[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 10, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7884-S7887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DRIVE ACT--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until 2:45
p.m. is equally divided.
The Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10
minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, in a few moments we are going to vote on a
motion to instruct the conferees on the highway bill. It will be a
motion to instruct them not to proceed with a Federal mandate that
would force these long double trailers called twin 33s on the 38 States
where currently they are illegal.
This Senator would observe that it is not often we get a chance to
vote on a motion that will accomplish so much. We are going to get a
chance in 30 minutes or so to vote on a motion that will save lives. It
is a motion that would prohibit a Federal mandate, that supports small
business, and that would save $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion per year in
highway maintenance. It is a vote that is supported by an overwhelming
majority of the American people. This is a rare opportunity for us to
come together on a motion that does all of those things.
It is also a bipartisan motion to instruct. It will be sponsored by
the Senator from California, Senator Feinstein, and there will be
bipartisan votes for the motion on both sides of the aisle.
Now, why are we here? The motion is here because it stems from an
amendment in the Appropriations Committee to the Transportation
appropriations bill, which would require every State to allow these
twin 33-foot trailers on Federal highways. Currently some 12 States do
allow them. They have a right to do that, and if they made a considered
decision in their State legislatures and in consultation with their
departments of transportation, then more power to them.
Well, 38 States say that these trucks are not safe and that these
trucks are too long. They tell us they don't want them on the highways.
I think we should respect that decision by these 38 States.
Who supports the Wicker-Feinstein motion to instruct the conferees? I
go back to the point that this is a vote to save lives. Who says this?
AAA, a respected nationwide organization that knows quite a bit about
highway safety, says support the Wicker amendment. Don't mandate on 38
States something they don't want to do with these extra long trucks.
I would point out on this diagram the size of the average passenger
car. Look how much longer this proposed twin 33 double rig with the
tractor part on the front is. Frankly, the American people don't want
to contend with these long double trailers on their roads.
The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety say this isn't safe. A
``yes'' vote
[[Page S7885]]
on the Wicker-Feinstein motion would be a vote for safety.
The National Troopers Coalition--we ought to listen to them--say
these trucks are not safe, and at the very least, there should be no
mandate from Washington, DC. In the time remaining, I would suggest to
Members and legislative staff back in their offices to call their local
troopers in their various States and see what the troopers say about
this. I will tell you that troopers in State after State say don't
mandate these long trucks. Sheriff's associations say don't mandate
these long trucks.
Chiefs of police say don't mandate these long, twin 33 double
trailers. So you may ask yourself what a chief of police in a
municipality has to do with this. Aren't we talking about interstate
highways and big old Federal highways? Not true at all. I don't know
about you, but in the place where I live, if something comes in by
truck, they bring it right into town. So the chiefs of police say: We
don't want these twin 33s on our two-lane streets; we don't want them
on the two-lane highways. That would be the result of the mandate that
is contained in the appropriations bill unless we turn that around.
Who else is opposed to mandating twin 33s on the 38 States that don't
want them? The State trucking associations are opposed to this mandate.
One would think that the truckers would be for this. After all, if you
are a big enough trucking company and you have enough money, you can
buy the truck, haul more, and make more money. That is the idea, but we
need to bear in mind that most of the truckers in the United States are
small business owners. Frankly, some of them have told me that if this
mandate on all 50 States is passed, they are going out of business.
We have resolutions from the Mississippi Trucking Association, the
Arizona Trucking Association, Louisiana Trucking Association, and we
have an alliance of small business truckers from States that include
Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Nebraska, Louisiana, Maryland, Washington,
Iowa, Mississippi, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Arkansas--and I
can go on. Trucking companies and small truckers in all of these States
are saying: Please don't put us out of business by having us try to
compete with these large twin 33s.
I would submit to my colleagues that 20 minutes from now we are going
to have a vote. This is the only opportunity that 100 Senators elected
by the people of the 50 States will have to address this issue. This
vote we are going to take in just a few moments will send a strong
signal to the people in some office here on Capitol Hill, in some room
on Capitol Hill, where they are devising the Omnibus appropriations
bill. We need to send a strong signal to them that we don't want this
mandate in the omnibus. We don't want the mandate in the highway bill.
We need a strong vote. This is a chance to vote on how we stand with
small business in our States, with the troopers, the sheriffs, the
chiefs of police, the trucking associations, and the advocates for
highway safety.
I would urge my colleagues to thoroughly consider this in the next 20
or 25 minutes. When you come to vote, a ``yes'' vote will be a vote to
avoid the Federal mandate. I urge my colleagues to join me on a
bipartisan basis--and I believe they will join me on a bipartisan
basis--in allowing the 38 States that opt out of this to continue to do
so, making a stand for small business, for the States' decisionmaking,
and for safety.
