[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18087-18091]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   ENERGY AND THE HIGHWAY TRUST FUND

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I note that Senator Murray will be coming, 
and I am hopeful she will arrive shortly and then I will yield, after 5 
minutes, my remaining time.
  Senator Dorgan is very eloquent on the issue of energy and the issue 
of renewables. We have no more excuses. How many filibusters do we have 
to have around this place before we get the other side to relent?
  In my State, we are on the cutting edge of alternative energies. We 
have part of our coastline that is drilled upon, but part of it is 
preserved because it supports a very robust tourist and recreation 
industry. So we have found a balance in our State. But we are going to 
lose a lot of momentum if we don't get on with at least going after the 
speculators and renewing these important tax breaks to alternative 
energies, and also, if I might say, tell the oil companies they need to 
drill.
  Mr. President, I note Senator Murray has come to the floor, and I 
want to inform her that I took 15 minutes and I am going to take 5 and 
leave her 10, if that is all right with her, unless she needs more 
time.
  All right. So, Mr. President, if you will tell me when 5 minutes has 
expired from this point.
  I am so pleased Senator Murray has come to the floor. She works so 
hard to fund the transportation priorities of our Nation over in the 
Appropriations Committee, and my work is at the Environment and Public 
Works Committee, where we authorize the highway bill every 5 years.
  We know today, because we have been informed by Secretary of 
Transportation Peters, that there is a dangerous shortfall in the 
Federal fund that helps our States pay for critical highway 
construction. We have tried to fix this problem many times--
unfortunately, without the help of the Bush administration. Now we get 
an SOS: Thursday they are going to start reducing the funds to the 
States.
  Happily, they have awakened to the reality, but, unhappily, they have 
not talked to Republican Senators because last night, when Senator Reid 
tried to solve this problem so we can keep our construction going, keep 
our funds flowing to the States, there was an objection from the 
Republican side. Mind you, we are talking about an $8 billion sum of 
money that was taken from the fund years ago--in 1992, I believe it 
was; is that right? Or later than that? I am sorry, 1998. We borrowed 
$8 billion from the trust fund. Now all we are saying is we need to pay 
it back so we can make sure we can continue to build these important 
highways, fix our bridges, and help our transit systems. The fact is, 
if we do not do this, we are looking at tens of thousands, if not 
millions, of jobs lost.
  Mr. President, I know you come from a State that is struggling 
economically, desperately needing change. I come from a State that is 
in a recession. We have horrible problems. The housing bust has 
affected us, and what is keeping us going, frankly, are solar energy 
projects, the wind energy projects, the highway projects. If, in fact, 
the Republicans continue to stand in the way of replenishing the 
highway trust fund, my State will be in big trouble. What will happen 
is that funds that were set aside for my State for important projects 
will not be forthcoming. My State of California, with more than 35 
million people, receives more than $3 billion for Federal funding for 
highways per year. According to the California Department of 
Transportation, if no action is taken to avert the shortfall, 
California would experience a potential revenue reduction of $930 
million. We are talking almost $1 billion to my State.
  California is not alone. My Republican colleagues who come here and 
say: No, don't worry, forget it, who cares--I don't hear one word about 
any trouble spending American taxpayer dollars overseas. I never heard 
one of them say: We are spending $5,000 a second in Iraq on the war, 
let's bring some of that home--oh, no. But they are willing to make our 
people suffer here at home.
  Enough is enough is enough. The other day, the President announced he 
is sending $1 billion to Georgia. For a minute, I thought: Gee, Atlanta 
is in need of some help. Oh, no, it is the country of Georgia. Why? 
They had a war, as we all know, and we are compassionate toward them. 
But the war cost them $1 billion. I ask rhetorically, are there 
countries in Europe that can help the country of Georgia? I don't mind 
doing our part. We say we had nothing to do with the war that started 
there. We are certainly angry at Russia for the way it responded to the 
incursion of Georgian troops. We believe it was overkill. We all agree 
on that. We all want to help. But $1 billion to the country of Georgia 
while Atlanta, GA, and Los Angeles, CA, and all our other cities and 
towns and States are struggling and suffering and losing jobs? Enough 
is enough.
