Congressional Record, Senate, August 2, 2021 — H.R. 3684 Federal-Aid Highways Bill
Summary
This is S5529 of the Congressional Record, Vol. 167, No. 137, for Monday, August 2, 2021. The House was not in session, and the Senate met at 12 noon with the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offering the prayer. The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 3684, a bill to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, with Schumer for Sinema amendment No. 2137 pending, and Mr. Carper called up amendment No. 2131 to strike a definition. Mr. Schumer says the bipartisan group of Senators finished the text of the infrastructure bill and that he moved to make it the base of the bill, with the views attributed to Mr. Schumer.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, August 2, 2021 — H.R. 3684 Federal-Aid Highways Bill.”
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Congressional Record
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117 th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 167 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2021 No. 137
House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, at 10 a.m.
Senate
MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2021
The Senate met at 12 noon and was Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I sug- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
called to order by the President pro gest the absence of a quorum. clerk will report the amendment by
tempore (Mr. LEAHY). The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The number.
f
clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
PRAYER proceeded to call the roll. The Senator from Delaware [Mr. CARPER]
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I ask proposes an amendment numbered 2131.
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of-
unanimous consent that the order for The amendment is as follows:
fered the following prayer:
the quorum call be rescinded.
Let us pray. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
(Purpose: To strike a definition)
Eternal Lord God, our refuge and PETERS). Without objection, it is so or- On page 1941, strike lines 7 through 11.
strength, we praise You that we have dered. Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I sug-
nothing to fear. Because we remember gest the absence of a quorum.
f
how You have sustained our Nation in The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
the past, we trust Your providence to CONCLUSION OF MORNING clerk will call the roll.
help us reach our desired destination. BUSINESS The senior assistant legislative clerk
Lord, continue to lead our lawmakers The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning proceeded to call the roll.
as they seek Your wisdom, justice, and business is closed. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask
grace. May they remember that those f unanimous consent that the order for
who would leave a legacy of faithful- the quorum call be rescinded.
ness must stride to be faithful to You. LEGISLATIVE SESSION The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
Inspire our Senators to perform their objection, it is so ordered.
appointed duties with such reverence INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER
that their service will be like the sun THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUR- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
shining forth on a cloudless morning. FACE TRANSPORTATION IN Democratic leader is recognized.
We pray in Your sovereign Name. AMERICA ACT H.R. 3684
Amen. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yes-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
f the previous order, the Senate will re- terday evening, as everyone knows, the
sume consideration of H.R. 3684, which group of bipartisan Senators working
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE on infrastructure finished the text of
the clerk will report.
The President pro tempore led the The senior assistant legislative clerk the bill. I immediately moved to make
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: read as follows: that text the base of the bill here on
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the A bill (H.R. 3684) to authorize funds for the floor, as promised.
United States of America, and to the Repub- Federal-aid highways, highway safety pro- Last night, Democrats offered to
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, grams, and transit programs, and for other begin the amendment process right
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. purposes. away. There are three bipartisan
f Pending: amendments to the bill ready to con-
Schumer (for Sinema) amendment No. 2137, sider. Two were led by Republicans: a
RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME in the nature of a substitute. Rounds-Smith amendment and Thune-
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under AMENDMENT NO. 2131 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2137 Tester amendment, and another from
the previous order, the leadership time Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I call up Senators PADILLA and MORAN.
is reserved. amendment No. 2131 to the substitute Let me be clear. These three amend-
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The Senator from Michigan. and ask that it be reported by number. ments would constitute only the first
∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
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S5530 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
tranche of potential amendments. The leagues may have penciled out for po- would read like one; and it would smell
Senate can and should consider more litical purposes. Our bipartisan nego- like one; and it wouldn’t require a
amendments afterward. tiators have already been taking this hyperpartisan high-wire act from Sen-
I encourage Senators from both sides task very seriously. The American peo- ate Democrats to pull it off.
of the aisle to submit potential amend- ple need the Senate to continue taking The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
ments to the bill. And, as we have al- it seriously, as well. jority whip.
ready done several times this year—on On another matter, this bipartisan SOCIALISM
the anti-Asian hate crimes bill and the work on infrastructure just reinforces Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, ‘‘social-
U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the recklessness of the purely partisan ism,’’ it is a label we hear a lot. It has
just to name two examples—the major- taxing-and-spending spree the Demo- been around a while—a long time—but
ity will work with the minority to put crats want to ram through next. in American politics, it is kind of ap-
together packages of amendments for Even before we get to this week, plied in an unusual way. The notion
the Senate to vote on. there is ample evidence the Senate is that every American would pay into an
At the moment, we need consent fully capable of passing policies that insurance fund so that everyone who
from our Republican colleagues to are actually smart, that actually make retired could live in basic dignity—we
start the amendment process, and we things better for American families, called it Social Security as Democrats;
await their answer. I hope we can use and to do so with bipartisan majorities. the Republicans called it socialism.
our time in the Senate efficiently. A year and a half ago, the Senate Do they want to remove Social Secu-
Let’s start voting on amendments. turned a blank sheet of paper into the rity as a socialist program? I don’t
The longer it takes to finish the bill, CARES Act that saved our healthcare know. I listened carefully as the Re-
the longer we will be here. system, saved our economy, and poured publican leader started talking about
I yield the floor. money into Operation Warp Speed to the weaknesses of the Democratic phi-
I suggest the absence of a quorum. help unlock vaccines in record time— losophy.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The overwhelming bipartisan support. And then, in the 1960s, Lyndon Baines
clerk will call the roll. A year ago, we passed the Great Johnson looked around America and
The senior assistant legislative clerk American Outdoors Act, a historic in- saw a new class of impoverished Ameri-
proceeded to call the roll. vestment in our Nation’s national cans growing by the day. They were
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I parks and national treasures—another our parents and grandparents. And he
ask unanimous consent that the order very large bipartisan vote. Last De- decided one of their biggest problems
for the quorum call be rescinded. cember, there was yet another bipar- was paying for their medical expenses
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without tisan COVID rescue package, and just a and their prescription drugs eventu-
objection, it is so ordered. few months ago, Senators once again ally. So he proposed a Federal program
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER compromised and passed a big bipar- called Medicare for everyone who
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Re- tisan bill addressing American com- reached the age of 65 in America, re-
publican leader is recognized. petitiveness versus China. gardless of whether they were rich or
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, a There is nothing stopping policies poor. Boy, think about that.
number of our colleagues in both par- from earning bipartisan support here in The critics called that socialism—the
ties worked through the weekend to fi- the Senate, when they deserve it. Bills notion that we would help everybody,
that deserve to pass the Chamber are that we would collect money during
nalize their draft agreement on a major
not having a hard time passing. their work experience and then take
bill for our Nation’s infrastructure. I So the fact that our Democratic col- care of our parents and grandparents so
want to thank the Senators who leagues will immediately pivot to a they could live longer, more independ-
worked hard and long to get this effort staggering, reckless, tax-and-spend ently. Socialism.
this far already. spree that will not earn a single Repub- Now, we are discussing—and we are
I am confident that out of the 100 of lican vote, well, that tells Americans at an early stage—changing that Medi-
us who serve in this body, 100 will be everything they need to know. care Program to extend its benefits to
able to find parts of the legislation This 50–50 Senate, a very narrowly di- include fundamental and basic things
that we wish were different. But I be- vided House, and a President who that have been sitting there for dec-
lieve our colleagues’ draft text pro- promised unity and togetherness have ades waiting to be addressed. Eye-
vides a good and important jumping-off decided they want to respond to an en- glasses, hearing aids, dental work—we
point for what needs to be a robust and vironment of uncertainty and inflation know what a difference those things
bipartisan process out here on the with a sprawling $3.5 trillion socialist make in the lives of everyone but how
floor. shopping list and a huge set of painful critically important they are to those
Infrastructure is exactly the kind of tax hikes. That is their plan. Our who are elderly.
subject that Congress should be able to friend and colleague, the junior Sen- And, yes, the junior Senator from
address across the aisle. Roads, ator from Vermont, may not have won Vermont has proposed that we extend
bridges, waterways, airports—these the Democratic Presidential nomina- Medicare benefits to include those pro-
things are not luxuries for the greatest tion, but his ideology sure has won the tections, but he is not alone. Moderates
Nation in world history. They are ne- war. within the Democratic caucus across
cessities. So, in the next few days, the Demo- the board agree, it is time to take a se-
Necessarily, legislation like this will cratic leader says they will start the rious look at that, and the Republican
be big and complex. It will necessarily process of ramming through this awful, leader tells us we are flirting with so-
affect all 50 States. That is why, while awful package. They want to respond cialism again.
I salute the hard work of our col- to a border crisis with amnesty. They I don’t think that a poor, elderly per-
leagues who produced the base text want to respond to runaway inflation son without dentures who can’t eat
that is now before us, their conversa- and soaring costs for families with their food can be ignored—or that help-
tions can’t be the Senate’s last word. even more reckless spending, printing, ing them is socialism.
