[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 184 (Thursday, December 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8781-S8782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TSCA MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2015

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 143, H.R. 2576.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2576) to modernize the Toxic Substances 
     Control Act, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Inhofe 
substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to and that the 
bill, as amended, be read a third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2932) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  Mr. INHOFE. I know of no further debate on this measure.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate, the bill having 
been read the third time, the question is, Shall the bill pass?
  The bill (H.R. 2576), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, we had a very dear friend in Frank 
Lautenberg. He was a Democrat; I am a Republican. I chaired the 
committee he served on, and we had a very close relationship.
  The bill we just passed began with a meeting to gather stakeholders. 
It happened in my office with Frank Lautenberg. Senator Vitter and 
Senator Udall--whom we will hear from in just a moment--and their staff 
have put together the first reform of TSCA in 40 years, which will 
create more regulatory certainty for American businesses and uniform 
protections for American families.
  We have a real opportunity to enact reform to a major environmental 
statute. It is the result of over 3 years of work and negotiation, and 
I thank those responsible for spending countless hours to produce this 
product. Dimitri Karakitsos began working for me while I was ranking 
member, stayed with Ranking Member Vitter working on this bill, and 
then back with me as chairman of the committee. He has shepherded the 
drafting and negotiation of this bill the entire time. He is the guy in 
charge. I thank Jonathan Black in Senator Udall's office as well as 
Andrew Wallace, who took up the TSCA reform leadership following 
Senator Lautenberg. I thank Zack Baig in Senator Vitter's office, Colin 
Peppard with Senator Carper, Michal Feedhoff in Senator Markey's 
office, Adam Zipkin in Senator Booker's office, Adrian Deveny in 
Senator Merkley's office, and Emily Enderle with Senator Whitehouse. 
Thanks to all the staff.
  People don't realize how much work the staff does. When we passed the 
Transportation reauthorization bill, it was hundreds and hundreds of 
hours. This one, because of a technicality, has been held up for about 
a month and a half. That has been worked out, so I am just pleased we 
are able to do it. I think that is a tribute to Frank Lautenberg and 
his wife Bonnie. I say to my friend from New Mexico, I think Frank 
Lautenberg's legacy has been fulfilled.
  Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, I couldn't agree with Chairman Inhofe more. 
I know he knew Senator Lautenberg very well and worked with him on the 
committee and off the committee on a variety of issues. He was very 
committed to his grandchildren. As Senator Inhofe knows, many times we 
would see him in committee, and when he would talk specifically about 
the bills before us, he would say: Is this going to help my children 
and their children? One of the things he talked about on this bill was 
that this would save more lives and help his grandchildren's generation 
more than any bill he ever worked on. So he was very proud of this 
bill, and we were very sorry to lose him.
  But the thing I want to say about Chairman Inhofe is that as a 
dedicated and determined legislator, he saw the opportunity. Senator 
Vitter and I had worked on this. We came to Senator Inhofe at the 
beginning of the Congress and said: We have a good bipartisan piece of 
legislation we have worked on for a while. But you took the bull by the 
horns. You ended up helping us improve it. I think when we started in 
the committee--when you marked it up earlier in the year in the 
Environment and Public Works Committee, we had maybe one or two 
Democrats supporting it. We expanded that, and it passed out with a 15-
to-5 vote, so a very significant vote in terms of holding people 
together.
  I really give you a lot of credit for the way you ran the committee, 
how gracious you were when Senator Lautenberg's widow, Bonnie 
Lautenberg, came down and spoke, and I wasn't on the committee any 
longer, but how you treated me and had me speak before the committee on 
the work we had done. It has been a real pleasure.
  All those staff members you mentioned--from Dimitri, to Jonathan 
Black, to Drew Wallace, and all the other staff members of the large 
number of Senators on the committee--Senator Carper, Senator 
Whitehouse, Senator Merkley, Senator Markey, Senator Booker--many 
Senators on that committee focused in with you and with Senator Vitter 
to make sure we got this done.
  I am very proud of what we have done today. I think it will be looked 
back on as a major environmental accomplishment in terms of 
bipartisanship and pulling people together.
  The thing we did that I am very proud of is we had all stakeholders 
at the table and we listened to them and we proceeded through. It is a 
real tribute to Senator Inhofe's ability as a legislator. We don't have 
to be convinced on this bill. Just earlier in the year, he produced a 
transportation bill--which was a major accomplishment--for 5 years. So 
now once again Chairman Inhofe shows how he is able to pull people 
together and get this done.
  So I once again just want to thank you. I know there are additional 
comments we will make later on. I know the Lautenberg family has 
followed this closely. Bonnie Lautenberg has followed this. They are 
going to be very proud.
  As you know, we are naming the legislation after Frank Lautenberg. It 
is going to be called the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act of 2015. 
So all of us who served with Frank Lautenberg are going to be very 
happy and proud that this significant major piece of legislation will 
carry his name.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, in response, let me say that Senator Udall 
is far too generous to me, but I can assure you right now that Bonnie 
Lautenberg is watching this. We would not have been able to do this if 
you had not provided the leadership in the Democrats. You kept bringing 
more and more people in, making modest changes, and I was quite shocked 
at some that came in. But you and Bonnie were the leaders.
  This bill is so significant to every manufacturer, everyone who does 
any kind of business. We will now finally get a handle on and be able 
to analyze what chemicals are in the best interest of America and the 
best safety interests of our people. I thank Senator Udall so much for 
his participation and bringing the group together.
  I yield the floor.

[[Page S8782]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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