Mr. President, I understand we are going to move to a vote at 2:45
p.m.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining
time while we are in quorum calls be divided equally between the
parties.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WICKER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, we are about to vote on whether we want to
go to conference with our Transportation bill that passed this body
with well over 60 votes in July. We have been pushing hard--Senators on
both sides of the aisle--to move the House toward a situation where we
can finally go to conference and reconcile the two bills. We are at
that point, and I certainly hope we get a very solid vote.
I am also hopeful the Wicker-Feinstein motion does succeed, and I
certainly will try my best to raise it in the conference. We still have
about 1.5 million unemployed construction workers since the recession.
We have seen terrific job growth, but we know it hasn't hit all the
sectors, so this is an extremely important bill.
Also, we know that thousands in businesses rely on a robust highway
trust fund. Whether it is the granite people, the cement people, they
are all for going to conference. Whether it is the international
association of machinists or it is the labor union, the chamber of
commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, it is a rare and
glorious occasion to see everybody come together and say: Let's get a
bill.
We want to have a robust bill. We don't want to have a bill that is
business as usual and this is why--we have 60,000 bridges that are
deficient. They were not built with the kinds of traffic they are now
withstanding in mind, so we must have this vote to go to conference.
I thank the majority leader, Senator McConnell, for his work and the
Democratic leader, Senator Reid. I also extend my thanks to Senator
Cantwell, who worked so hard with other Senators on this side to get
Ex-Im included in this bill. We will have the Export-Import
reauthorization in this bill.
I am very excited to get to conference. My goal is just to put it on
the table, to bring to that conference the bipartisan spirit we had
when we did this bill in the Senate. When I thank both the majority
leader and the Democratic leader, it is because they put strong people
on this conference. I think it is going to be a strong conference. We
have a lot of similarities. Somebody who looked at both bills said the
House bill is about 90 percent similar to the Senate bill. This is a
good thing. This means we don't have to take our time because the trust
fund, the authorization runs out very soon, right before Thanksgiving.
So it is a good moment for the Senate.
I think we showed leadership on both sides of the aisle on getting
this bill done. We continue to work well together, both leaders have
sent strong conferees to the conference. I know our staffs are already
speaking, and I am hopeful we get a strong vote, which I think we are
going to have in a few minutes. Am I correct it is about 3 minutes from
that vote?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
Mrs. BOXER. All right. So in 3 minutes I hope we have a solid vote to
take our bill to conference with the House, where I will work very
closely with Chairman Shuster and the rest.
The last point I make is I read that Congressman DeFazio--who is our
Democratic ranking member in the House T&I Committee--has had a very
serious eye situation and had to go for emergency surgery. I wish to
say my heart is with him. He is a very important person in terms of
weighing in on the transportation needs. I will work with him, I will
speak with him, and I am very hopeful that although he may not be
present--I hope he will be present for the conference--if he is not, I
wish to reassure him that we will take his concerns into this
conference.
I am looking forward to a strong vote.
I yield the floor.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to yield back all time and
proceed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, all time is yielded back.
Cloture Motion
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
disagree to the amendment of the
[[Page S7886]]
House, agree to the request from the House for a conference,
and authorize the Presiding Officer to appoint conferees with
respect to H.R. 22.
Mitch McConnell, Mike Rounds, Lamar Alexander, Johnny
Isakson, Deb Fischer, John Cornyn, Chuck Grassley, Thad
Cochran, Joni Ernst, Cory Gardner, John Thune, Daniel
Coats, Orrin G. Hatch, John Barrasso, James M. Inhofe,
Thom Tillis, Roy Blunt.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum
call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the
motion to disagree to the amendment of the House, agree to the request
from the House for a conference, and authorize the Presiding Officer to
appoint conferees with respect to H.R. 22 shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the
Senator from Colorado (Mr. Gardner), the Senator from South Carolina
(Mr. Graham), the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller), the Senator from
Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), the
Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr.
Vitter).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller)
would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter)
would have voted ``yea.''
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and
the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lankford). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 82, nays 7, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 303 Leg.]
YEAS--82
Alexander
Ayotte
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Boxer
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cotton
Daines
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Franken
Gillibrand
Grassley
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Kaine
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Lankford
Manchin
Markey
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Peters
Portman
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rounds
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Scott
Sessions
Shaheen
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS--7
Corker
Flake
Lee
Perdue
Risch
Sasse
Shelby
NOT VOTING--11
Crapo
Cruz
Gardner
Graham
Heller
Johnson
Leahy
Paul
Rubio
Vitter
Warner
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 82, the nays are 7.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
Under the previous order, the compound motion is agreed to.
The Senator from Mississippi.