Senators on both sides expect and de- and borrowing. They want to respond I might add one thing that is impor-
serve opportunities to have a say and to a growing worker shortage by turn- tant. He cites the CARES Act. I re-
to put their own State’s imprints on ing a tax credit for working parents member it well. It was a little over a
this major bill. into permanent welfare with no work year ago, it was last year. The pan-
Just as infrastructure itself is not a
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requirement. They want to respond to demic was just kicking off, and it was
luxury but a necessity, the same goes an uneasy economic recovery with proposed. This CARES Act, it was over
for the Senate having a robust and bi- massive tax hikes and a whole catalog $1 trillion. It might have been the big-
partisan amendment process on legisla- of Green New Deal mandates and regu- gest bill when it was passed. It was pro-
tion of this magnitude. lations so Washington bureaucrats can posed with the Trump administration,
Our full consideration of this bill run the country. with a Democratic Congress, and it
must not be choked off by any artifi- So, if what Senate Democrats are ended up with a strong bipartisan roll-
cial timetable that our Democratic col- planning to do next were a good idea, it call. I voted for it. Virtually every
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5531
Democratic Senator joined every Re- Great Depression and World War II, he not bragging. I am just stating facts.
publican Senator to make it a reality: took on political corruption and orga- But Chicago isn’t alone. These lead
billions of dollars to deal with the pan- nized crime. He did some things that pipes are in big cities and small towns
demic. Socialist? I don’t think so. It are still talked about. When the news- all across the Nation. Listen to this.
was America coming together to ad- paper workers went on strike, he read The bipartisan plan includes the larg-
dress a crisis. That is exactly what the funnies to the kids so they could est investment in passenger rail since
happened. keep up with them. the creation of Amtrak in the 1960s.
So what happened when we had a new He did something else, too. He You know President Joe Biden
President, when Donald Trump was oversaw investment in public works, wouldn’t forget Amtrak, nor would
gone—and, yes, he is gone, despite the including investments in roads, high- TOM CARPER or CHRIS COONS. It is the
fact that he doesn’t know it. What hap- ways, and tunnels, that changed the largest investment in public transit in
pened when we had a new President landscape of America’s largest city. American history. I was just out at the
who decided he wanted to put together Fiorello La Guardia famously said: ribbon-cutting—well, several recently
a rescue plan? This rescue plan ad- ‘‘There is no Democrat or Republican in Chicago. Naturally, people were not
dressed some fundamentals. It ad- way to fix a pothole.’’ riding the CTA and Metro and other
dressed the promise that Donald He understood, when it comes to the
rail opportunities as they once did be-
Trump made, that $1,400 was coming to most basic responsibilities of govern-
cause of COVID–19, but it is coming
families. Really? Sounds socialistic to ment, political labels shouldn’t matter.
back, and we want to make sure those
me. Building and maintaining roads and
stations are safe and make sure they
But it was the Trump idea and it was bridges helps all of us.
I think Mayor Fiorello La Guardia are accessible for people with disabil-
the Biden rescue plan that pulled it off. ities.
And the vaccines—and we can only would be happy to know that we have
created a blueprint for America’s eco- With this bill, in my State, the Chi-
thank the Lord and the great research- cago Transit Authority and transit
ers who put that together—but it was nomic future. Against the odds, we now
have before us a bipartisan plan to agencies downstate will be able to buy
only just a theory and inventory. But new, more efficient buses and railcars
President Biden found a way to admin- build the physical backbone of the 21st
century American economy. In these and modernize tracks and rail stations.
ister the COVID–19 vaccines across It will expand the capacity of the blue
America, a dramatic effort. That was times when there is so much political
disagreement, just getting this far is a line at O’Hare, completing the red line
paid for by the American Rescue Plan. south extension, which has been a
And the money loans for businesses to remarkable achievement. I look for-
ward to a productive debate and hope- dream for decades.
get started after the pandemic, money
fully a vote this week. I am hopeful we This plan includes $25 billion to mod-
for schools to make sure they are safe
can meet the deadline because the fact ernize Illinois’ airports, including
when the kids return to them this fall.
is, America can’t wait any longer for money for O’Hare’s terminal expan-
When the American Rescue Plan was
this Senate to take action. Our roads sion. Believe me, we can use it. We
put together by President Biden and of-
and bridges are crumbling beneath our have done a lot with the runways—
fered in this Chamber, I am sorry to re-
feet. magnificent investments there. Now,
port that not one Republican Senator
Last week, I brought to this floor a we have got to make sure the termi-
supported it. I hope they have had sec-
photo of a bridge that collapsed 2 nals keep up with that modernization.
ond thoughts since then. Admin- weeks ago in a small rural town in Illi-
istering the vaccines has given us hope Remember the cargo ship that ran
nois known as Seneca. A man was driv- aground at the Suez Canal, causing
in America, and I hope more people ing his pickup truck across the bridge
will take advantage of it. But that was major delays worldwide in shipping,
when the bridge collapsed. The picture costing companies and, ultimately,
bipartisanship that really hit the showed his red pickup truck precar-
rocks. It took the Democrats and customers millions of dollars? Well,
iously straddling the two halves of the this infrastructure plan will keep
KAMALA HARRIS to make a difference. broken bridge. Luckily, some Good Sa-
When I hear about socialism and bi- America’s economy moving and our
maritans came to his rescue. shipping lanes open by modernizing our
partisanship from the other side, how Any of us, at any time, could be that
far would they go in ending programs ports, locks, and dams.
man on the bridge. More than 47,000 We are not just repairing old infra-
which have historically been labeled as American bridges are judged to be
‘‘socialistic’’? structure; we are building new infra-
structurally deficient, including 2,000 structure. This plan includes the larg-
H.R. 3684 in my State of Illinois. The legislation
Mr. President, on a completely dif- est investment in clean energy in infra-
we are voting on this week will start to structure in America’s history. If there
ferent topic but somehow related, Sen- repair them. It includes the largest in-
ators spend a lot of time in airports was ever a moment in time—with the
vestment in American bridges since the world literally burning up—for us to
and in airplanes, even in COVID–19 creation of the Interstate Highway
times. The Presiding Officer knows get serious about climate change, this
System. Imagine that.
that well. I spend a lot of time in air- is that moment, and this investment
It also includes the largest invest-
ports. O’Hare, I can take you on a tour. responds to it.
ment in clean water infrastructure
Springfield is a small airport. Reagan ever. Do we need it? Well, think of In America, the biggest source of
National Airport here, I am familiar Flint, MI, and think of the story today greenhouse gases is transportation. We
with it as well. in the Chicago papers about the dis- can change it. This plan is a start.
But I always thought to myself, as I covery of PFOS contamination in In the town of Normal, IL—yes, there
traveled years ago, that one of the water supplies across my State. That is a Normal, IL—a company called
worst airports in America, sadly, was isn’t all. Rivian bought an old, abandoned
LaGuardia. Oh, what a wreck. We can replace the old lead service Mitsubishi automobile factory 5 years
LaGuardia was just way underutilized lines that poison drinking water. So ago. They now have started production
and lacked all the modern develop- many homes and businesses and on electric cars and delivery vans, the
ments we expect at an airport, but, lo schools and churches are served by lead cars of the future.
and behold, that has changed. pipe service lines, and there is no toler- Is this going to go anywhere? Does
LaGuardia is finished now, and it is able amount of lead that can be in anybody believe in electric vehicles?
Well, 15 percent of Rivian is owned by
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beautiful. It has many things that water.
many airports would only aspire to I want to thank my colleague TAMMY Ford Motor Company. If you have
have, as it should, because it is not DUCKWORTH. She has been a real leader heard of a company called Amazon,
only serving a great city, but it is also on this issue, and I think all of us owe they invested $1 billion in Rivian. They
named after a great man, Fiorello La her a debt of gratitude that it is in- ordered 120,000 delivery vans. There are
Guardia. cluded in this legislation. 2,000 people working there now, twice
He stood 5-foot-2, but he was a giant. Chicago has more miles of lead water the number who were working when
As mayor of New York City during the pipes than any city in America. I am Mitsubishi left. They aspire to double
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S5532 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
that number again and to make pro- I think the number was 17 of the Re- plus, a D, D-minus. Still, a C-minus is
duction really accessible all across the publicans who voted for us to move for- nothing to brag about; rather, it is a
country. ward on this debate. I hope those 17 can wake-up call to get our act together at
That is not the only story I could tell hold together with the Democrats to a time, if you will, to move it on up.
about electric vehicles. Illinois is in a see this bill to its successful conclu- Move it on up.
position to be a global leader in elec- sion. That is what our new President
tric cars. Argonne National Laboratory Remember Fiorello La Guardia’s called on us to do that day in order to
in the Chicagoland area has really led statement that there is no Democratic help America move on up and move
American research in battery tech- or Republican way to fill a pothole? ahead. Without casting aspersions or
nology and recycling batteries. That is But there is a smart way to build the affixing blame, he made it clear that
the future. If you don’t believe me, just physical backbone of an economy. This America hadn’t been getting the job
watch the ads on television where they is the right start. This bipartisan plan done on this front for years and that by
are advertising the new Ford F–150 hits the sweet spot. I thank our many working together—working together—
Lightning, an electric truck. They Republican colleagues who have joined we could do something about it, while
don’t have any available now, but they with the Democrats to advance this de- creating millions of new jobs—a lot of
invite you to sign up to buy one next bate. Isn’t that what America has been them without college degrees—at the
year. waiting for? same time.
