[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 217 (Thursday, December 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9242-S9243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor tonight because I 
want to remind our colleagues and the people of the United States of 
America that we did pass an infrastructure bill, and it was bipartisan.
  But we are here tonight because the very people that it takes to 
implement that bill, the very people that work at the Department of 
Commerce, the very people who work at the Department of Transportation 
are being held up in not

[[Page S9243]]

being able to be fully confirmed by this body to do the work that it 
takes to implement that legislation.
  I know this is incredibly important to people across the United 
States of America because we know how popular that bill was. My 
colleagues are with me tonight--two members of the Commerce Committee--
who worked hard and contributed mightily to the Surface Transportation 
Act that passed out of the Commerce Committee in a robust bipartisan 
fashion to come here to the floor. It was added with other legislation 
from other committees.

  So we are here tonight--myself, my colleague from Montana, who has a 
State as big as any State in the United States. It probably is the 
largest State. All I know is it takes me at least an hour to fly over 
it. So I guarantee you that is a lot of roads, that is a lot of 
bridges, that is a lot of railroad, that is a lot of infrastructure. If 
it is not fixed and it is not taken care of, then the Montana economy 
is hurt.
  My colleague from Wisconsin is here, and she played a major role in 
the infrastructure bill as well. She made sure that we focused on at-
grade crossings and the safety of our rail system. Why? Because we have 
to move products from the Midwest to reach Asian markets. If they can't 
get there because they are stuck in congestion, then, we aren't going 
to be competitive as a nation.
  It is ridiculous that we are in this position tonight, ridiculous 
that there are dozens of nominees from the Department of Transportation 
and the Department of Commerce that the majority of our colleagues 
support, but they are being held up by one or two people who don't want 
to see them move through the process.
  I am talking about nominees that are part of the Federal Railroad 
Administration--the Administrator. We are giving a bunch of money to 
the Federal Railroad Administration so they can put grants out, 
authorize this new program for at-grade crossings to improve the speed 
of moving our product, and people don't want the FRA, or the Federal 
Railroad Administration, to have an Administrator. I don't know what 
possibly could be wrong with that.
  Someone doesn't want us to have the CFO for the Department of 
Transportation. The CFO--you don't want us to have a CFO? How political 
could the CFO of the Department of Transportation be? I guarantee you, 
not very political. The CFO is a person who is going to make sure that 
we spend the money correctly, administer the new programs as they get 
set up, and make sure the money goes out the door. It is hard to 
imagine a lot of money will go out the door of the Department of 
Transportation if we don't have a CFO.
  There are other people here that are part of the transportation 
system on analysis. There are people I am pretty sure my colleague from 
Montana will talk about.
  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration--why? Again, because 
I guarantee you there are a lot of trucks in Montana. There is a lot of 
moving of product. You have to have trucking safety, and you have to 
have help in administering that. And if you have to have help 
administering that, then, you need to have an Administrator of the 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
  These are basic positions. These are positions that are part of the 
infrastructure that we need for the Department of Transportation and, 
as I mentioned, the Department of Commerce. These are issues that are 
important to us.
  Let me just say a few words about Commerce nominees. We have someone 
who is supposed to do the analysis of industry for the Department of 
Commerce. We have someone who is supposed to help us with trade and 
international matters.
  I am pretty sure my colleague from Florida, who is objecting to some 
of these nominees, is going to say: It is about the supply chain.
  These are the very people that we need for the supply chain. You need 
the analysis and the construct of the Department of Commerce to say: 
These are the problems that we have with the Department moving forward 
on various issues that we have with a major focus on our 
infrastructure.
  The infrastructure bill provided $1.2 trillion in funding for 
transportation, for energy, for disparities that we have in our 
infrastructure and that has to get spent, and it has to get spent as 
soon as possible.
  Markets in China and India are expected to be worth $26 trillion by 
2030, but some people think: Well, we will just take that money we gave 
to move ahead on our infrastructure--something that has been 
dilapidated for a long time.
  That is what people don't understand. Over several administrations, 
our investment in transportation infrastructure fell to less than 1 
percent of GDP, and we didn't correct it. The last administration 
didn't correct it, but this administration came in--a Democratic 
administration--and said we are going to correct that because 
economists will tell you that you are not keeping pace if your 
infrastructure investment is less than 1 percent. Now President Biden 
is going to get that number up over the next several years, and that is 
the kind of investment we need to make.
  We don't need to slow down because there is a big world economy, and 
95 percent of consumers live outside the United States. But, OK, let's 
just take our sweet time in implementing this bill and getting U.S. 
products to international markets, when 95 percent of consumers are 
outside the United States. Let's just take our sweet time because 
someone wants to object to these nominees--the CFO, the Administrator, 
these people who have been moved out of committee in a bipartisan 
fashion.
  This is a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation investment that we 
have to make. But they have to have people over there to make the 
investment and they have to have people to be fully staffed. And we 
have to make sure that these important steps that the President is 
taking on supply chain are met. That is why these issues of working on 
various logistics of operations, of pricing, of transparency, and 
overseeing shippers and making sure that some of our largest shippers 
are committed to moving cargo during off-peak hours are important.
  My colleagues on both sides of the aisle know how important 
agricultural products being delivered to market on time is. And we need 
to make sure that our farmers, our people who have U.S.-manufactured 
products, like in the State of Wisconsin, are getting a fair deal on 
their shipping.
  And that is why we also have to have the nominee for the Federal 
Maritime Commission and get somebody on the Commission who is going to 
hold people accountable to make sure that our products get somewhere 
safely and securely and in a timely fashion.
  So these issues that we are facing on the supply chain are complex. 
They are not going to be fixed overnight, but they have to have people 
in the jobs. They have to have people who are going to answer the 
questions, work together, and to get this done.
  So I would ask my colleagues, who I know are going to join me in 
making several nominations, I ask unanimous consent to consider the 
following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 315, Karen Jean Hedlund, 
of Colorado, to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board for a 
term expiring December 31, 2025; that the Senate vote on the nomination 
without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or 
debate; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the 
Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's 
action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Hedlund 
nomination?
  The nomination was confirmed.