[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8189-8191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2017

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Chair lays 
before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Resolved, That the House insist upon its amendment to the 
     Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2577) entitled ``An Act 
     making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, 
     and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other 
     purposes,'' and ask a conference with the Senate on the 
     disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon.


                            Compound Motion

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I move that the Senate disagree to the 
amendment of the House, agree to the request by the House for a 
conference, and authorize the Presiding Officer to appoint conferees.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     disagree to the House amendment, agree to the request from 
     the House for a conference, and authorize the Presiding 
     Officer to appoint conferees with respect to H.R. 2577, an 
     act making appropriations for the Departments of 
     Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and 
     related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     2016, and for other purposes.
         John McCain, John Cornyn, Marco Rubio, Deb Fischer, Rob 
           Portman, Roger F. Wicker, Richard Burr, Joni Ernst, 
           David Vitter, James M. Inhofe, Dean Heller, Pat 
           Roberts, Lamar Alexander, Ron Johnson, Tom Cotton, Thom 
           Tillis, Mitch McConnell.

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call 
be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, all time is yielded back.


                             Cloture Motion

  Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending 
cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     disagree to the House amendment, agree to the request from 
     the House for a conference, and authorize the Presiding 
     Officer to appoint conferees with respect to H.R. 2577, an 
     act making appropriations for the Departments of 
     Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and 
     related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     2016, and for other purposes.
         John McCain, John Cornyn, Marco Rubio, Deb Fischer, Rob 
           Portman, Roger F. Wicker, Richard Burr, Joni Ernst, 
           David Vitter, James M. Inhofe, Dean Heller, Pat 
           Roberts, Lamar Alexander, Ron Johnson, Tom Cotton, Thom 
           Tillis, Mitch McConnell.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
motion to disagree to the House amendment to the Senate amendment, 
agree to the request by the House for a conference, and authorize the 
Presiding Officer to appoint conferees with respect to H.R. 2577, an 
act making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and 
Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes, shall be brought to 
a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Toomey) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski), 
the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Sanders), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 93, nays 2, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 92 Leg.]

                                YEAS--93

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Udall
     Vitter
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--2

     Lee
     Paul
       

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Mikulski
     Reid
     Sanders
     Toomey
     Warner
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 93, the nays are 2.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  The question occurs on agreeing to the compound motion to go to 
conference.
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.


                           Motion to Instruct

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I have a motion to instruct conferees at 
the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Florida [Mr. Nelson] moves that the 
     managers on the part of the Senate at the conference on the 
     disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment 
     to the bill H.R. 2577 be instructed to reject proposals that 
     would rescind existing Ebola emergency funds provided by the 
     Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 
     (Public Law 113-235), and designated by Congress as an 
     emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the 
     Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as 
     such funds support Ebola preparedness and response efforts 
     which are critical to preventing, detecting, and responding 
     to potential future Ebola outbreaks, and to insist that the 
     final conference report include $510,000,000 to reimburse 
     Ebola accounts, as provided for in the Consolidated and 
     Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113-
     235) and designated by Congress as an emergency requirement 
     pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, for

[[Page 8190]]

     obligations incurred for Zika virus response, as such 
     emergency Ebola funds support critical initiatives to prevent 
     Ebola outbreaks, such as country operations and public health 
     infrastructure in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, public 
     health research on infection control, including detection of 
     person to person transmission of Ebola, and advanced research 
     and development of new Ebola vaccines and therapeutics.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 4 
minutes of debate, equally divided.
  The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, this is a motion to instruct the conferees 
that whatever is decided in the conference to fund the Zika crisis, the 
money would not be taken out of the Ebola fund and that the money that 
has been borrowed from the Ebola fund would be replenished.
  Remember that since the Ebola outbreak was contained 1 year ago, 
there have been seven more clusters of outbreaks since that time, and 
the CDC still employs 80 employees working on Ebola. With the last 
recent Ebola case in Guinea, the CDC has had to vaccinate 1,700 people 
and then go out and do the infection control over there in West Africa 
in 50 health centers and make 20,000 connections to try to ensure that 
it does not spread, which of course is the source of how Ebola gets to 
the United States.
  So this motion is simply to say: Let's not take the Zika crisis funds 
out of Ebola and replenish what has already been taken out.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, we did just vote to go to conference. I 
would like to see the conference be able to deal with this issue.
  In the Ebola funds, there is still $1.2 billion left in the Ebola 
funds. There is still $1.2 billion left in the Ebola fund. This is $510 
million that was to be used for things like reimbursing hospitals that 
would have an influx of Ebola patients in this country, which never 
happened, and other issues.
  The administration has said they do not need this $510 million for 
Ebola. They clearly would like to use it for other purposes, and in 
fact have used $510 million for other purposes.
  I would urge a ``no'' vote.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, do I have any time left?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Twenty-nine seconds.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I would say to my friend from Missouri 
simply that the administration does not say that they don't need this. 
As a matter of fact, in their $1.9 billion request, they have asked for 
the replenishment of this, and the statements that I just made were 
made by Dr. Frieden and Dr. Fauci as early as this morning.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, do I have any time left?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 1 minute.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, in the $1.9 billion request, they would not 
have asked for this money because they were asking for $1.9 billion of 
new money, some justified and some not.
  I believe we worked hard to get a good start here. This can clearly 
be an open item in the conference, but I don't think it should be a 
directed item in the conference.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Toomey) would have voted ``nay.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski), 
the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Sanders), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Daines). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 46, nays 49, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 93 Leg.]