  I am going to work with my colleague and my dear friend, Senator 
Murray, who is such a leader on the funding of these programs we 
painstakingly authorize every 5 years. We are going to be on this floor 
as often as we can to move this, to ask unanimous

[[Page 18088]]

consent. We will let our Republican friends know. This is not a sneak 
attack. We are not going to do it when they are not aware of it. We are 
going to move to fix this problem every day, maybe several times a day, 
until our Republican friends relent.
  I have used the 5 minutes. This is just the start of a battle I am 
happy to be engaged in on behalf of the American people.
  I yield my time to Senator Murray, the remaining 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington is recognized.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from California for 
coming and talking about an absolutely critical issue this Congress 
should be focused on like a laser beam, and that is the issue of our 
highway funding for construction projects across this country and the 
highway trust fund. I and my Democratic colleagues have been telling 
the Bush administration repeatedly that we face a looming disaster 
across this Nation. We have proposed a solution that would enable this 
trust fund to stay solvent. We have warned that without action this 
year, we are going to face a financial disaster. We warned that it was 
coming very fast. But, as we have seen with a lot of problems in this 
country this year, President Bush and our Republican colleagues have, 
unfortunately, chosen to hide their heads in the sand and just avoid 
the problem. They told us earlier this year that the trust fund would 
have more than $3 billion in the bank at the end of this month. They 
have worked to block our proposed solution.
  I rise today because last Friday, President Bush's Transportation 
Secretary, Mary Peters, finally acknowledged what we have been warning 
about for months now, and that is that the highway account of our 
highway trust fund is broke. The administration has taken a closer look 
at the real receipts they are getting in from the Federal gas tax and 
discovered that their estimates have been off by some $3 billion just 
since May. The Bush administration is now preparing to default on its 
bills to every one of our States. Right now, instead of reimbursing our 
States twice a day, as the Federal Government has always done, 
Secretary Peters has told the States that they are only going to get 
paid now once a week. That is happening right now in every State in 
this country.
  This coming Thursday, 2 days from now, may be the last time the 
Federal Government will be able to reimburse 100 percent of their 
expenses. The Department of Transportation has told my Transportation 
and Housing Appropriations Subcommittee that on Thursday, September 
18--just 9 days from now--reimbursements could drop to as little as 64 
percent of the funds that our States are due. They will have to offer 
our States an IOU for the rest of that money. The result of the 
administration's failure to act on this is that we are now faced, in 
this country, across every single State, with an emergency situation. 
If we do not pass a solution very fast right here in the Senate, our 
States, every one of them, are going to be forced to cancel critical 
highway construction and repair projects that are ongoing right now 
that ensure our roads and our bridges are safe and secure.
  Not only does this threaten the safety of our transportation 
infrastructure, it could bring about massive layoffs in the 
construction sector in this country. That is an area of our economy 
that has suffered one of the biggest hits in recent months, and this is 
going to have a huge impact across the country.
  As we all know, this news is coming just as the unemployment rate has 
now reached the highest it has been in nearly 5 years. We are talking 
about a scenario in which ongoing highway projects could be stopped 
dead in their tracks if we do not take action in the next day or two. 
Across the country, thousands upon thousands of workers are going to be 
told to go home and not to come to work the next morning. These are 
critical safety and congestion relief projects that are ongoing right 
now across the country, and they could be halted--by the way, right in 
the heart of the construction season.
  Fortunately, we do have a solution. It is ready to go, if only the 
Republicans would put their partisan ideology aside just for this event 
and work with us to get this passed. Earlier this year, we proposed 
returning, as the Senator from California talked about, $8 billion that 
was taken out of the highway trust fund back in 1998. Contrary to what 
some people have said about our proposal, it is not a bailout from the 
general fund of the Treasury. That $8 billion was collected from gas 
taxes for the purpose of being deposited into the highway trust fund. 
At the end of 1998, that money was taken from the trust fund because at 
the time the fund was flush and we didn't think we needed it. We 
definitely need it now, so we have proposed restoring to the trust fund 
the $8 billion that was borrowed and not a penny more. All the money 
that was borrowed, we propose putting it back into the highway trust 
fund.