With this plan, we can build a net- I yield the floor. He asked us—leaders on the Senate
work of electric vehicle charging sta- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Committee on Environment and Public
tions, where drivers can charge their ator from Delaware. Works—he asked us to help jump-start
cars for a fraction of what it costs to Mr. CARPER. While he is still on the the effort by getting to work on
fill a gas tank today and without the floor, I want to thank my friend and crafting and reporting to the full Sen-
harmful emissions. It really is the fu- colleague. He and I came together in ate surface transportation legislation,
ture that we are trying to assist with the House of Representatives a million along with legislation to repair and up-
this important infrastructure bill. years ago. We were part of the class of grade drinking water and water sanita-
Importantly, this plan will help con- 1982, a huge class—over 80 Democrats tion infrastructure, as soon as we
nect every American to reliable high- and Republicans. It has been a joy to could.
speed internet. Over 60 percent of the serve with him, and I especially am Working together with all 20 mem-
American people say that access to proud of him—the words he has just bers of the Environment and Public
high-speed internet is as important as
said here today, healing words, uniting Works Committee—10 Democrats, 10
electricity to them and some say it is
words—and we are grateful for his lead- Republicans—that is exactly what we
even more important than water. It
ership. did in record time and with record lev-
has become that integral to a success- Colleagues, the Senate is now consid- els, historic levels, of investment.
ful life for business. No matter where ering the substitute amendment to After soliciting input, I am sure my
you live, the internet puts the world at
H.R. 3684, the INVEST Act, and I rise colleague from West Virginia recalls,
your fingertips. Your children can
today to urge our colleagues to join from all 50 States—all 50 States—we
learn from home, you can connect to
Senator CAPITO, who is sitting to my crafted and then unanimously for-
healthcare providers when you need
right, and me in debating the legisla- warded our water infrastructure bill
them, and businesses can reach the
tion, offering improvements where out of committee to the full Senate—
global marketplace.
One last point. This plan will help us needed to it, and then voting for its unanimously. There, it was debated,
protect America’s infrastructure, our adoption. amended, and adopted by a vote of 89 to
In February of this year, at my en- 2—89 to 2; you don’t hear that every
economy, and American families from
21st-century threats of climate change, couragement, President Biden invited day—on April 29, 2021.
extreme weather, and cyber attacks. It Senator CAPITO, Senators CARDIN, With that behind us, we turned our
is the largest investment in resilience INHOFE, and me, all senior members of attention to surface transportation
of physical and natural systems in the Senate Committee on Environment legislation—roads, highways, bridges,
American history. and Public Works, over to the White climate—and unanimously reported
With this plan, we can create thou- House right after he was inaugurated our surface transportation bill to the
sands of good-paying, family-sup- President to discuss the need to make full Senate by Memorial Day, the fast-
porting jobs, and the majority of these bold investments in our Nation’s crum- est the committee has ever acted, I am
jobs may not require a college degree. bling infrastructure. told, on such legislation.
Perhaps that 2 extra years of commu- Sitting in the Oval Office that day, I have thanked Senator CAPITO so
nity college, which we hope to include as I am sure the ranking member of many times, she is probably getting
in the next bill, will be just what a per- our committee remembers, we were sick of it, but I want to thank her
son needs to get a good-paying job, set- joined in person by the Vice President again, and I want to thank every mem-
tle down, and raise a family—the of the United States, KAMALA HARRIS, ber of our committee with whom we
American dream. And we can lay the and we were joined virtually by Sec- were privileged to serve on the Envi-
foundation for a long-term economic retary of Transportation Pete ronment and Public Works Committee,
boom if everyone pulls together. Buttigieg. I still want to call him along with the members of our staffs,
These are smart, prudent, necessary Mayor Pete, but he has actually turned some of whom are gathered here today,
investments that will pay dividends for out to be a pretty good Secretary of for their remarkable work on these im-
years to come. I want to thank the Transportation as well. portant, bipartisan bills.
President. He was really all in in the Because of our committee’s long- Speaking of staff, I look over my
negotiation of this bill. Without his standing tradition of bipartisan work shoulder, and I see of our people right
leadership, we wouldn’t be here. I also on infrastructure, my colleagues and I behind me. I look over the other shoul-
want to thank the bipartisan group of already knew as we headed into the der, and I see some Republican staff
Senators who worked with the White White House meeting that our Nation over on the other side.
House to produce this agreement. I had fallen woefully short—woefully I especially want to pause and just
have come to know them. I partici- short—in maintaining and developing thank our Environment and Public
pated in some of the early meetings the critical infrastructure that sup- Works staff director, Mary Frances
ports us, our families, and our econ- Repko; our chief counsel, Greg Dotson;
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and listened to them through the delib-
eration. There were times when I want- omy. But don’t take my word for it. as well as Rebecca Higgins, who leads
ed to wring their necks, and there were Don’t take my word for it. The Amer- our transportation team; and Kenneth
times when I wanted to pat their ican Society of Civil Engineers’ 2021 re- Martin and Jordan Baugh as well.
backs. But they never quit trying, and port card for America’s infrastructure A special thank-you to John Kane
today, we have a bill before us that is gave our Nation’s infrastructure an and Annie D’Amato, who ably led our
a dramatic achievement, and it is a bi- overall grade of C-minus. In recent efforts on water infrastructure; to
partisan achievement. years, that rating has been as low as D- Laura Haynes Gillam, our leader on
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5533
climate; and finally to my indefati- ternatives to increasingly polluted than $55 billion—$55 billion—for pro-
gable chief of staff, Emily Spain. I drinking water wells. Ellendale is not grams that will create jobs and make
practiced that word all night to make alone. Across our country, hundreds, our communities healthier by building,
sure I got it right. maybe thousands of communities repairing, upgrading, and modernizing
I hasten to add that we couldn’t get struggle with access to clean water and our Nation’s aging drinking water and
any of this done without Senator CAP- wastewater treatment, including my wastewater infrastructure systems—$55
ITO and the strong, bipartisan support native West Virginia, now represented billion dollars.
we received from her, from the EPW by our colleagues SHELLEY CAPITO and Here is how. First, the measure takes
minority staff director—I see him sit- JOE MANCHIN. the historic step of reauthorizing the
ting over there—Adam Tomlinson— Our communities across this country Clean Water State Revolving Loan
Adam, thank you—and his hard-work- are torn asunder by—too many places Fund for the first time in 35 years—35
ing team; I won’t mention them all, across this country are torn asunder by years. It does so while increasing fund-
but Murphie Barrett, affectionately highways that have divided and dis- ing levels for the first time since 1987.
known as Murphie Brown, and Travis rupted neighborhoods across our Na- This legislation also reauthorizes the
Cone and Jess Kramer. tion. In my hometown of Wilmington, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund,
You know, you would expect the DE, construction of I–95 literally tore a program whose reauthorization ex-
chair of the Environment and Public communities apart, cutting off access pires at the end of this year. You will
Works Committee or the ranking mem- to neighbors, parks, and economic op- recall that this is the fund that helps
ber to be proud of their committee’s portunity. We can begin to heal those to ensure that clean water flows from
work, and we certainly are, but we wounds—in places like Baltimore and our faucets when we turn on the spigot.
aren’t the only ones who have worked Philadelphia as well—heal those To help resolve a historic injustice in
hard to write the legislation that is be- wounds with the projects we enable in water infrastructure investment, more
this legislation. than 40 percent of this bill’s invest-
fore us today, not by a long shot.
The truth be known, almost all of ments are targeted to help disadvan-
I want to commend the bipartisan
our colleagues have stories like this to taged communities. The bill appro-
work of the Commerce Committee and
share—communities beset by raging priates $15 billion in new funding to re-
the Energy and Natural Resources
wildfires fueled by climate change; place lead service lines. And particu-
Committee, along with the efforts of
thousands of acres of farmland lost to larly for our country’s rural areas, in-
the Banking Committee.
flooding; more than a third of the crops cluding Native Alaskan villages, Tribal
I especially want to thank the bipar-
in Iowa destroyed by hurricane-force communities, and low-income neigh-
tisan group we affectionately refer to—
winds last year; kids without access to borhoods, our bill invests another $1
Senator DURBIN already has—affection-
the internet for want of broadband ac- billion in programs to connect house-
ately refer to them, at least most of
cess; and families struggling to deal holds to drinking water and waste-
the time, as the G–22, led by Senators
with legacy pollutants in the land and water systems and services.
