that depends on good, solid, 
strong highways; the petrochemical industry, the oil and gas industry, 
or our small businesses, it is important for America's infrastructure 
to be strengthened, and that is what we did today.
  I know the Senate has been criticized over and over again about not 
being able to function. But today we saw, as our leader said, one of 
our most conservative Members and one of our most progressive Members 
bring a bill to this floor and get 74 votes. That is hard work, and 
that is the way the Senate should work.
  I am so proud to have been a small part of this overall bill with 
Senator Whitehouse, Senator Shelby from Alabama, and many other 
Senators who joined us in an effort to put on a very important 
amendment to the gulf coast and to the country in this Transportation 
bill. That bill, which was adopted as an amendment to the 
Transportation bill, as you know, Mr. President, is known as the 
RESTORE Act.
  The reason we call it the RESTORE Act is because that is exactly what 
it will do. It will restore America's energy coast--the gulf coast. We 
are proud of our energy infrastructure. We are also proud of our 
fishing industry and our ecotourism industry. We are also proud of our 
commercial fishing and recreational charter captains who take people 
from all over the world off the beautiful coast of Florida, 
Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas with some of the best 
fishing in the world.
  We have fisheries that are alive and vibrant, not overfished, with 
people in business and restaurants serving this food all over the 
country. We are so proud to have passed the RESTORE Act, which is going 
to take not taxpayer money, not money adding to the deficit, but monies 
from a fine that is going to be levied by the courts very soon--very 
soon. This fine will be levied against BP because of the single largest 
environmental disaster in the Nation's history.
  BP, an operator of oil and gas wells not just in the gulf but all 
around the world, drills safely in many places. But, boy, they sure 
messed up this one. There were 11 men killed, others were injured, and 
hundreds of millions of gallons of oil were spilled into the Gulf of 
Mexico. It was a horrible accident. It should not have happened.
  No industry is perfect. No operation like this, whether it is going 
to space or going below sea, whether it is producing sophisticated 
equipment or is involved in the mining or extraction business has a 
complete guarantee of safety and perfection. But this was a terrible 
accident. We wish it never would have happened.
  The courts are sorting out whether this company was simply negligent 
or grossly negligent. We can have our opinions, but it is not something 
we need to decide. What we did decide, though, is when the court set 
that penalty, that what is right for the States that were so injured--
with marshes inundated with oil, and pelicans, dolphins, and other 
wildlife and birds that live and breed and count on this environment to 
be there--is for that money to be redirected back to the gulf coast.
  Because of the good work of our Presiding Officer and Senator 
Baucus--and I want to thank, particularly, Senator Bingaman--we were 
also able to add--not in the RESTORE Act, not taking money away from 
the gulf but in a side-by-side--some money to fund the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund. Now, it is only for 2 years, but there is going to 
be more money in that fund than has been there for a while, which will 
also accommodate the environment nationally, and that provides a 
balance and a synergy.
  The gulf coast wants to be fair. Our people have suffered. But we 
also know the country has been very generous to us through a series of 
very unfortunate events in the last 6 years: Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and 
Ike, horrible hurricanes. But every part of the Nation has experienced 
disaster, whether it was the fires in California or the flooding in the 
Northeast or the hurricane last season that raked the Northeast. Last 
season, in fact, we will remember, was the season that had the largest 
number of disasters. There were 12 that cost over $1 billion. That has 
not happened before.
  So lots of parts of the country have suffered. But the gulf coast has 
suffered in a special way, unfortunately, with a series of events, 
hurricanes, and oilspills. So we are grateful.
  We tried to make this bill appropriate, leaving 20 percent of the 
general fund, which will secure doubling the amount of money in that 
liability trust fund. That is a benefit to the Nation. We put in some 
money for land and water. That will benefit the Nation, and there is 
some money to establish an oceans trust.
  I ask for another 1 minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of New Mexico). Without objection, 
it is so ordered.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. That will benefit the Nation. But the bulk of that 
penalty money will go to the gulf coast, and it will not be wasted, I 
promise. The bill has tight safeguards and guidelines about the way 
that money will be spent restoring our marshes, rebuilding our 
coastline; we have lost the size of the State of Rhode Island.
  I wish to thank so much the groups. There were over 200 
organizations, from Ducks Unlimited to the National Environmental 
Defense Fund, to Nature Conservancy, to many of the Chambers of 
Commerce, locally and nationally, that supported the RESTORE Act. 
Without their help, this never would have happened because we don't get 
a vote as we did on the Senate floor without a lot of help. We got I 
believe it was maybe 76 votes on the floor of the Senate. It is hard to 
get a resolution on mom and apple pie to get 76 votes today. So I am 
very humbled to say it was the work of many people. I was proud to lead 
this effort with Senator Shelby, my partner from Alabama.
  But my final comment is, work needs to be done. That is my final 
point. The

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amendment is in the Transportation bill. The Transportation bill has 
now left the building, left the Senate. It is now on its way over to 
the House. I hope the House will take this bill--and I know they have 
their own opinions about how things should be. But it is important to 
get this $110 billion of investments out for America. We need to keep 
this recovery going. People are looking for jobs, well-paying jobs. 
Small businesses get these contracts as well as large businesses for 
our rail, our water, our transportation.
  I hope the RESTORE Act, because it is safely tucked in this bill, 
will generate some additional votes on the House side. I hope my 
colleagues from the gulf coast in the House, Republicans and Democrats, 
will say: Overall, it may not be the House's Transportation bill, but 
you know what. It is a good bill.
  Twenty-two Republicans over here voted for this bill. As Senator 
Inhofe said, there is streamlining, there are new approaches, there are 
better approaches, less waste, less fraud, less abuse in this bill. So 
there are some good things they can vote on.
  I thank, again, in conclusion, Senator Inhofe and Senator Boxer and 
particularly Senator Baucus for his help in helping us, at the very 
end, to put what we needed to get together to pass this RESTORE Act. I 
will continue to report to all how the courts are going to rule, how 
much this fine is going to be, and how that money is spent in the next 
couple years to help save a very important part of our Nation and a 
part of the Nation that contributes substantially to the GDP of our 
Nation.

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