  This situation is extremely serious. After months of blocking our 
legislative solution, the Bush administration did a 180 and is now 
asking all of us please to get this bill on the President's desk by the 
end of this week. You would think that would be enough for his 
Republican allies. You would think they would finally see how dire this 
problem is and work with us to avoid the thousands of layoffs that are 
coming across the country if we do not act. Instead, last night, as we 
saw, they blocked our efforts to bring this bill to the floor and get 
it to the President.
  Senator Bond and I--he is my ranking member on the Appropriations 
Transportation Subcommittee--included this proposed transfer in our 
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill this 
year. Democrats tried to press this proposal in June, in fact, as part 
of the FAA bill. Democrats included it in the tax extender package. We 
were blocked. We tried to pass it as part of the stimulus bill. We were 
blocked. We have seen this blocked by Republicans at every turn as this 
crisis has gotten larger and larger. Now it is on us.
  The final effort we needed was just 60 votes. Do you know how many we 
got? We got 51. Only 5 Republicans voted to move that bill forward, 
while 42 Republican Senators voted against it. Now we are here in a 
crisis mode. But we have another chance, a final chance. The House has 
passed a similar bill by a 10-to-1 margin. It is not partisan over 
there. They know the emergency. That bill is here in the Senate. We 
could pass it by unanimous consent today. But, as we saw last night, 
Republicans are blocking it.
  We literally cannot afford to tread water like this. I came to the 
floor yesterday to urge my Republican colleagues to see how important 
this legislation is. We are here again today making the case. I hope 
our colleagues across the aisle will listen and work with us. The 
obstruction and failure to take action has now gotten our country into 
a crisis, and we do not need another one. We have a housing and 
mortgage crisis. We have an economic crisis. We cannot afford, in this 
country right now, to have a transportation construction crisis in 
every one of our cities and communities across the country.
  Within just a few days--take note--we are going to be seeing 
consequences across the country. This Thursday, as I said, could be the 
last day our States will be fully reimbursed by the Federal Government 
for the construction work that is ongoing. By this time next week, 
States are going to have to start doing without.
  The stakes could not be higher. Mr. President, 84,000 jobs in this 
country were lost last month alone. We cannot put another American job 
at risk, and we cannot afford to play Russian roulette with our 
country's highway construction effort. That is what is happening right 
now. We have to act. We need to act now. I plead with our Republican 
colleagues, put your partisanship aside. When it comes to our country's 
safety, infrastructure, construction jobs, economy--all at risk--can we 
take care of that today, please? Can we move forward and fix this 
emergency that is upon us?

[[Page 18089]]


  Mrs. BOXER. If the Senator will yield, I would like to engage in a 
colleague.
  I ask for an additional 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, the reason I want to engage my friend in a 
colloquy--I know she has other important hearings and so on--is I want 
to be specific here. I have just looked at a chart of loss of jobs if 
we do not fix this shortfall. I wanted to make sure my friend in the 
chair understands that if we do not fix this, the State of Arkansas 
will lose almost 5,000 jobs.
  I say to my friend, Senator Murray, I looked at Washington and if we 
do not fix this problem, 7,211 jobs--in the State of California, given 
our size, 32,315 jobs--will be lost if we do not fix this problem.
  Now, as I calculated, that is six times more people than who live in 
Wasilla, AK, who would lose their jobs in California alone. So we are 
talking families, families who need good-paying jobs. I wanted to ask 
my friend a question, because I see that she has her chart that says, 
``Democrats sounded alarm, Republicans pressed snooze.''
  This was true in the early days. But I would urge her to change what 
they have done. Now they have turned the alarm into a siren in our 
State. I mean, my friend knows the calls that are coming into our 
committee, to her committee. People are concerned that these jobs will 
be stopped midway through or slowed down. And when you slow down the 
work, it is terrible for everybody. It is inconvenient, it is money 
lost to corporations, it is jobs lost. There is no excuse.
  I say to my friend, does she agree now that, yes, in the beginning 
they snoozed, they also, according to my records, launched five 
filibusters against fixing this problem? So even then it was a little 
more aggressive than snoozing. And if we put that into the context of 
five filibusters, that is 5 of 92 filibusters the Republicans have 
launched this Congress.
