[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 108 (Thursday, July 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5929-S5930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of S. 
1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act for 2014. I wish to thank Senators Murray 
and Collins as well as Senators Mikulski and Shelby for their hard 
work. The bill before us reflects the bipartisan agreement that funding 
our Nation's transportation and housing infrastructure is vital to 
creating jobs and supporting strong communities.
  I wish to thank the committee for funding programs that support 
projects that are especially crucial for my home State of Hawaii.
  First, the committee's bill provides nearly $2 billion for capital 
improvement grants which support transit projects across the country. 
Especially important for Hawaii is Honolulu's rail transit project 
which, when completed, will provide much needed relief for Oahu's 
commuters. Studies have shown that during the morning peak period, the 
average travel time from East Kapolei to Honolulu is 89 minutes--89 
minutes for a 17-mile drive. The rail will turn that into a 40-minute 
ride above traffic. The project is estimated to remove roughly 40,000 
cars from Oahu's congested roadways, providing relief for buses and 
other surface public transportation services.
  While the rail project is a crucial step forward for developing 
Hawaii's most populous island, it is the committee's support for 
Hawaii's indigenous people for which I especially extend my thanks. The 
committee's funding of both the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant and 
the 184A Loan Guarantee Program will help our Nation continue 
fulfilling its trust obligations to Native Hawaiians.
  In 2010, the American Community Survey reported that 27.2 percent of 
Native Hawaiians in Hawaii live in overcrowded conditions, compared to 
8.5 percent of Hawaii's total population. In addition, the overall cost 
of living in Hawaii is almost 50 percent higher than the United States 
average, and housing costs are almost 150 percent higher. Coupled with 
these costs is the fact that 18 percent of Native Hawaiians live in 
poverty.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time of the majority has 
expired.
  Ms. HIRONO. I ask unanimous consent for an additional 5 minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. HIRONO. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Congress created the Hawaiian Home Lands trust to provide housing and 
settlement opportunities for Native Hawaiians. However, as the 
statistics I just laid out show, this indigenous population continues 
to struggle with finding affordable quality housing in their place of 
origin.
  That is why the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, or NHHBG, is so 
important. These funds can be used for a variety of initiatives. For 
example, the current wait list for access to housing on homestead land 
is long and continues to grow. Funding the NHHBG helps the Department 
of Hawaiian Home Lands to continue developing lands to meet the housing 
needs of those on the wait list as well as future beneficiaries, 
allowing the Department to effectively administer this trust 
responsibly.
  The 184A Program is another important tool for assisting Native 
Hawaiians in securing homes on homesteads--lands they cannot own. As I 
have mentioned, the cost of living--especially housing--in Hawaii is 
among the highest in the country. On top of saving up the cost of a 
downpayment for a mortgage, there is the tricky task of securing a 
mortgage for a home without ownership of the land beneath it. This has 
proved problematic not only for Native Hawaiians but also Native 
Americans and Alaska Natives. The 184A Loan Guarantee Program helps get 
Hawaiians onto homesteads by providing a guarantee for lenders who are 
unfamiliar with the Hawaiian homes program.
  I also wish to thank the committee for supporting the Essential Air 
Services Program. Being an island State, Hawaii is uniquely affected by 
any changes to air transportation policy. For us, driving between 
counties is not an option. So air service is, for all intents and 
purposes, the only way to get from one island to another.
  There is a population in Hawaii that uniquely demonstrates the reason 
for the Essential Air Service Program: the residents of Kalaupapa. 
Kalaupapa is an isolated peninsula on the island of Molokai. Beginning 
in 1966, this area was used as an exile for Hansen's disease patients. 
This practice continued until a quarantine of the area was finally 
lifted in 1969. It was precisely because of Kalaupapa's remoteness and 
isolation that it was selected to serve this function for Hansen's 
disease patients.
  There are Hansen's disease patients who still reside in Kalaupapa. 
Their only option for getting in and out of the area for medical 
treatment, or to visit family and friends, is flying. Maintaining 
proper funding for the Essential Air Service Program directly 
translates into assuring continued access for the people of Kalaupapa 
to other communities and the services they need.
  The committee's bill also provides appropriate levels of funding for 
larger national programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, 
or CDBG. Certainly, Hawaii has been able to put CDBG funds to good use, 
and agencies across the country rely on this essential block grant 
funding to continue meeting the needs of their most vulnerable 
populations.
  The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is yet another example where 
the funding level in the Senate's bill is warranted. If Hawaii is any 
indication, HOME funds move out the door so quickly that many 
subgrantees with equally worthwhile projects are left waiting for the 
next fiscal cycle to compete.
  The support for CDBG, HOME, and other programs in the bill provides 
communities across the country with the means to provide safe, 
affordable housing for the least fortunate, the elderly, and others. 
However, as the wide support for these programs demonstrates, there is 
more need in our communities than there are resources. Since the 
sequester has taken effect, things have only gotten harder for those 
who are struggling the most. Every day it seems we hear about housing 
vouchers being frozen or rescinded or about how elderly or support 
services are being cut back or about how the lines for limited public 
housing grow as people who have been out of work for too long exhaust 
their savings. For many of the people who rely on these programs, there 
is nowhere else to turn.
  This bill doesn't fix all of the problems caused by the sequester, 
nor does it fully address the critical needs to create jobs. However, 
it is a bipartisan step forward that makes positive progress in all of 
these areas. Perhaps it will give us some momentum in tackling those 
big challenges our Nation faces in a more comprehensive way.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican whip.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, we now know, the IRS targeting scandal 
implicates senior officials at the very highest levels of the Internal 
Revenue Service. Indeed, we know the Office of the Chief Counsel of the 
IRS, headed by an administration appointee, was aware of the abuses, 
according to sworn testimony in the House of Representatives. We know 
that former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman categorically denied those 
abuses in March of 2012, even though senior IRS officials learned about 
them as early as June 2011. We know the IRS official who first revealed 
the abuses to the American people decided to take the Fifth Amendment, 
invoking her right not to incriminate herself, rather than testify 
before Congress. Finally, we know IRS officials improperly targeted not 
only conservative organizations but also political candidates and 
donors.
  Still, yesterday the White House Press Secretary called the various

