[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 138 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5706-S5707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL LOBSTER DAY

  Mr. KING. Mr. President, I am beginning my comments with my mask on 
for a very specific reason. If you can tell what is populating the 
mask, they are America's favorite crustacean: the North American 
lobster.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration 
of S. Res. 335, submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant bill clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 335) designating September 25, 2021, 
     as ``National Lobster Day''.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. KING. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or 
debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 335) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. KING. Mr. President, I appreciate the adoption of this 
resolution.
  The American lobster, the North American lobster, is a staple, an 
iconic product of the State of Maine. It supports our coastal economy; 
it produces well over $1 billion a year of economic activity; and it 
supports thousands of families along the coast of Maine.
  Some people occasionally refer to the lobster industry, but in 
reality it is a series of small, sole proprietorship businesses. Almost 
all lobsters are caught on boats owned by individual owners, with, 
perhaps, what we call a sternman on board, but it is a series of, as I 
say, small, independently owned businesses, and that is one of the 
things that is so special about this industry.
  So it is a treat for me to be able to move this resolution, to have 
it agreed upon unanimously by the U.S. Senate. September 25, 2021, will 
officially be National Lobster Day.
  I yield the floor.
  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.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Hassan). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                           Amendment No. 2354

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, I want to start by thanking some of 
our colleagues--Senators Rounds, Ernst, and Kelly--for cosponsoring the 
provisions of this amendment, and thank the chairman and ranking member 
of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senators Carper and 
Capito, for their support as well.
  I also want to acknowledge the good work of our House colleague, 
Congressman Steve Lynch, on championing this issue.
  So what is this amendment about? It is a commonsense amendment to 
ensure that as we work on a bipartisan basis to modernize our 
infrastructure for the 21st century, we also work together to ensure 
that new infrastructure projects that flow from this bill and others 
are financed securely.
  Most Federal projects are financed securely by law. Most require some

[[Page S5707]]

kind of surety bond. That has been the case for almost 100 years in 
this country. But because of an odd and old loophole, public-private 
infrastructure partnerships, or P3 projects, often do not maintain the 
same level of protection that has been required for public 
infrastructure projects over time. That can spell disaster for 
subcontractors, for workers, for taxpayers, and for the success of 
projects that are not so secure.
  We know that contractor defaults can cause costly delays, waste 
taxpayer money, and leave residents and local stakeholders and project 
workers in the lurch. In fact, one developer defaulted on a P3 project 
in Indiana and left subcontractors without pay and left taxpayers on 
the hook for over $300 million in additional project costs.
  This amendment simply requires that P3 projects using TIFIA 
financing--that is Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation 
Act financing--be secured with a surety bond. That way, in the event a 
contractor defaults, the protections by that bond ensure the completion 
of those projects. They protect taxpayers, and they ensure that workers 
and subcontractors and suppliers are paid for their work.
  Not surprisingly, this effort is supported by a broad coalition of 
organizations, including the American Subcontractors Association, the 
National Association of Minority Contractors, and a wide range of other 
contractors, because it will ensure that they are paid for the work 
they do, and it will also protect taxpayers who otherwise are left in 
the lurch if a contractor goes belly up and we do not have the 
protection of this kind of surety bond. That is why this amendment has 
broad bipartisan support, and I urge its adoption.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 2354

  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I rise in support of the amendment 
offered by my old friend, the Senator from Maryland--my neighbor, 
Senator Van Hollen--and also my young friend, Senator Ernst, and maybe 
one or two others that I am not aware of.
  The amendment offered by our colleagues requires public-private 
partnership projects that receive loans from USDOT to obtain something 
called surety bonds. Surety bonds are a proven tool for ensuring that a 
loan recipient has appropriate payment and performance protections in 
place.
  By requiring these bonds, this amendment would protect workers, would 
protect suppliers, and guarantee that any subcontractors, suppliers, 
and workers would receive the payment they deserve for their work on 
the project, even if the borrower were to default.
  The legislation is based on bipartisan, bicameral legislation that is 
supported by a dozen organizations, including associations that 
represent the interests of minority-owned and woman-owned small 
businesses.
  I urge my colleagues to support it.
  I yield to my colleague, the ranking member of the EPW Committee. I 
just want to say how pleased I am with the progress we have made today. 
A lot of amendments were offered and considered. We had the opportunity 
to vote on them, accept some, some not accepted. But the spirit was 
good. There is a good spirit in here. And I think if most people around 
the country who think we never can work together and get anything done 
had a chance to see the way this place worked today, they would feel 
better about this democracy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I want to thank the sponsors of the Van 
Hollen-Rounds amendment, and I am in full support of this bipartisan 
amendment. As the chairman explained that public-private partnerships 
under TIFIA would be backed by the surety bond, which would mean that, 
in the event of a contractor default, the projects could still be 
completed, subcontractors and workers paid, and taxpayer investments 
protected. It sounds like a good commonsense amendment, and I am fully 
in support.
  I would also like to say that the progress we had today is more than 
encouraging. We are all, I think, very excited about the prospects of 
what the improvements that this bill will make to our transportation 
and energy sectors and just the guts of our country in terms of the 
physical infrastructure.
  With that, I yield the floor.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 2354

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is no further debate.
  The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 2354.
  Mr. CARDIN. 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. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine) is 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Inhofe).
  The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 297 Leg.]

                                YEAS--97

     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Braun
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gillibrand
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kelly
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Manchin
     Markey
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Paul
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Tuberville
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Graham
     Inhofe
     Kain
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 97, the nays are 0.
  Under the previous order requiring 60 votes for adoption of this 
amendment, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 2354) was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.


                           Order of Business

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote 
on the Johnson amendment No. 2245, scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow, 
occur at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow, August 4.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________