ROB PORTMAN of Ohio and KYRSTEN water where they live. This legislation does far more than
SINEMA of Arizona. I want to thank In the near future, I hope we will just fix what is broken. To borrow a
them and the other 20 Senators—half take some time to celebrate the sig- phrase from our President, it truly
Democrat, half Republican—for their nificant steps we are taking to rewrite does enable us to build back better by
Herculean efforts to make this com- these stories with this legislation be- fortifying water infrastructure in the
promise legislation a reality; working fore us. But I want to take a moment face of our new and worsening climate
not just with folks here and over in the or two here today, if I may, to drill reality.
House but also at the White House as down into some of the most meaningful Sadly—sadly—our future is one with
well, with the President and the Presi- provisions reported unanimously out of more severe weather events like hurri-
dent’s team. our committee, the Environment and canes, like floods, droughts, and bit-
In the Navy, we have—one of my fa- Public Works Committee, this year. terly cold weather. I wish it weren’t
vorite sayings in the Navy is ‘‘Bravo Let’s start with the Drinking Water true, but it is. It is a future with ever
Zulu.’’ When somebody does extraor- and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of more people living on the frontlines of
dinary work, what we would say is 2021. sea level rise, like Louisiana, which, on
‘‘Bravo Zulu.’’ I would certainly say It is clear that the programs we have average, if you can believe this, Lou-
that on this occasion. now, despite our best efforts, aren’t isiana loses a piece of land to the sea
Of course, we all recognize that infra- sufficient to meet the needs of many of roughly the size of a football field
structure encompasses much more our communities, particularly those every 100 minutes—every 100 minutes.
than water, roads, highways, and who simply can’t afford to participate To that end, the bill before us pro-
bridges. In truth, it touches on the ju- in the revolving loan programs of their vides a combined $500 million to make
risdictions of many of our commit- States in order to upgrade increasingly our water infrastructure system more
tees—many of our committees. That is inadequate drinking water and waste- resilient and more adaptable in the
why the legislation we are considering water facilities. face of extreme weather events. Within
today is extraordinary. It is a com- As our ranking member knows, if that historic investment is a new $125
prehensive infrastructure investment communities borrow money out of the million program which will for the first
package that encompasses water, high- revolving funds, water funds—one for time provide grants to communities
ways, roads, bridges, transit, rail, air- drinking water and one for sanitation, seeking to fortify their wastewater sys-
ports, ports, power systems, dams, water sanitation—the communities tems against climate change’s impacts.
broadband, cyber security, ecosystem that borrow money, take money out of This is not just a bill to spend and
restoration, and more. them, they are expected to pay that build but legislation that will direct
I would like to pause here for just a money back. There are, as we know, a our Agencies to build and spend more
moment to remind all of us who serve lot of communities that are just too wisely. We know that investment and
in this body, along with the people we impoverished to ever do that. We have innovation as envisioned in this bill be-
are privileged to represent, that infra- decided not just to bemoan that but to fore us can have a profound impact on
structure is also intensely personal, actually do something about it. That is our economy, creating jobs and fos-
and when it does not work, our people what we have done with this legisla- tering growth for entire communities.
suffer, their children suffer, and their tion—provide them with an oppor- We can, in short, seize the day in the
livelihoods suffer. We all know that
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tunity to receive a grant to clean up face of so much adversity. Seize the
those who suffer most are those who their water, their drinking water, and day. Carpe diem—or, as we say in Dela-
have been shortchanged by the pat- to deal with their wastewater. Millions ware, Carper diem.
ently inadequate investments we have of Americans are going to be able to do It is fair to say there is also much we
made for too many years. that, to deal with these challenges, and can and will do to invest in our Na-
In rural parts of Southern Delaware, we are going to help. tion’s highways, roads, and bridges.
communities like Ellendale have strug- This bipartisan legislation works to Our Surface Transportation Reauthor-
gled for years to find and afford safe al- address this crisis by authorizing more ization Act increases the baseline for
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S5534 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
funding our surface transportation pro- that we have developed, it creates an structure. Investments made in this
grams by more than one-third to $303 emission from these vehicles, but it is bill will work to make our electric grid
billion over the next 5 years—$303 bil- water, H2O. I am told it is water we can more reliable and resilient, support
lion. On top of that, the legislation will actually drink. Think about that. families and businesses to become
invest over $60 billion in new funds for We can also drive down emissions and more energy efficient, while helping to
roads, bridges, and multimodal pro- curb pollution by supporting conven- clean up our Nation’s old and aban-
grams over these 5 years. This invest- ient, healthy alternatives to driving. doned mines and wells that leak toxic
ment will repair and rebuild our roads Bicycling and walking are not only af- pollution and methane emissions.
and bridges with a new focus on cli- fordable modes of transportation but The bill before us this week also in-
mate change mitigation, resilience, eq- healthy ones as well—an important cludes investments in battery recy-
uity, and safety for all users, including consideration in a nation where all too cling and zero-emitting technologies,
cyclists and pedestrians. many Americans are dying from med- including a program much like the one
Every day, motorists cross bridges in ical conditions tied to obesity. passed out of our EPW Committee last
poor conditions in too many parts of Sadly, far too many Americans live year that supports our existing nuclear
our country 170 million times. Every in neighborhoods where there are no power fleet, which collectively pro-
day. Every day. A hundred and seventy safe bike lanes and crosswalks. Trag- duces—get this—half of our Nation’s
million times a day. Some 40 percent of ically, in 2019 alone, over 7,000 pedes- carbon-free electricity.
the bridges in our country are in need trians and bicyclists lost their lives in While there is much to celebrate in
of repair or replacement, including traffic accidents—over 7,000 pedes- this product of our bipartisan efforts,
nearly 500 bridges in Massachusetts, trians. I would wager that many Mem- more work still needs to be done. Col-
3,000 in Pennsylvania, and God knows, bers of this body actually knew one or lectively, we have incorporated badly
more in our State as well. more than one of those victims or their needed climate provisions in surface
At the current pace of investment in families personally. So I am grateful transportation, water, power, and a
bridges, it would take nearly 40 years— that our bill works to address these number of other infrastructure pro-
40 years—to tackle the current backlog needless deaths head-on. The question grams, but in truth, we have, in the
of bridges in poor condition. That is is, How? By providing a 70-percent in- words of Robert Frost, miles to go be-
right—40 years. That is why today we crease in funding for programs that de- fore we sleep—miles to go before we
consider legislation to provide a $40 velop safe, accessible pedestrian and bi- sleep.
billion investment to address our cycle pathways across our Nation and With the words of Robert Frost as a
daunting bridge repair backlog. by authorizing almost $17 billion in reminder, all of us who serve here to-
Our legislation also includes for the funding for highway safety improve- gether understand that every race won
first time in a Senate reauthorization ments. begins with a first step and ends with a
bill a climate title with provisions I also want to note here some of the final one. With the enactment of this
dedicated to curbing harmful green- critical investments in infrastructure legislation, we will be taking not one
house gas emissions, while ensuring that are outside of the EPW Committee but a number of important steps—a
that the investments we make are jurisdiction and the important work number of important steps.
more resilient to climate change-en- that those committees did to bring this In the days ahead, we will move a
hanced extreme weather events be- bill to the floor. good deal closer to the finish line in a
cause, like it or not, it is coming our First, a note of appreciation for the race with a dangerously changing cli-
way. portion of the legislation that was au- mate that we simply cannot afford to
As many of you know, the transpor- thored by the Senate Commerce Com- lose. That is why I will be examining
tation sector is the largest source of mittee, led by Senators MARIA CANT- the budget resolution closely in the
carbon emissions in our Nation; almost WELL and ROGER WICKER. As one of the days ahead to ensure that we are de-
30 percent just from one source: cars, tens of thousands of Americans who voting the resources necessary to put
trucks, and vans. If we want to save commute to work on the east coast by climate change on the run as we ad-
our planet, and we do, for our children taking Amtrak almost daily, I am en- vance environmental justice.
and grandchildren, we have to tackle couraged to see that this bill invests in I would be remiss if I didn’t add that
this major contributor to the climate our railways across the Nation. This we must not shy away in the days
crisis with a special zeal. legislation not only provides $6 billion ahead from working hard to agree on
The bill we marked up in our com- in grants to the Northeast Corridor to how to honestly and thoughtfully pay
mittee, the Environment and Public address Amtrak’s deferred mainte- for the investments that need to be
Works Committee, this spring by, nance needs, it also provides another made. In the words of a colleague from
again, a 20-to-0 vote put us on the right $16 billion for Amtrak’s national net- West Virginia—words of a former State
track, dedicating $18 billion toward re- work and another $41 billion in grants treasurer of a small State on the east
ducing our carbon emissions and in- to improve passenger rail performance coast who now serves in this body,
cluding $2.5 billion for building electric and safety. ‘‘Things that are worth having are
vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling I also want to applaud the chairman worth paying for.’’
