[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2328-2329]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION REAUTHORIZATION

  Mr. CARDIN. First, let me express my disappointment that we are not 
here debating the surface transportation reauthorization bill. We had a 
bill that came out of the Environment and Public Works Committee and 
came out of several other of our committees by unanimous vote, so it is 
a bipartisan bill. It is a bill that will save jobs and create jobs 
here in America. It will reinvest in our own infrastructure to make 
America more competitive. And, as I said, it has been done in a 
bipartisan manner thanks to the hard work of many people.
  I see Senator Boxer on the floor. Thanks to her incredible 
leadership, we have an agreed path forward from the point of view of 
the relevant amendments. So what is holding up the process? It is these 
amendments that have absolutely nothing to do with the transportation 
programs of this country. We are talking about policy in Egypt, which 
has nothing to do with our transportation needs. I would start by 
saying how disappointed I am that we haven't yet started the real 
debate on our transportation reauthorization bill which will create 
jobs, save jobs, modernize America, and make us more competitive.
  Let me yield for a moment, if I could, to my colleague from 
California, Senator Boxer.
  Mrs. BOXER. If my friend would yield for a question and keep the 
floor--and I ask unanimous consent that the time for this colloquy not 
be taken off his time, or does he have unlimited time?
  Mr. CARDIN. It is 10 minutes.
  Mrs. BOXER. Well, let me say thank you to my friend. I know he is 
here to talk about judges, which is a critical issue. I am very happy 
he is going to do that. The lack of action on these qualified nominees 
is hurting our people.
  But I wanted to thank him for his comments. The Senator from 
Maryland, Mr. Cardin, is a senior member of

[[Page 2329]]

the Environment and Public Works Committee and has worked so hard, 
along with our invaluable staff, and provided an invaluable 
contribution to the Transportation bill. I guess the question I will 
get to is this one: With 2.8 million jobs on the line--that is 1.8 
million jobs we have currently attached to a highway bill and then an 
additional 1 million jobs which will be created because of some of the 
work we did on TIFIA to leverage the jobs--does not my friend believe 
this is the time to move a jobs bill, when we are in the process of 
seeing this economy finally turn around? The turnaround is not as fast 
as we want, but does my friend believe the timing of this couldn't be 
better; and that if we pass this bill, which is so bipartisan, it will 
kick this economic recovery into higher gear?
  Mr. CARDIN. The Senator is absolutely correct. We need more jobs in 
America. I congratulate the Obama administration for turning our 
economy around. We have had 23 consecutive months of private sector job 
growth, but we don't have enough jobs yet. We have to create more jobs. 
Now is the time to be bold on looking for responsible programs that can 
move this country forward and creating more jobs, not only initially in 
road construction, in bridge construction and transit construction, but 
making us more competitive for the future and creating permanent job 
growth for America, jobs that cannot be exported. That is what we 
should be doing, and that is why the surface transportation bill is so 
important for us to bring up and debate and pass.
  And, quite frankly, the Senator from California had performed 
something unprecedented--well, not unprecedented but unusual here--in 
that she got bipartisan support from three committees, and we are 
working on the fourth now. Senator Boxer has gotten all the committees 
together, and so it is time to move this bill forward for jobs 
throughout America.
  Mrs. BOXER. My very last question. I hope my friend is aware that 
right now the leadership is working very hard to take this very 
unwieldy list of amendments and get it down to some responsible number 
so we can begin, finally, in earnest. I have to point out that I don't 
understand how my Republican friends think it is appropriate to add to 
a highway bill the issue of birth control. I don't know how my friends 
on the other side think it is appropriate to repeal environmental laws 
on this highway bill. I don't understand, as my friend from Maryland 
pointed out, how they can say they can see a connection between a 
highway bill and what is happening in Egypt.
  We care about all these issues, and the Senate will address these 
issues, but this is a jobs bill, a bipartisan jobs bill. So I want to 
end by thanking my friend for yielding to me, and I look forward to his 
remarks on judges, and I look forward to getting back to our 
transportation bill, which I am hopeful will happen at some point 
today.
  Mr. CARDIN. I thank Senator Boxer.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________