[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 49 (Monday, March 26, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2013-S2014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ACT

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, the British statesman Edmund Burke said:

       All government--indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, 
     every virtue, and every prudent act--is founded on compromise 
     and barter.

  Compromise and barter. That means give-and-take in order to work 
things out.
  I want to apply Burke's famous aphorism to the two leaders of the 
Environment and Public Works Committee, the chairman, Senator Barbara 
Boxer of California, and the ranking member, Senator Jim Inhofe of 
Oklahoma--one of the Senate's leading liberals and one of the Senate's 
most dyed-in-the-wool conservatives.
  While Senators Boxer and Inhofe openly acknowledge there is much they 
do not agree on, they both agree transportation infrastructure is a 
smart investment in America's road safety and jobs. So they worked hard 
to craft a consensus highway bill that three-quarters of the Senate 
could agree to support. I have always believed this kind of cooperation 
is the key to success. We can do great things for this country when we 
work together.
  When I had the honor of leading the Environment and Public Works 
Committee, I also had the truly distinct pleasure of working with 
Senators from both parties who understood Burke's principle of barter 
and compromise, such as John Warner of Virginia and John Chafee of 
Rhode Island. So it is very gratifying to know that tradition on the 
Environment and Public Works Committee continues to be strongly upheld 
by the chairman and the ranking member today.
  In working to craft the highway bill, both of these leaders faced 
pressures not to compromise. Each had ample opportunity to give into 
those pressures and give up on the bill. But instead of drawing lines 
in the sand and pointing fingers, they chose to reach out their hands 
and meet in the middle. They talked to each other and, more 
importantly, they listened. They opted for pragmatism over ideology. 
They disagreed without being disagreeable. They worked closely with 
Senator Vitter and myself to incorporate the best ideas from all sides. 
Ultimately, those good-faith efforts prevailed when the committee 
reported our highway bill title with unanimous support.
  We continued working together to meld that product with contributions 
from the Banking Committee and the Commerce Committee, along with a 
fiscally responsible plan to pay for this investment from the Finance 
Committee.
  Earlier this month, 75 percent of the Senate came together to pass a 
highway bill that will create or sustain approximately 1.8 million 
American jobs each year. That is according to the Department of 
Transportation. What a tremendous achievement reached by working 
together--creating or sustaining 1.8 million jobs a year. For my State 
of Montana, this bill will create or sustain 14,000 jobs each year, and 
it cuts through redtape to put people to

[[Page S2014]]

work on those jobs even faster. It gives the State of Montana and our 
local communities the flexibility they need to fund the alternative 
transportation projects that work best for them. It invests in the Land 
and Water Conservation Fund and continues a vital program to support 
our timber communities. It does it all without adding one single dime 
to the Federal deficit.
  Simply put, this bill is an investment in jobs we can't afford to 
pass up. That is why this weekend Montana's largest newspaper, the 
Billings Gazette, called on the House to pass the Senate bill, and I 
join that call today.
  The current highway bill expires at the end of this month, and the 
construction season is starting soon. As the Gazette notes, a short-
term extension doesn't provide the certainty we need to get highway 
projects off the ground and workers on the job. We cannot afford to put 
these jobs on hold by kicking the can down the road--especially when we 
don't have to, and, also, especially when we don't have much more road 
to kick the can.
  The Senate bill is the product of months of debate and cooperation, 
of give-and-take from all sides, carefully crafted into a bipartisan 
investment we can all be proud to support. It has already passed the 
test of overwhelmingly bipartisan support in the Senate, and there is 
no reason the House should not take up this bill and pass it right 
away.
  The House should understand that we need to work together to achieve 
solutions upon which the American people can rely. Edmund Burke 
understood that. Thankfully, Senators Boxer and Inhofe clearly 
understand it too. I thank them for that.

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