  So when we come back and we debate change versus the status quo, I 
say to the American people and ask my friend if she agrees: Are not we 
facing more of the same on obstruction, more of the same filibusters, 
more of the same: I do not really care about middle-class workers, you 
lose your job, too bad, as we spend our money abroad?
  I ask my friend if she has this deep sense of where we are?
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I share with my colleague from California 
a real sense of frustration. The people across the country know we are 
in political season. They understand politics. They understand all of 
that. But this is beyond politics. This is about severe consequences. I 
do not understand putting partisan politics, more filibusters, an 
effort to not let anything happen, on the backs of every single 
community across this country.
  These are specific dollars that go to keeping our construction 
projects moving along. Now, I get frustrated like everyone in the 
summer when you come across a project in progress and you have to wait. 
But I want that construction process done because I know that highway 
needs to be repaired.
  We saw a bridge collapse not that long ago. Not that long ago deaths 
occurred. A huge community in Minnesota was impacted. That can happen 
across the country. We are attempting to fix those construction 
projects and they are going to be halted if we do not fix this trust 
fund problem.
  This has dire consequences.
  This is not about politics. It is not about a Presidential election. 
It is not about who is going to stop what. This is about real 
consequences in our community, jobs lost in the construction sector to 
families who will not have a paycheck next month in the middle of an 
economy that is already struggling.
  In some of our States, as we know well, the construction season is 
short; it ends in a few short months. And those projects, if they are 
halted now, will not begin again until next March or April. The long-
term consequences are real.
  Our Governors had better wake up and start calling all of our 
Republican colleagues. Our community leaders who want these projects 
completed had better start calling our Republican colleagues. We have a 
solution in hand. It is easy to do. We can do it today. The President 
now has turned around, finally, and asked for this solution.
  I do not understand why it is being blocked. It makes no sense to me. 
I can tell you, to those families who wake up 2 weeks from now without 
a job, and to those families who are trying to drive to get to work and 
all of a sudden they see a critical construction project stopped in 
their State, they are going to be asking all of us: What are you doing 
back there?
  I heard Senator McCain say recently: Watch what happens in Congress 
over the next several weeks. Well, I hope the American people are 
watching. What we see is obstruction and filibusters with dire 
consequences. It is going to be felt in every one of our communities if 
we do not put this aside for once and at least get this highway trust 
fund fixed.
  Mrs. BOXER. In the remaining time we have, I want to thank my friend. 
We work very closely, because I am the Chair of the committee that 
authorizes these programs and she is the one who funds them. We work 
very closely with our ranking members. Those are bipartisan measures.
  I want to be clear one more time, because pretty soon we are going to 
come back here and we are going to ask unanimous consent to fix this 
problem. We are going to be back here pretty soon.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a document 
called ``State Federal Highway Funds in Jeopardy.''
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                        STATE FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDS IN JEOPARDY--SUPPORT BAUCUS-GRASSLEY TRUST FUND FIX TO PREVENT 34 PERCENT CUT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                 Projected FY 2009
                       State                              Actual FY 2008            without fix            FY09 funding cut         Projected job loss
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Alabama...........................................             $703,608,862             $490,508,434             -213,100,427                    -7,416
 Alaska............................................              392,336,871              290,793,680             -101,543,191                    -3,534
 Arizona...........................................              667,147,856              438,664,311             -228,483,545                    -7,951
 Arkansas..........................................              456,190,231              320,021,084             -136,169,147                    -4,739
 California........................................            3,241,415,426            2,312,797,348             -928,618,078                   -32,315
 Colorado..........................................              483,871,715              336,831,459             -147,040,256                    -5,117
 Connecticut.......................................              482,654,710              322,178,744             -160,475,967                    -5,584
 Delaware..........................................              151,330,042              105,505,130              -45,824,912                    -1,595
 Dist. of Col......................................              144,672,395               98,449,152              -46,223,243                    -1,609
 Florida...........................................            1,743,482,571            1,170,330,313             -573,152,259                   -19,945
 Georgia...........................................            1,254,148,068              854,334,154             -399,813,914                   -13,913
 Hawaii............................................              161,397,489              108,732,842              -52,664,647                    -1,833
 Idaho.............................................              265,659,540              186,583,127              -79,076,413                    -2,752
 Illinois..........................................            1,226,941,903              860,514,023             -366,427,880                   -12,751
 Indiana...........................................              883,116,254              613,381,711             -269,734,544                    -9,386
 Iowa..............................................              422,814,986              275,671,959             -147,143,027                    -5,120
 Kansas............................................              364,702,387              246,228,246             -118,474,141                    -4,123