stations on highways and in locations of the Senate Banking Committee and But the key message of this day is
like schools, workplaces, parks, and others both on and off the committee that we have pushed through earnest
publicly accessible areas for commu- who worked tirelessly to advance ro- disagreements, varying priorities, and
nities. This bill also adds another $5 bust funding for public transit infra- much headache and heartache to
billion for EV charging and hydrogen structure in order to make it possible achieve a truly singular success in tak-
fueling stations to help us transition to for millions of people to get to work ing on a number of major infrastruc-
a zero-emission future. and home again every day. ture challenges facing our Nation. We
A lot of people have heard about and Transit and rail are both critical have elected to work together to ad-
talked about electric vehicle charging components of our climate change re- dress the obvious—to repair and up-
stations. Not so many people have sponse, providing low- and zero-emis- grade much of our Nation’s infrastruc-
mentioned hydrogen. Hydrogen is a big sion travel choices. This bill, our bill, ture in order to better position Amer-
part and will play a major role in re- reauthorizes and grows our transit pro- ica to succeed in an ever more competi-
ducing our carbon emissions, particu- grams, while also providing more than tive global economy and to survive in
larly with midsized trucks and larger $5 billion in grants for State and local an ever more dangerous world due to
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
trucks, and also when we talk about re- agencies to purchase electric and low- the climate crisis.
ducing carbon emissions in the indus- emission transit buses. Senator CAPITO and I have served to-
trial sector. So stay tuned. There is a Our colleagues on the Senate Energy gether on this Committee for a number
lot more to come on that front. and Natural Resources Committee, led of years, and she succeeds Senator
A great thing about our clean hydro- by Senators MANCHIN and BARRASSO, JOHN BARRASSO, who for a number of
gen investment in vehicles propelled crafted legislation to help support and years was the chair and I was the rank-
with hydrogen, with the technology clean up our Nation’s energy infra- ing member. I will never forget—and
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5535
you probably won’t either, Senator—we of people, in pun, said we would never bipartisan agreement. And the Drink-
won’t forget the words of attorney Rob get here. As a matter of fact, I had an ing Water and Wastewater bill had al-
Wallace, who is also from Wyoming, a interview on national TV about 3 or 4 ready passed out this entire body 89 to
friend of Senator BARRASSO’s, and he months ago, when I was leading the ef- 2.
was nominated, I think, to be Assistant fort for the Republicans, and the com- So we decided—and the President was
Secretary of the Interior. He focused mentator said: Well, I will believe bi- very much in the conversation and the
on, among other things, national partisanship on infrastructure when will to get this done. So our Drinking
parks, wildlife, and fish and wildlife. I pigs fly. Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
never forget what he said in his con- So watch out. They are flying. Act had already passed, as I said,
firmation hearing. He commented on So we are debating this historic bi- unanimously. We passed it on the floor,
the history and the tradition of our partisan infrastructure bill. The Infra- 89 to 2. And we were making steady
committee as one where we actually structure Investment and Jobs Act is progress on our Surface Transportation
work together and like each other even the product of countless hours, as the Reauthorization bill.
though we don’t always agree on the chairman said; late nights; and more At this point, the talks between the
issues. We work together to get things than a couple of tough conversations. President and me and our working
done. He said these words. He said: ‘‘Bi- And I want to include not just our staff group, as Republicans, began to falter,
partisan solutions are lasting solu- but a lot of staffs throughout the Sen- and the bipartisan group picked up
tions.’’ That is what he said. ‘‘Bipar- ate, whether it is the Finance Com- with the President. I am really, really
tisan solutions are lasting solutions.’’ I mittee, Approps Committee, Commerce glad and proud of their efforts that
thought at the time, well, he really Committee, Banking Committee, EPW they were able to come to an agree-
nailed it. And I hope, with this legisla- Committee, Energy Committee, all-en- ment that is before us today. As I am
tion, we will nail it, too, because a lot compassing—a lot of our staffs have going to reiterate again because I
of Americans are counting on us to do been working through the weekends think we are going to be saying this a
just that. sleeplessly to try to get us to today. lot, I am glad that the basis of this are
With that, I am happy to yield the We debated the definition of infra- the two bipartisan bills that came out
floor again to—I am tempted to call structure. We actually talked about of the EPW Committee.
her our wingwoman; she calls me her that at the White House on the day we There are several provisions I would
wingman—to my colleague and friend went to see the President and what like to highlight as we begin this proc-
and ranking member of this com- that scope should look like and the ess.
mittee, who has been great to work pricetag and, very important, how to Roads and bridges are what we think
with. pay for it. of when we think of infrastructure. We
I yield the floor. I think that nobody, probably, of the talked a lot about this over the last
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. 100 of us thinks this bill is absolutely several months. As ranking member of
WARNOCK). The Senator from West Vir- perfect. It never would be. And there is the EPW Committee, one of my top pri-
ginia. always a saying going around that, if orities, along with Chairman CARPER,
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I want we all thought it was perfect, there is is the reauthorization of the Surface
to begin by thanking the chairman of something wrong with it. Transportation Reauthorization bill.
our EPW Committee. We work tremen- So delivering for the American peo- We worked painstakingly; and those
dously well together. ple is more important than our news- were a lot of sleepless nights, too, for
He gave a great speech right there, paper headlines today. We can make a many of us and our staffs, in par-
outlining not only the difficulties that historic investment in our Nation’s in- ticular, to write a bill to meet our
we had reaching consensus but really frastructure with this bill. It reflects transportation needs. And the chair-
how the building blocks of what we are our commitment to keeping Americans man outlined a lot of what his prior-
embarking on today really came from safe, as the chairman mentioned; im- ities were, and I am going to talk
the bipartisanship that we have shown proving our global competitiveness; about some of what the priorities that
at EPW with our surface transpor- and growing our economy and creating I had, sharing his priorities as well.
tation and our water bills. jobs. This legislation gives States both I came to the table with several
I think, you know, by having those the certainty in funding to plan for big major priorities for that bill, and I am
building blocks in place, it has led us projects, but also that flexibility in proud to say that each one of them is
to where we are today. spending to cater to unique needs. in this bill that we are getting ready to
And I do remember that first meeting What you need in Georgia is different consider. I wanted a robust investment
with President Biden in the White than what you need in Delaware, or my in our Nation’s roads and bridges.
House. It is not every day you get to go other colleague from Montana would Nothing bugs people more, literally,
to the White House and sit in the Oval differ from what we need in West Vir- than driving into a pothole when they
Office and talk to the President of the ginia. This bill is a product that the know they are paying a gas tax and
United States and Vice President. But American people can be proud of and when they know they are trying to do
we started out with basically saying one that will benefit them and the next their best to support their State and
that we can do this, we want to do this, generation. This is not a one-and-done. local to repair their roads. But it is, I
and bipartisanship can work, particu- The impacts of this bill will go on think, the least, I think, that Ameri-
larly on areas that we traditionally through a generation. cans—as they are going to work or
work together on, but also on areas So after we had the meeting with the going to school or going shopping—
that are of critical need to our coun- President—the bipartisan meeting—the would expect that they could be safe as
try. And we never really sort of lost President put out his American Jobs they are traveling.
our focus on that, and neither did the Act. He actually challenged my party, I came to the table, and we did a ro-
President. the Republican Party, to come up with bust $303.5 billion over 5 years for the
So here we are today, really meeting a reaction to his American Jobs Plan. Federal-Aid Highway Program, which,
that challenge that he sort of laid And I took up that challenge, along as the chairman said, is a 35-percent in-
down before us over 6 months ago. And with the ranking members of the rel- crease over current law. That invest-
with the building blocks that us and evant committees. So that would be ment represents historic funding.
