[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16700]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRANSPORTATION BILL

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I came to talk about the Transportation 
bill. We have it in front of us. Transportation has laid the foundation 
of our country's success, whether it was Henry Ford, who showed us how 
to do mass automotive manufacturing, revolutionized the manufacturing 
of cars, whether it was Henry Flagler, who built a railroad on an 
unsettled land along the East Coast of Florida, brought in the 
development of my State, whether it was the Wright brothers--these guys 
were much more than bicycle shop owners. These guys were geniuses who 
studied the movement of birds. They were the first ones to be able to 
figure out how--what they called it in the day--a heavier-than-air 
flying machine could do that. These ideas, and over the years the 
investments, helped make this country become a global leader in almost 
everything.
  With regard to transportation, we have gotten off course. Rather than 
making big investments, we keep kicking the can down the road. Today's 
extension--short-term extension, I might say--of the highway trust fund 
is one more example of this because it is just putting off what we have 
to do, which is improve our roads, our rails, and our port 
infrastructure. That means we have to increase the investments in our 
infrastructure and focus on the area that will not only create jobs and 
support our economy but will rehabilitate this infrastructure. Our 
roads are crumbling. Our bridges are crumbling. Remember a few years 
ago when the bridge collapsed on the main interstate highway in 
Minnesota--killing a number of people, injuring others. Our 
infrastructure is crumbling. We need to do these investments in our 
transportation infrastructure to make sure it is safe.
  In July the Senate stood tall. We had a Republican chairman and a 
Democratic ranking member, Senator Inhofe and Senator Boxer, and they 
came together just like that--like it is supposed to be around here--
and they passed the highway bill. We call it the highway bill, but it 
includes a lot more: ports, rail, highway safety, all the things that 
go on with building a new road, such as sidewalks. We passed that. It 
passed overwhelmingly. It passed overwhelmingly bipartisan--but then 
you get to the point of how in the world are we going to pay for it.
  That bill included many important provisions that will keep workers 
on the job. For the first time, the bill included a freight rail 
program that aims to improve freight across all types of 
transportation--not just freight but trucks, ports. Of course, what 
this is going to do is it is going to help us move goods more 
efficiently, whether they are traveling through a port or on rail or on 
the highways.
  For the first time, this highway reauthorization was a bipartisan 
reauthorization of Amtrak. Amtrak was last reauthorized 2 years ago--
way back in 2013. With a strong commitment from the commerce committee 
chairman, Senator Thune, all of us on the committee were able to 
include provisions that will improve our passenger rail systems. In the 
commerce committee, we fought to improve safety and increase 
investments in our infrastructure. There were many provisions--
especially on trucking and vehicle safety issues--that needed to be 
improved. What we put in the bill was to prevent rolling back safety 
improvements in transportation.
  Here we are. Today we need to pass this bill so we can quickly get to 
work on the final bill. This is a stopgap temporary message. I urge the 
House to work toward a bipartisan compromise like the Senate bill 
rather than weigh the bill down with a whole bunch of ideological 
things, safety rollbacks and giveaways to industries. This highway bill 
is too important to get mired in partisan politics. For us to maintain 
the safety, efficiency, and growth of our transportation system, 
Congress must put an end to the instability caused by what we are going 
to have to do today, which is a short-term extension. We can only do 
this by working together to find commonsense and bipartisan solutions.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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