Motion to Instruct
Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I have a motion to instruct at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Wicker] moves that the
managers on the part of the Senate at the conference on the
disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment
to the bill H.R. 22 be instructed to insist upon the
inclusion of the following section in title XXXII:
SEC. 32__. TRUCK TRACTOR-SEMITRAILER-TRAILER COMBINATION
LENGTH LIMITATION.
The Secretary may promulgate a rule to increase the minimum
length limitation that a State may prescribe for a truck
tractor-semitrailer-trailer combination under section
31111(b)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code, from 28 feet
to 33 feet if the Secretary makes a statistically significant
finding, based on the final Comprehensive Truck Size and
Weight Limits Study required under section 32801 of the
Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2012
(title II of division C of Public Law 112-141), that such
increase would not have a net negative impact on public
safety.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I understand I have 2 minutes. I will
speak briefly and then yield to Senator Feinstein.
This is what this is about, these twin 33 double trailers, which are
longer than is legal in 38 States. The question is whether we as a
Senate, we as a Congress, we as a Federal Government, are going to
mandate on the 38 States that don't allow these to allow them on their
roads at any rate. So a ``yes'' vote would be a vote against the
Federal mandate.
When do you get in one fell swoop an opportunity to vote--a vote that
will save lives, a vote to prevent a Federal mandate, a vote for small
business, a vote to save $1.2 to $1.8 billion a year in highway
maintenance, and a vote supported by the overwhelming majority of the
people?
Vote yes not to mandate this on the States.
I yield the floor to the Senator from California.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, if we look at that, that is 91 feet
with the twin 33s and the cab, 91 feet of truck. Thirty-eight States do
not want that in their States. This bill overwhelms that. We had an
amendment in the Appropriations Committee that would prevent that. It
was a tie vote.
Senator Wicker and I ask you, please don't force States to do this
before the safety work is done by the Secretary. We have 4,000 people
killed every year from these trucks in all kinds of horrific
accidents--and they are not as long as this one. These trucks would not
only be on the freeways, but they would be in the villages, the towns,
and the cities as well.
I hope you will support this motion to instruct to protect the 38
States and say: Before you do this, do the safety investigations and
tell us these trucks are safe.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there time taken in opposition?
If not, the question is on agreeing to the motion.
Mr. WICKER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the
Senator from Colorado (Mr. Gardner), the Senator from South Carolina
(Mr. Graham), the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller), the Senator from
Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the
Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio),
and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Louisiana (Mr.
Vitter) would have voted ``yea.''
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer),
the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), and the Senator from Virginia
(Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 56, nays 31, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 304 Leg.]
YEAS--56
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coats
Cochran
Coons
Donnelly
Durbin
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gillibrand
Grassley
Heinrich
Hirono
Isakson
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Manchin
Markey
McCain
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Reid
Sanders
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
[[Page S7887]]
NAYS--31
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Corker
Cornyn
Cotton
Daines
Enzi
Hatch
Heitkamp
Hoeven
Kirk
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
NOT VOTING--13
Boxer
Crapo
Cruz
Gardner
Graham
Heller
Inhofe
Johnson
Leahy
Paul
Rubio
Vitter
Warner
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Motion to Instruct
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I have a motion to instruct at the
desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Blumenthal] moves that
the managers on the part of the Senate at the conference
on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the House
amendment to the bill H.R. 22 be instructed to insist upon
the inclusion of the rail safety provisions contained in
the amendment passed by the Senate on July 30, 2015,
including the authorization of grants for the installation
of positive train control.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will be 4 minutes of debate equally
divided.
The Senator from Connecticut is recognized.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, in recent years all of our
constituents have seen a scourge in rail accidents. There have been
similar accidents all around the country. This motion insists that the
Senate's provisions be included in this conference and in what comes
out of the conference committee, including the authorization of grants
for the installation of positive train control.
This summer, with the leadership of the committee chairman, Senator
Thune, and the ranking member, Bill Nelson, who are both champions of
rail safety, in this instance it resulted in some very key reforms, and
the Senate passed the DRIVE Act which is not perfect--troublesome in
some highway safety elements--but forward thinking on rail safety. It
includes funding for PTC, redundant signal protection, improved
inspection practices, and a followup on the FRA's deep dive
investigation. Along with cameras and grade crossing, these provisions
help to advance the cause of rail safety.
The House has done nothing. The House bill is completely and abjectly
lacking on rail safety, and therefore this motion instructs our
conferees to insist on the Senate's provisions. I know that our
conferees will be extremely sympathetic and supportive, but in order to
simply to express our views, I ask unanimous consent that this measure
be approved and that the motion be taken on a voice vote.
I ask unanimous consent that all remaining time be yielded back.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The question occurs on agreeing to the motion.
The motion was agreed to.
The Presiding Officer appointed Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Thune, Mr. Hatch, Ms.
Murkowski, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Cornyn, Mrs. Boxer, Mr.
Brown, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Schumer conferees on
the part of the Senate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
____________________