[[Page S5930]]

scandals involving this administration phony scandals. Well, I don't 
know anyone who actually believes that is true. When an institution 
such as the Internal Revenue Service, with its power to literally tax 
and destroy, is abusing that power, it deserves the investigation of 
Congress and we need to get to the bottom of it. The idea, as initially 
floated out, that this scandal was the work of a few rogue staffers in 
the Cincinnati office is no longer plausible, even if it was at one 
point.
  This scandal clearly represents a serious breach of the public trust 
and has created a major credibility problem for this agency that is 
supposed to be objective and nonpartisan. It is bad enough that 
America's tax collection authority has behaved like a thuggish 
political machine, indeed, policing political speech and rights 
guaranteed under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  To make matters worse, the Internal Revenue Service will soon be 
responsible for administering some of the most important provisions of 
the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare, including the 
individual mandate. In other words, the Internal Revenue Service will 
be responsible for administering a law that affects one-sixth of the 
U.S. economy, and it will be collecting even more information about 
individual American citizens.
  Are we comfortable with dramatically expanding the power of an agency 
that has proven so abusive and so untrustworthy? I know I am not, which 
is why 2 months ago I introduced a piece of legislation that would 
prevent the Internal Revenue Service from participating in its current 
role of implementing ObamaCare. Yesterday I submitted this legislation 
as an amendment to the appropriations bill we are currently 
considering.
  Rather than give more power to the Internal Revenue Service, we 
should be giving more power to patients and their doctors. Remember, 
even before ObamaCare became law, the IRS had enough power to destroy 
the lives of American citizens. In the famous words, I believe, of a 
Supreme Court Justice, the power to tax is the power to destroy. He had 
it right. Now is the worst possible time to give this agency such 
massive influence over the U.S. health care system, and this is past 
overdue action on our part. Instead, we should be curtailing the power 
of the Internal Revenue Service, replacing ObamaCare with sensible, 
patient-centered alternatives, and my amendment would do that.
  Before I conclude, I wish to mention another amendment we will be 
filing to the appropriations bill--one I cosponsored with my friend 
from South Carolina Senator Graham. Our amendment would prevent any 
funds in this bill from being used to bail out Detroit or any American 
city that mismanages its public finances. We have a Federal bankruptcy 
code--chapter 9, specifically--that was designed to handle these 
problems, and Detroit has filed for bankruptcy. There is no good reason 
why Detroit or any other American city ought to receive a taxpayer-
funded bailout from Washington. I hope that the normal bankruptcy 
process will be allowed to go forward, and I hope that the bankruptcy 
follows the rule of law and that the Obama administration resists any 
temptation to meddle in the process and play politics.

  My colleagues might recall that during the 2009 government-run 
Chrysler bankruptcy process, the company's secured bondholders received 
much less for their loans than the United Auto Workers pension funds. 
My colleagues might also recall that during the runup to the 2011 
Solyndra bankruptcy, the Obama administration actually made taxpayers 
subordinate to private lenders, in violation of the law.
  Detroit's financial woes offer a warning to all cities and States 
that are struggling with pension obligations and unfunded liabilities. 
And speaking of unfunded liabilities, the Federal Government currently 
owes more than $100 trillion worth of unfunded liabilities ourselves 
for Medicare and Social Security--something that urgently needs our 
attention. It is time for government officials at all levels--State, 
Federal, and local--to make the hard fiscal choices we have been 
postponing for way too long.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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