[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 113 (Thursday, August 1, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S6150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          THUD Appropriations

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we have spent the last 2 weeks here on 
the Senate floor talking about our bipartisan transportation and 
housing bill. This is a bill that is all about creating jobs, investing 
in our families and in our communities, and laying down a strong 
foundation for a long-term and broad-based economic growth. This bill 
is not exactly a bill I would have written on my own. I know it is not 
exactly a bill Senator Collins would have written on her own. But it is 
a compromise bill that reflects the deep cuts we made when we set 
spending levels in the Budget Control Act as well as the best ideas 
from both sides of the aisle of ways we can improve and reform our 
transportation and housing investment.
  The transportation and housing investments in this bill have a direct 
impact on the families and communities we represent, from improving our 
roads, to reducing traffic and helping Main Street businesses, to 
making sure our bridges are safe so we do not see more collapses like 
the one back home in my State of Washington, to supporting our most 
vulnerable families, seniors, and veterans with a roof over their heads 
when they need it the most and making investments in our communities 
that mayors across our country use to create local jobs in their 
hometowns and so much more.
  Senator Collins and I worked very hard together to write a bipartisan 
bill to invest in programs that should not be partisan. I think we 
succeeded. Six Republicans voted for this bill in committee; 73 
Senators voted to bring this bill to the floor for a debate. That 
debate was a full and open one, with amendments and votes from 
Democrats and Republicans.
  I wish to personally thank Senator Collins for her hard work on this 
bill, and I also thank all of our staff on the appropriations 
subcommittee: Alex Keenan, Dabney Hegg, Meaghan McCarthy, Rachel 
Milberg, and Dan Broder; as well as the staff of Senator Collins, who 
spent endless hours: Heideh Shahmoradi, Kenneth Altman, Jason Woolwine, 
and Rajat Mathur--all of whom worked so hard and put in so many hours 
and late nights on this strong bipartisan bill.
  After 2 weeks of debate and discussion and a bipartisan bill before 
us, we are now going to move very shortly to a final vote. I want to be 
clear. This bill has the support of the majority of the caucus. In the 
House of Representatives, what did we see happen yesterday? They pulled 
their transportation and housing bill off the floor. The Republican 
leadership would not even allow a vote on their bill because they did 
not have a majority in their caucus. The chairman of the House 
Appropriations Committee said that showed that sequestration is 
unworkable and needs to be replaced. That is the House Republican 
chairman. But here in the Senate we have a majority, and we should move 
to pass this bill.
  The only thing that can block the passage of this bill, the only way 
a bipartisan bill with the support of the majority could be stopped is 
if Republican leaders whip their own Members into filibustering a jobs 
and infrastructure bill that many of those Republicans actually 
support. That is the only way.
  The choice before us is clear, and I urge my colleagues to make the 
right one. This vote is not about whether you support this exact bill 
or agree with the exact spending level. As Senator Collins has made 
clear again and again, you can think the spending level is too high and 
still support this process in which we pass a bill in the Senate and 
work with the House bill on a compromise. You can certainly disagree 
with the bill and not think it should be subjected to a filibuster.
  The bottom line is that a vote to wrap up and vote on this bill is a 
vote for jobs and the economy and for bipartisan solutions to the 
problems facing our Nation. A vote to filibuster this bill is a vote 
for more gridlock, more obstruction, more partisanship, and more 
political games.
  I know when I go home to Washington State I want to be able to tell 
my constituents that Democrats and Republicans worked together to solve 
some problems, help them, and grow the economy. I know there are many 
Democrats and Republicans here today who want to be able to say the 
same to their constituents, and I hope they will stand with me and 
Senator Collins and vote against a filibuster of our bipartisan bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Louisiana.