Commerce and others have put into Senators WICKER, TOOMEY, BARRASSO, These are historic levels of funding for
place, we find ourselves with the great CRAPO, and Senator BLUNT, and we our roads and bridges and provides
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hard work of the bipartisan group and went back to the White House. And I States that long-term certainty that
a great place of—at a point at which we was talking to Senator CARPER the en- they need to plan and complete a
can discuss these, amend these, and tire time through this process to make project. I am sure the chairman has
look at these on the Senate floor, as we sure that our surface transportation projects in his State that have been on
should be doing. bill, which we were in the midst of ne- the burner, waiting to be done or par-
So after months and months of nego- gotiating, was going to be the building tially finished, and they can’t get the
tiating, the time is finally here. A lot block on which we could formulate a investment because they can’t get the
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S5536 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
long-term investment that we provided How about that? When this water legislation was
in our bill. Finally, we hear a lot—everybody voted on by the Senate, 89 Senators
So I specifically made funding for our hears a lot—from folks back home that supported it. Senators recognized that
Nation’s bridges a priority. West Vir- it just takes way too long to develop a the legislation will help thousands of
ginia has so many bridges. It is a small project. We sometimes think some- communities to improve their health,
State, but we have got a lot of hills and times the bureaucracy is our worst safety, and standard of living. I am
valleys, so we need a lot of bridges. enemy when it comes to building our very pleased that this bill before us
One recent report said that 21 per- infrastructure. So we prioritized im- again is a part of this package—a part
cent of West Virginia’s bridges are in provements for the project delivery of the larger package—so we can make
poor condition. Another report says process to help road and bridge projects sure that it gets to the President’s
that 13 percent of our interstate advance from the planning stage to the desk.
bridges are in poor condition. So that completion stage much more rapidly. I am glad that the overall package
latter figure of the interstate bridges is I am excited about reforms we had in we are considering represents the larg-
the highest one in the Nation. Our bill our EPW bill. Particularly, our bill est investment in clean drinking water
created a new bridge program. We codifies the One Federal Decision pol- in our Nation’s history.
worked hard with our colleagues to icy, making it easier for project spon- It also has some niche things in there
make sure that there is a massive infu- sors to work through the Federal envi- that are important to me. Just what
sion, which there is, on top of what we ronmental review process—not skirting we hear anecdotally in our State, we
had in our bill in the appropriations any environmental review, but just ex- are wasting water in our State. We
package. pediting it so it can go quicker, which have leaky old pipes that just leak out
The overall package includes $40 bil- means more development, more consid- 50 percent of the water from the treat-
lion in dedicated resources for bridges. erations, but also more efficiency on ment facilities to the home. What a
This is the single largest investment in how you spend your dollars. waste. Think about our friends in the
bridge infrastructure since the con- The EPW bill makes other common- West and how precious water is in cer-
struction of the Interstate Highway sense reforms, like allowing States to tain areas. What a wasteful thing that
System. This is money that will make be reimbursed for utility relocation is. So we addressed some of that into
a difference for West Virginia and the necessary for a project while the re- our bill.
rest of the Nation. view process is ongoing, or even estab- There are a number of other provi-
Second, I wanted to preserve the lishing deadlines for Federal Agencies sions in this large package that will be
flexibility for our States and localities to make decisions. significant wins for West Virginia and
to use Federal funds to meet their own These are a few examples of the 19
the Nation. I launched my Capito Con-
unique transportation needs. That pri- sections included in the robust project
nect initiative in 2015, to help expand
ority is reflected in the fact that 90 delivery section of our EPW bill.
Additional provisions in the broader broadband infrastructure in West Vir-
percent of the EPW bill’s funding will ginia. Many communities that lack
legislation will extend the FAST–41
be provided to our States through the adequate broadband service are strug-
permitting reforms to help us build
formula—that means the predictability other types of infrastructure more effi- gling economically. And I see my fel-
of the formula that every State has re- ciently. low Senator from Montana—we had
lied on over the last several transpor- So my key priorities: Robust invest- talked about this endlessly on the
tation bills. That is important because ment in roads and bridges, flexibility Commerce Committee and how abso-
it lets States use the Federal dollars to for—and certainty for—our States; re- lutely important it is.
address their own priorities. As I said, sources for rural communities and es- Many communities that lack ade-
we have different priorities, from con- pecially the ADHS, and project deliv- quate broadband service are struggling.
gestion in urban areas to economic ery improvements are all reflected in It is impossible to compete for new jobs
growth in small towns. the EPW bill and across the broader if a community cannot offer good
And third, I wanted to make sure package we are considering. internet service—I mean, it is just a
that all parts of our Nation—not just I am extremely proud of the work we necessity—causing these areas to fall
urban areas, but the rural areas—ben- did on our committee to produce this, further and further behind. So, today,
efit from transportation grant pro- and I think it will make significant education, tourism, healthcare, all re-
grams. Rural areas can sometimes benefits to our Nation’s infrastructure. quire high-speed internet service.
struggle when it comes to receiving I am also going to talk about our Broadband is core infrastructure, and
competitive grants. Drinking Water and Wastewater Infra- this legislation recognizes that. It is a
It is hard to show cost-benefit anal- structure Act. The chairman went into major broadband investment that will
ysis. It is hard to show how many peo- more detail on it, but you can see it is tremendously help close the digital di-
ple are being served. But these trans- very far-reaching. It is the largest, vide in this country. We will get it to
portation corridors are so vital. That is most robust investment in new areas the last house. We will get it to the
why I am very pleased that the EPW around this very crucial area. We have last business.
bill creates a new $2 billion rural grant authorized $35 billion for water Additionally, significant funding is
program that will dedicate resources to projects across the country with a included in this package to improve
something very important to me—the focus on upgrading aging infrastruc- our Nation’s airports.
Appalachian Development Highway ture. It invests in innovative tech- Funding for the Corps of Engineers
System, or the ADHS—and other crit- nologies and provides assistance to will improve our water resources infra-
ical projects across rural America. rural and low-income communities to structure, our locks and dams. We rely
We also worked together to provide help them keep their water safe and a lot on that as you are going knew
additional dedicated funding for the clean. The bill provides that flexibility down the Ohio Canal, the Big Sandy in
ADHS in the broader legislation. I talked about so that both rural and through West Virginia.
So what does that mean for my home urban areas can best address their Reorganization of the AML Program
State? needs. will provide billions of dollars to clean
That means that this funding will aid The most significant investments are up abandoned mine sites. Another new
the completion of Corridor H, which is in the Drinking Water and Clean Water program will provide resources to clean
the connector to the eastern and cen- State Revolving Funds, otherwise up orphaned oil and gas wells. Both
tral parts of our State with the Metro known as SRFs. Our former Governors programs will have a positive effect in
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and DC area and opening up more op- in the body would know all about this country and particularly in my
portunities for economic growth and SRFs, how important they are. They State.
tourism. So if you are coming from the maximize the authority to the States The items I have highlighted are
DC area, you can just slice right to determine how best to address their major wins for West Virginia and the
through the center of the State where own challenges with a revolving loan Nation. They are investments in the
you can ski Whitewater, see the beauty fund to facilitate additional future in- next generation, ensuring America con-
of our State, or bring your business. vestments. tinues to compete on the global stage.
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5537
I would like to thank Senators Gilliam, Jordan Baugh, Heather Dean, Member of this body, a great Member
PORTMAN and SINEMA for their leader- Mackie McIntosh, Annie D’Amato, from Montana, and a great member of
ship on this legislation and the entire Kenneth Martin, and Tyler Hoffman- the Approps Committee, and the chair
bipartisan working group for their Reardon for their dedication for this as well. I just want to say thank you
hours and hours of long work. process as well. for all of your involvement in this ef-
I would especially like to thank—and With that, I yield the floor. fort, all of your involvement, as part of
we are going to be together a lot here Mr. CARPER. I am going to ask this G–22, with some sanity and some
in the next several days—my counter- unanimous consent, if I could just in- common sense at times when it was
part, ‘‘Carper diem,’’ Chairman CARPER sert one quick comment, Mr. Presi- really needed and just tenacity.
of the EPW Committee. dent? The fellow who normally stands at
I would also like to thank President The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without this podium is our leader, Senator
Biden for his commitment and his will- objection, it is so ordered. SCHUMER, our majority leader. He
ingness to see this bipartisan work Mr. CARPER. Ranking Member Sen- spoke earlier this morning. And Sen-
product through. I would like to add ator CAPITO has mentioned very gra- ator MCCONNELL spoke from where
that I would like to thank the Presi- ciously the names of all of our staff. Senator CAPITO was speaking. Not ev-
dent’s staff because I know that they I was here this weekend. She was erybody expected Senator MCCONNELL,
have committed hours and hours to here this weekend. And there were peo- a Republican leader, to vote in favor of
this effort, beginning with me and end- ple here working this weekend, not just the motion to proceed to the bill. He
ing where we are today. our staffs on the Environment and did. And that encouraged others, 16, 17,
I hope this isn’t the end. I mean, I Public Works Committee, not just on 18 other Republicans to join in voting
hope this is the beginning of things the Appropriations Committee, just for the motion to proceed. We don’t
that we are going to be doing together. staffs like here in this body. Folks proceed unless we have 60 votes, and
I hope this isn’t a one-and-done. I hope throughout the building, throughout that was just hugely helpful.
this is the beginning of all good things. the complex, they were here working. And to CHUCK SCHUMER, who was
The American people elected us to do They have children. They have spouses. just—this guy, he just doesn’t give up.
this tough work. Tough compromises They have parents. They have other I have known and worked with him for-
are necessary to develop and pass bi- obligations. They were here working. ever, and I am very proud of his leader-
partisan bills, and I believe this legis- And we would be remiss if we didn’t ship. I know he will be glad when this
lation is a major positive step. mention that. is all over, and he can maybe go home
I look forward to working with my The other thing I want to say is, as and get a good night’s sleep.
colleagues as we begin the amendment Ranking Member Senator CAPITO But for his family who is willing to
process so that we can advance this knows, I go back and forth on the train share and his kids’ willingness to share
package. a lot of days, much like Joe Biden used him with all of us, especially, thanks.