                                YEAS--46

     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Rubio
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--49

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kirk
     Lankford
     Lee
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Sasse
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Vitter
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Mikulski
     Reid
     Sanders
     Toomey
     Warner
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order requiring 60 votes 
for the adoption of this motion, the motion is rejected.
  The Senator from Alaska.


                           Motion to Instruct

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I have a motion to instruct conferees at 
the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Alaska [Mr. Sullivan] moves that the 
     managers on the part of the Senate at the conference on the 
     disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment 
     to the bill H.R. 2577 be instructed to insist upon the 
     inclusion of the provisions contained in Senate amendment 
     4065 (relating to the reconstruction of certain bridges).

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska is recognized.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, this instruction relates to an earlier 
amendment I had, No. 4065. It is a simple amendment that would allow 
States and communities throughout our Nation to expedite the permitting 
process and construction of their bridges that pose safety concerns for 
their citizens. This would only apply to bridges that are built in the 
same place--they are not expanding bridges--same size, and bridges they 
are replacing. It is essentially maintenance on bridges. If State 
environmental agencies determine that Federal permitting requirements 
should be waived, then they are allowed to do this to expedite the 
permitting of the bridge.
  Let me explain why this is important. Right now in America, there are 
61,000 structurally deficient bridges in need of repair. Yet when we 
try to repair these bridges, it takes 5 years to 6 years just to get 
the Federal permitting requirements. This amendment--these instructions 
would allow this process to move much more quickly. It will be 
important for the safety of our citizens, to put Americans back to 
work, and to grow our economy. It is a commonsense instruction.
  I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are focused on 
permitting reform. This is something very simple that we can do that 
will benefit all of our States and all of our citizens.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I have laryngitis, which is the dream of 
my friends on the other side of the aisle, but I want to say that the 
Sullivan amendment is dangerous and it is unnecessary. It is the last 
thing we should do given the lessons we have learned in Flint, MI, 
because what the Sullivan amendment says is that you can be exempted 
from nine Federal health and safety laws when you rebuild the bridge. 
For example, it would allow the dumping of oil, toxic materials that 
could include lead, construction debris, and that all will go in the

[[Page 8191]]

water--water we swim in, water we fish in, water we drink. After Flint, 
how could we do this?
  This is not a problem. If you ask Senator Klobuchar--I just talked to 
her--and Senator Franken, they rebuilt their bridge in a year because 
there is already expedited language in all of the laws on which we 
worked together.
  So please reject this. It is dangerous, it is unnecessary, and it 
certainly is unrelated to the underlying bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska has 15 seconds.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. I yield to my colleague from Maine.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Mr. KING. Mr. President, in 15 seconds I yield to no one here in my 
commitment to the environment, but I also have a commitment to common 
sense. We are talking about bridges, not expanding--same size, same 
dimensions, and same location. If that were it, I would oppose this 
amendment; however, this amendment has a safety valve that the 
construction, reconstruction, or maintenance of the bridge must pass 
muster with the State-level permitting and environmental protection 
authority.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
  Mr. KING. I understand. I think we should support it. Thank you.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, do I have any time remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 55 seconds.
  Mrs. BOXER. Wow. In the beginning, God created.
  I just want to say to my friend Senator King, just ask the people of 
Flint, MI, how happy they were that the State took over the health and 
safety rules. Their kids are suffering from lead poisoning. Sometimes 
you are talking about bridges that are 100 years old. They contain 
toxic materials. Again, this is not necessary. We haven't got a problem 
because we have taken care of expedited procedures. My arm was twisted 
on it in the FAST Act. So let's reject this because we want to protect 
the health and safety of the people we represent.
  I urge a ``no'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey) and the Senator from South 
Carolina (Mr. Graham).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Toomey) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski), 
the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Sanders), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 56, nays 38, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 94 Leg.]

                                YEAS--56

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     King
     Kirk
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Vitter
     Wicker

                                NAYS--38

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boxer
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Graham
     Mikulski
     Reid
     Sanders
     Toomey
     Warner
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order requiring 60 votes 
for the adoption of this motion, the motion is rejected.
  The Presiding Officer appointed Ms. Collins, Mr. Kirk, Mr. McConnell, 
Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Boozman, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cochran, Mr. 
Blunt, Mr. Graham, Mr. Tester, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reed, Mr. Udall, Mr. 
Schatz, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Leahy conferees 
on the part of the Senate.

                          ____________________