 Kentucky..........................................              614,997,743              424,872,735             -190,125,008                    -6,616
 Louisiana.........................................              577,720,798              388,222,990             -189,497,808                    -6,594
 Maine.............................................              178,953,421              124,718,277              -54,235,144                    -1,887
 Maryland..........................................              578,678,880              388,200,419             -190,478,461                    -6,628
 Massachusetts.....................................              609,422,307              398,142,135             -211,280,172                    -7,352
 Michigan..........................................            1,007,665,781              762,900,607             -244,765,175                    -8,518
 Minnesota.........................................              575,827,393              433,242,592             -142,584,801                    -4,962
 Mississippi.......................................              433,794,557              300,588,496             -133,206,061                    -4,635
 Missouri..........................................              829,306,795              577,297,558             -252,009,237                    -8,770

[[Page 18090]]

 
 Montana...........................................              338,011,659              239,506,863              -98,504,796                    -3,428
 Nebraska..........................................              271,341,203              184,454,956              -86,886,247                    -3,024
 Nevada............................................              274,821,219              173,608,407             -101,212,812                    -3,522
 New Hampshire.....................................              160,957,601              108,790,657              -52,166,944                    -1,815
 New Jersey........................................              933,422,014              627,578,740             -305,843,274                   -10,643
 New Mexico........................................              331,049,059              237,065,570              -93,983,489                    -3,271
 New York..........................................            1,652,187,126            1,082,942,105             -569,245,020                   -19,809
 North Carolina....................................              982,279,233              690,898,439             -291,380,795                   -10,140
 North Dakota......................................              226,404,974              155,931,552              -70,473,422                    -2,452
 Ohio..............................................            1,251,880,095              900,869,616             -351,010,479                   -12,215
 Oklahoma..........................................              542,557,073              369,868,439             -172,688,634                    -6,009
 Oregon............................................              434,153,577              294,969,678             -139,183,898                    -4,843
 Pennsylvania......................................            1,607,827,381            1,064,325,708             -543,501,672                   -18,913
 Rhode Island......................................              200,252,272              131,121,237              -69,131,035                    -2,406
 South Carolina....................................              572,462,981              390,280,157             -182,182,824                    -6,340
 South Dakota......................................              245,963,474              174,549,231              -71,414,243                    -2,485
 Tennessee.........................................              768,763,258              533,198,427             -235,564,831                    -8,197
 Texas.............................................            2,802,411,108            1,942,990,215             -859,420,893                   -29,907
 Utah..............................................              273,508,721              188,070,215              -85,438,506                    -2,973
 Vermont...........................................              161,725,931              114,413,876              -47,312,055                    -1,646
 Virginia..........................................              907,625,718              636,053,577             -271,572,141                    -9,450
 Washington........................................              623,821,456              416,592,681             -207,228,775                    -7,211
 West Virginia.....................................              391,319,504              271,937,690             -119,381,814                    -4,154
 Wisconsin.........................................              676,542,465              480,036,649             -196,505,816                    -6,838
 Wyoming...........................................              229,637,435              166,470,893              -63,166,542                    -2,198
                                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Subtotal....................................          $35,312,785,520          $24,406,237,107          -10,906,548,414                  -379,537
 Allocated Programs................................            4,127,089,170            1,909,255,590           (2,217,833,580)
 Undesignated High Priority Projects...............                1,513,574                1,061,467                 (452,108)
 Projects of National & Regional Sig...............              410,949,000              230,558,400             (180,390,600)
 National Corridor Infrastructure Program..........              449,988,000              252,460,800             (197,527,200)
 Transportation Projects...........................              590,259,516              331,158,586             (259,100,930)
 Bridge (Sec. 144(g))..............................               92,400,000               64,800,000              (27,600,000)
 Transfer to Sections 154 & 164....................              231,066,579                4,468,050             (226,598,529)
                                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Total........................................           41,216,051,359           27,200,000,000          (14,016,051,359)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Federal Highway Administration. Data include apportioned programs plus High Priority Projects. Transportation Construction Coalition analysis of
  job impact.