I would like to join with Chairman to do. And almost every week some- I yield the floor.
CARPER in thanking our staff members body says to me on a platform either in The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
who have worked so hard on the EPW Delaware or here in DC waiting for the ator from Montana.
bill. train: Why can’t you guys work to- Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I do
As the Senator mentioned, I see his gether? Why can’t you folks just work want to thank Senator CARPER and
staff over there and part of my staff together? Senator CAPITO for managing this bill.
over here. I just wish that they could be here to I say to the Senators, I very much
At the risk of picking one of my fa- participate, to listen, to hear that, ac- appreciate what you guys have done up
vorite children off the EPW Com- tually, we do work together. And when to this point and what you are going to
mittee, I am going to name my entire the chips are really down—pandemic, do over the next 3 or 4 days.
staff because they all had a hand in terrible situation, 15, 16, 17 months’ ago Mr. President, I rise today for the
this. So I would like to thank Lauren especially, we worked together in an same reason that—several months ago,
Baker; Murphie Barrett; Libby almost unanimous way. And we are I worked with four other Democrats
Callaway; Georgianna Clemmons, who working together here on some things and five Republicans to try to get
is going to be a mom in about a month; that are extraordinarily important. something done to address the infra-
Marli Collier; Travis Cone; Sarah The other thing I would say, and I re- structure of this country. Why? Be-
Delavan; Will Dixon; Elizabeth Horner; minded the President of this just the cause infrastructure is important.
Max Hyman; Tyler Jenkins; Jess Kra- other day, this is not all on the Federal Let me take you back 60 years. Sixty
mer; Jake Kennedy; Matt Lupes; Kayla Government. You know, whether it is years ago, it was 131⁄2 miles to the clos-
McMurry; Taylor Meredith; Jacob climate change, whether it is meeting est patch of pavement from my farm.
Mitchell; Kelley Moore; Katherine our infrastructure needs, whether it is Then, I was about 4 or 5 years old. I re-
Smith; and my staff leader, Adam a pandemic, this is a shared responsi- member riding with my dad in a 1954
Tomlinson—I will give him an extra bility, and the Federal Government GMC 300 truck on that dirt road haul-
check because he is an amazing per- really bears a lot of responsibility. ing wheat to town as he weaved around
son—Travis Voyles; and Andy Zock for We have a responsibility especially piles of gravel that were in the middle
their tireless efforts that have helped to lead, but there are States involved. of that road.
advance this committee’s infrastruc- And as a recovering Governor—States And I asked my father: Why are
ture legislation. were involved, counties, and cities. those piles of gravel there?
He said: They are working to pave
On my personal office team, I would Nonprofits were involved. And it is all
this road.
like to thank my chief of staff, Joel of us working together. I said: What does that mean—being a
Brubaker, and JT Jezierski for their We have a Home Depot just a couple
4-year-old.
leadership. of blocks from our house, Senator CAP- He said: Well, remember the stretch
I say to the Senator that I also want ITO. And when I think of—whether it is
of road, the 150 or 200 yards that we
to thank his staff. We have worked cities and towns or counties where drive on to get to the elevator right be-
really well. You and I work well to- they have responsibilities to meet, I fore the elevator?
gether, but our staffs really do, I think, like to say: You can do it; we can help. And I said: Yes.
rely on one another. And that is the Like they say at Home Depot: You can This road is going to be all like that.
way it should be. do it; we can help. And there is a lot of
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And I thought, wow.
I would like to especially thank Mary good help here. And it was. It got paved. It got paved
Frances Repko because she has devoted To the folks around the country who for the first 8 miles out of town, and
many hours and time—she and Adam— need the help, we are going to help. that was pretty neat.
I don’t know how many times they You can do it, but we can help, and we We were 51⁄2 miles from pavement
have talked on the phone, but it is will. then, which was a great improvement.
many, many, many—Rebecca Higgins, I would just say, in closing—I see the Some 10 years later, a little more
John Kane, Greg Dotson, Laura Senator from Montana is here, a great than 10 years later, that final 4 miles
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S5538 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
was paved so that we could access that Then we talk about broadband, been fun. Sometimes, it has not been so
highway. which, if we can get this bill across the much fun. But the truth is every one of
So why is that important? That is line, I believe it will fix the broadband these folks wanted to get to yes, and in
important because not only did it re- accessibility issues in this country. the end we did get to yes.
duce our costs on the farm in things We came through the pandemic, and I want to thank Senator SCHUMER. I
like tires and pins and bushings and we saw how important broadband was want to thank him for his patience, not
ball joints, but it made our farm more for distance learning, for telehealth, something that he is known for. But he
profitable. Because of the investments for opportunities for businesses to ex- has been incredibly patient as this bill
that my grandfather and my father’s pand their customer base. This bill will has been debated and changed and
generation made, not only did it help help expand high-speed internet moved forward, particularly over the
them at the time, but it helps me to throughout this country, both urban last week, although I will say that he
this day. and rural. pushed the envelope and made sure we
That was my first introduction to in- I will tell you, there is a lot of work were tending to business even before
frastructure, and that is why, several that needs to be done in my home that, because I think Senator SCHUMER
months ago, I realized that after 15 State of Montana when it comes to also wants to see this bill come to fru-
years in this body and people from both broadband. ition.
sides of the aisle talking about infra- Then there is the grid. If we are I also need to thank the administra-
structure, that it was well past time to going to move forward with electric ve- tion, the folks who represent President
get something done on infrastructure hicles—and they are coming—then we Biden in his negotiations. And I am
because I knew it was economically have to have an electrical grid that going to name names: Louisa Terrell,
important; I knew it would create jobs; will support those electric vehicles. Brian Deese, Steve Ricchetti. These
and I knew it would help sustain com- Without improvements to the elec- folks were incredible resources, and
munities all across this country. trical grid, we will be behind the eight they were incredibly helpful, and this
So what is in this legislation? Why is ball all the time when it comes to, for bill would not have happened without
this legislation so important? Well, let example, the electric pickup that Ford their input.
me tell you. It is about the economy. It is putting out. I also want to thank all the staff
is about creating jobs. It is about mak- I will say, in my lifetime, I will prob- members, both in the personal offices
ing sure that we can compete in this ably have an electric tractor on the and the committees, from both sides of
worldwide economy that we live in, farm because this technology is moving the aisle, who gave up their weekends
how we can maintain our position as so quickly that it is real. and worked late into the night over
the world’s premier economy in this This package does much more than and over and over again. I have said
world. that. I just wanted to touch on those this before. I will say it again. The
So how does it do it? Well, it starts few things. But it is done without in- staff does the work; the Senators take
by repairing and modernizing our roads creasing your taxes, which is really im- the credit for it. The fact is that our
and bridges, our airports, our transit portant because, right now, as we see staffs really rolled up their sleeves and
systems. That is critically important our economy moving forward, we need really performed in a way that every
for an economy. to keep it going in that direction. American would be proud.
In my particular case, I live a long Ultimately, as I said before, this bill Look, over the next 3 or 4 days, we
ways away from our customer base. So comes down to the economy; it comes have the opportunity to prove that the
when I jump in the truck and I go to down to creating jobs and putting U.S. Senate can do big things and still
town and I use that piece of pavement America to work; and it is about our function. The process we have been
that was put down 50 years ago, that is national security. It allows us to be through hasn’t been pretty. I don’t
important. When I cross that bridge able to compete with China in a way think it is supposed to be pretty. But it
that crosses the Marias River, when I that we are losing right now. has been worth the while.
haul grain to Fort Benton or Great I have heard people come to the floor I would say the world is watching,
Falls—without that bridge, I couldn’t and say: Do you know what? Infra- both our allies and our adversaries. Our
access my markets. Without those structure is good, but we don’t need it. allies want us to succeed. Our adver-
highways, I cannot access my markets. We don’t need it right now. saries want us to fail. I would say to
So it is critically important we keep Well, all I have to say is, if you be- everybody in this body, on both sides of
our aging bridges and roads and air- lieve that, take the keys to the car out the aisle—and we did get a 67-vote ma-
ports up to snuff. of your pocket—known as our econ- jority to move forward with this bill:
And then, this also makes an incred- omy—and give them to China, because Let’s show them that America can
ibly important investment in our aging you are giving this economy away, and function again. Let’s get this bill
water systems. Where I come from, you are going to make China the lead- passed. Let’s get it over to the House.
they call it dryland agriculture. This ing economic power in this world. Let’s get it to the President’s desk for
year, it is a little dryer than we want Then there is the issue of bipartisan- his signature.
because we are in the middle of a ship that has been talked about a lot With that, I yield, Mr. President.
drought. But the truth is, even if you today already. The truth is this bill The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Re-
are looking for drinking water or irri- has made some news because Demo- publican whip.
