[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 11 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S435-S436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 115. Mr. COONS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 2 proposed by Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. 
Barrasso, Mr. Risch, Mr. Lee, Mr. Flake, Mr. Daines, Mr. Manchin, Mr. 
Cassidy, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Portman, Mr. Alexander, and Mrs. Capito) to 
the bill S. 1, to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline; which was ordered 
to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING CLIMATE CHANGE AND 
                   INFRASTRUCTURE.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) climate change is already impacting the safety and 
     reliability of the critical infrastructure systems of the 
     United States, including buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels,

[[Page S436]]

     rail, ports, airports, levees, dams, and military 
     installations through sea level rise, rising temperatures, 
     and more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as 
     droughts, floods, wildfires, and heat waves;
       (2) significant energy, industrial and transportation 
     infrastructure in the United States is located near the 
     coast, in floodplains, or in other areas vulnerable to sea 
     level rise;
       (3) the impacts to infrastructure described in paragraph 
     (1) have caused tangible economic costs that are likely to 
     increase over time;
       (4) it is fiscally prudent to prepare for and seek to 
     mitigate the impacts described in paragraph (1), as it is 
     estimated that every dollar spent on mitigation saves $4 in 
     disaster relief;
       (5) the Federal Government self-insures, offers insurance 
     programs such as crop insurance and the national flood 
     insurance program, and, in the case of extreme weather 
     events, also serves as the insurer of last resort for public 
     and private infrastructure;
       (6) the Federal Government has a crucial role to play as a 
     partner in working with State, local, tribal, and territorial 
     jurisdictions to help ensure coordinated efforts to keep 
     communities resilient;
       (7) the role of the Federal Government should include 
     prioritizing climate resilient projects when administering 
     Federal grants, providing technical support, and sharing of 
     data and information in user-friendly and accessible formats, 
     among other actions;
       (8) Federal agency climate change adaptation plans that 
     assess the risk to physical assets and missions of the 
     Federal agencies can help create savings for taxpayers; and
       (9) Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, 
     should quantify the economic value of the physical risks of 
     the agencies from climate change.
                                 ______