  Mrs. BOXER. This shows in the State of New Hampshire, of Senator 
Gregg, who was the one who objected yesterday, a loss of 1,800 jobs. It 
shows in the State of South Carolina, the State of Senator DeMint, a 
loss of 6,300 jobs.
  I say to my friend from Montana, who I know supports repaying the 
highway trust fund that he is working to support, 3,428 jobs in the 
State of Montana would be lost. That is big. That is larger than some 
towns.
  Think about more than 30,000 families in my case, 32,000 families 
being hit by layoffs in the middle of a recession because Republicans 
continue to filibuster and to filibuster and to do nothing. It is not 
going to go down well.
  I am glad you mentioned that Senator McCain says for the people to 
watch the Senate. I urge the people to watch the Senate this week where 
we are going to try to fix this highway trust fund, and we are going to 
get this done if we can. If we cannot, we know who is stopping us.
  We are also going to work on a Defense authorization bill that is so 
important while there are two wars going on. I hope Senator McCain will 
keep saying that on the stump: Watch the Senate. And this issue is 
going to be as clear as a bell. I urge you to go change that sign now, 
because, yes, the Republicans snoozed earlier, but now they are in 
fighting mode and they have raised the alarm to a siren.
  And all of our Governors, you are right, ought to be calling, and our 
State legislators as well.
  I want to thank you very much for your patience.
  I yield the floor.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for 3 minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, the Senator from California and I have 
been on the Senate floor this morning talking about the dire straits we 
are in in terms of the construction trust fund, the highway trust fund, 
that provides the money across the country for construction projects 
and the fact that within a few short days our States are not going to 
be getting the checks they need to pay for those construction projects, 
resulting in layoffs across this country and construction projects 
literally coming to a halt very quickly.
  We are going to offer a unanimous consent request to bring up that 
bill again and pass it and get it to the President, as he requested. We 
understand, unfortunately, now there is an objection on the Republican 
side, and we will not be able to do this request at this time. I 
respect our Republicans' request to be able to discuss this issue at 
their weekly meeting they are going to be having shortly to determine 
how to move forward. But I want everyone on notice this is a critical 
issue, it is not going to go away, and we are going to be asking again 
this afternoon to move this legislation forward because we believe we 
have a responsibility as leaders in this country to get this trust fund 
emergency problem fixed and moving. We hope our Republican colleagues, 
upon reflection, will join us and we can quietly pass this legislation 
this afternoon and move on to other major issues of the day.
  But to me this is the most important critical issue facing us right 
now in the Senate, and I hope we can move it this afternoon.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, let me say, I agree with everything my 
friend said. We are talking about highway construction. We are talking 
about fixing dangerous bridges. We have all seen what happens when 
there is neglect there. We are seeing all of this happen in the middle 
of a recession, where last month alone 84,000 jobs were lost. As we 
look at the list, we see if our Republican colleagues and friends do 
not join us in this effort, and they do not fix this shortfall problem, 
which, by the way, is a reimbursement to the highway trust fund of 
moneys that were borrowed from it--it is a reimbursement--we are 
looking at a loss of 379,537 jobs.
  Mr. President, I ask you in rhetorical fashion, is this the time 
where this country can afford to see 379,537 jobs disappear when we are 
already at the worst unemployment rate we have seen in 5 years? We have 
to stop business as usual around here. We need to start the change 
now--the change away from confrontation, everything is political, 
filibuster after filibuster. The time is now.

[[Page 18091]]

  So we will be back after the caucuses have their meetings this 
afternoon in the hopes that they have resolved this issue, that they 
step out of the way and let us get this work done so our families--our 
families all across this country who work in the construction trades--
can breathe a sigh of relief. They have enough on their plate. They 
cannot get good health care; they have problems sending their kids to 
school; the price of gas. We all know what has happened to our 
families. This would be one additional slap they simply do not deserve. 
They do not deserve any of this.
  We say to our Republican friends, leave your politics outside the 
Chamber for this one.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 
10 minutes in morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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