[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16708-16709]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRANSPORTATION AUTHORIZATION

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, first of all, I know the Senator from 
California was disappointed in a few things that went on procedurally, 
and I am very much in sympathy. But far more significant than that is 
the bill we are talking about now. We made a tremendous advance to it 
just a few minutes ago. We did what the House has already done. We are 
now extended to the 20th of November.
  It is my understanding that the House is going to be taking up--we 
are talking about the highway bill. A lot of things we talk about 
around here are not very important. We all have different ideas about 
what is and is not important, but still we have that Constitution, and 
the Constitution says what we are supposed to be doing. What we are 
supposed to be doing here is defending America and roads and bridges. 
That is what we are supposed to be doing.
  Senator Boxer and I--she is a very proud liberal and I am a very 
proud conservative--have recognized what our duty is when we come here, 
and the second most important bill every year--not every year, because 
we have the Defense authorization bill every year, but not the 
Transportation authorization bill. That is what is important, and that 
is what we are supposed to be doing here.
  What we did a few minutes ago is very significant. We are on the same 
page as the House, and that is to have a bill done and on the 
President's desk by the 20th of November, which is going to be right 
before we have a break for Thanksgiving. It now looks like we are 
assured of doing that.
  I have to say that in working over the years with Senator Boxer, we 
have worked in a capacity in which she was the chairman of that 
committee and I was the ranking member; then I was the chairman of the 
committee and she was the ranking member. We never changed what we 
stood for or what we saw as significant in the second most important 
bill we deal with every year.
  I am anticipating we are going to be able to have this 6-year 
authorization bill on the floor next week. We are going to be dealing 
with it, and we are going to be passing it. We already know the number 
of people who have voted for it in the past, so we know where we are. 
On the other hand, I think this is going to have a privileged motion 
and go straight in for a conference. I look forward to that, and that 
makes it all possible.
  You have to keep in mind the Senate isn't doing this. The House is 
going on a Veterans Day recess, so we have to work on getting their job 
done before the recess so we can do ours while they are on recess, and 
then we will have a happy ending.
  While I do regret there are some disappointments, I have to say this. 
When we are talking about a bill like this, it means that the left and 
the right have to get together, and we did. I want to applaud my 
ranking member, Senator Boxer, for helping us in some of the areas 
where we are able to shortcut some of the NEPA requirements and 
expedite some things that couldn't be done otherwise.
  Let's keep in mind that if we went ahead and did what we have been 
doing since 2009, we wouldn't be doing this. We wouldn't be doing any 
major bills--no bridges, no major bills. This is a great day to see the 
assurance that this is going to take place, and I applaud Senator Boxer 
in the joint effort we had on the left and the right in this body. We 
don't see that very often.
  Mrs. BOXER. No, we don't.
  Mr. President, I just want to thank my friend. It is such a privilege 
to work with him on these infrastructure issues. I often say we don't 
work too well together on environmental issues--maybe in another life 
we might--but right now, in this life, we work really well on 
infrastructure. So does our staff. I am proud of them.
  I came down here to try and change a part of this extension--and I 
will explain it later--that had to do with delaying a safety 
requirement on the railroad. I feel strongly in my heart about it. By 
the same token, I agree with my friend that we have to get this bill 
done.
  This will be a 6-year authorization, as my friend knows. He insisted 
on it. We have 3 years of pay-for. We never give up. Maybe somehow a 
miracle will happen and we will find more. But

[[Page 16709]]

right now, Senator McConnell protected our pay-fors.
  For me, it is a strange day. I am very disappointed in this. I call 
it a rider that was put on this bill. But I am very pleased that the 
House is moving forward. My friend cited things that he likes--
certainly, expediting some of the rules so we don't get these projects 
dragged out. My sense of it was that I like the fact that we kept the 
equitable share. We didn't change the share between transit and roads. 
We certainly added, with my friend's help, a freight title. So there 
are many good things. It is a mixed bag for me today. I agree with my 
friend that we need to move fast on the underlying bill, and I look 
forward to going to conference.
  Mr. INHOFE. Will the Senator yield for one observation?
  Mrs. BOXER. Of course.
  Mr. INHOFE. The Senator mentioned the fact that we have a 6-year bill 
and 3 years to pay for it. That doesn't really concern me for a couple 
of reasons.
  One is that once we start projects, I can assure you that there will 
be a reshuffling of priorities in this Chamber here, where people will 
realize the one thing we don't want to do is to start construction on 
something and then stop. This, I have no question in my mind, is going 
to take place.
  Secondly, we have the same provision in the House as we do in this 
body, and that is that if for some reason money is not available, 
nothing else can be done after that 3-year period. We are not going to 
let that happen. So I think we are going to be in good shape. Job well 
done.
  Mrs. BOXER. I thank the Senator.
  How much time remains of my 15 minutes?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Ten minutes.
  Mrs. BOXER. Since I did yield about 5 minutes to my friend, I ask 
unanimous consent for another 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Then, of course, Senator Thune will have all the time 
that he wants to disagree with most of what I am going to say about 
positive train control. That is part of the debate that goes on here.

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