gation water or any water, it is hard to crats and Republicans actually worked Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, it is good
come by. together. They actually compromised. to see the Senate taking up a genu-
As our Native American friends have Nobody got everything they want, but inely bipartisan bill this week. A group
told us many, many times, water is everybody won. of Members from both parties have
life. And so infrastructure to get water And as I have told many media out- spent weeks developing this legisla-
to the point where we can utilize it is lets, this shouldn’t be news, but in this tion, and we saw the result of their
critically important. This bill is a day and age, it is. Hopefully, this will work in the bipartisan support for pro-
major investment in water infrastruc- set an example so that we can have ceeding to this bill.
ture. much more bipartisan legislation going Now, we need to let that bipartisan
And I would say one other thing. forward. process continue. We need to give
Whether you live in the West or wheth- And, in that regard, I want to thank Members who weren’t a part of the bi-
er you live in the East, our water sys- my colleagues for their dedication to partisan group a chance to weigh in,
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tems in this country are worn out be- this effort over the last several and that means making sure that we
cause we haven’t done what our par- months, the G–10—Senators PORTMAN, have a robust amendment process.
ents and grandparents have done. We SINEMA, COLLINS, WARNER, ROMNEY, I know the majority leader is eager
have allowed them to decay without in- MANCHIN, CASSIDY, SHAHEEN, MUR- to get through this legislation and on
vesting in this infrastructure, which is KOWSKI—all of you folks who sat with to the Democrats’ next piece of what is
what we are doing today with this me in the same room, and we battled it partisan legislation, and that is a $31⁄2
package. out. Sometimes, the conversation has trillion tax-and-spending spree, but
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5539
that is not a good reason for rushing or the flutter kick, now used by most The bill clerk proceeded to call the
this infrastructure bill through the freestyle swimmers. roll.
Senate. He was a visionary who, after win- Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I
This is an enormous bill. It is more ning gold at the 1912 Stockholm Olym- ask unanimous consent that the order
than 2,700 pages long, and the legisla- pics, pressed the International Olympic for the quorum call be rescinded.
tive text was just released last night. Committee to make surfing an Olym- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
To start with, Members need time to pic sport. He traveled the world to pro- HICKENLOOPER). Without objection, it is
digest this legislation, and then Mem- mote surfing, bringing it to the conti- so ordered.
bers need the opportunity to offer nental United States and Australia and The Senator from Alaska.
amendments. elsewhere, and became known as the Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I
The bill before us today is a genu- father of modern surfing. am on the floor this afternoon as we
inely bipartisan bill, and I am very But, more than anything else, Duke are waiting to learn when we might be
grateful for the tireless efforts of the Kahanamoku was an ambassador of able to proceed to a series of amend-
Members who put in so many long days aloha and the spirit of Hawaii. A re- ments as they relate to the Infrastruc-
and nights—and weekends, I might porter once asked him if it was a bigger ture Investment and Jobs Act.
add—to get us to this point. thrill to win gold medals or ‘‘ride some This is a significant measure, one
Like a lot of our colleagues, I spent of those giant waves,’’ and he answered that I have been very proud to be in-
the weekend here in Washington as the that surfing was a bigger thrill. volved with for a period of time, work-
bipartisan group worked through many One century later, Duke’s vision of ing with colleagues on both sides of the
final drafting issues, and I appreciate Olympic surfing became reality, and aisle in our working groups—G–10, G–
the fact that the members of the group there is nothing more fitting than Ha- 22—working with the committee chair-
took the time to get the bill as right as waii’s own Carissa Moore winning the man and ranking member, working
possible before introducing it. first Olympic Gold Medal. with other Members to get where we
But this legislation was still put to- If you want to see what the embodi- are today, which is a long-awaited—
gether by only a handful of Senators. ment of aloha looks like, look no fur- really, a long-away—investment in our
And unlike traditional highway bills, ther than Carissa Moore. Like Duke, Nation’s infrastructure.
there are major pieces of this legisla- she shares his native Hawaiian roots I know that Members are looking
tion that haven’t been through the and started surfing at Waikiki Beach through the significant legislation that
rigor of a committee process. as a young child. By the time she is in front of us. You don’t need to take
So all Members deserve the chance to reached high school, she was already my word for it. You can look at the
weigh in. A number of Senators have world-class. number of inches of the document in
She attended my alma mater,
raised legitimate concerns about this front of me. It is significant.
Punahou, a school that has graduated
legislation, such as whether the pro- Mr. President, I would suggest to you
more than 30 Olympians and President
posed pay-fors are sufficient to keep the need in this country is significant
Obama. Carissa also became the young-
this legislation from driving up our when it comes to investments in our
est person ever to win a world surfing
debt, and they deserve to have the Nation’s infrastructure—our core infra-
title, at age 18, and went on to win
chance to air those concerns and offer structure—what we define to be our
three more.
possible solutions. roads, our rails, our bridges, our ports,
Today, she stands alone as the
Infrastructure legislation is some of our water and sewer, our broadband. I
world’s top-ranked surfer, but it is not
the most essential legislation that we think we recognize that we talk a lot
just talent that sets her apart. There is
consider. Commerce in this country de- in this Chamber and perhaps on the
a saying that the best surfer is the one
pends on the strength of our infrastruc- other side, as well, and Presidents have
having the most fun, and that is un-
ture, from up-to-date electric grids to come and gone and all talked about the
questionably the case with Carissa. She
well-maintained airports and train need for more investment in our infra-
is actually the best surfer, and she is
tracks, ports and waterways, and roads structure. But truth be told, we really
also having the most fun.
and bridges. She has this incredible combination haven’t done a real wholesale effort to-
We need to get this legislation right, ward that goal until this year. We saw
of speed and power in the water and a
and that means giving Members ample significant work come out of commit-
remarkable humility that she carries
time to examine the details of the bill, tees this year.
with her everywhere that she goes. She
and it means giving Members the I want to commend the chairman of
is an intense competitor who wants to
chance to address any problems in the the Environment and Public Works
win every event that she enters but
bill through a meaningful amendment Committee, Senator CARPER, my friend
also wants to see her opponents and,
process. We shouldn’t sacrifice ade- from Delaware. His committee worked
more importantly, the sport of surfing
quate time on this bill merely because hard, not only on the surface transpor-
itself succeed.
the Democratic leader would like to She has a passion to be admired and tation measure but also the water in-
spend next week jamming a 100-percent a joy that is infectious. She is, in frastructure measure that had passed
partisan piece of legislation through short, the rare athlete who must be through.
the U.S. Senate. seen to be believed. And I know be- We have seen other good work in
Let’s honor the bipartisan process cause I have seen it in Hawaii, and now other areas of infrastructure.
that has gotten us this far by finishing the whole world knows too. I am on the Energy and Natural Re-
this infrastructure bill with a robust, After she won the gold medal last sources Committee. That committee
bipartisan amendment process. week, Carissa spoke of Duke was able to move out a significant—
I yield the floor. Kahanamoku. ‘‘It was beautiful to see what we call the power infrastruc-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- his dream come true a century later,’’ ture—piece that became one of the an-
ator from Hawaii. she said. She might as well have been chor tenets, if you will, within this
TRIBUTE TO CARISSA MOORE
speaking for all of Hawaii. measure.
Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, last So, today, we honor Duke and the in- There has been good, collaborative
week, the world saw something that it credible legacy that he left. We honor work through the committees. Then
had never seen before: surfing as an Carissa Moore for her athleticism and that has been built on by Members,
Olympic sport. The story of how this her commitment to inspire the next again, across the aisle over these past
happened begins with a native Hawai- months to get us to where we are
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generation of surfers, especially young
ian named Duke Kahanamoku. girls, and we celebrate the sport of today.
Duke was a natural athlete. He surfing finally getting the recognition I ask Members, as they are going
learned to swim at Waikiki Beach, and that it deserves. through the bill itself, the language
he went on to win five Olympic swim- Mr. President, I yield the floor. that we had hoped we would get a little
ming medals, including three golds. He I suggest the absence of a quorum. bit earlier for colleagues to go
was an innovator who pioneered some- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The through—but in fairness, we really
thing called the ‘‘Kahanamoku kick,’’ clerk will call the roll. needed to take the time to make sure
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S5540 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
that we had gotten it right. It really recognizing that what we are doing is schoolbuses but also to alternative fuel
does matter. So it did cause some delay allowing for greater safety, greater ac- ferries. Recognizing that we have some
that we wish we could have avoided, cess through our support for highways, opportunities, whether it is an EV
but we are where we are. for bridges, for things like culverts, for ferry that might run from Haines to
It is Monday afternoon, and what I pedestrian safety initiatives, I think Skagway or an alternative fuel, we
am hearing from colleagues is that we all want to do more in that area. want to be thinking forward into the
they want an opportunity to engage in Alaskans probably fly more than we future.
this process. Many in this body have drive. Our reality is some 80 percent of One of the pieces of this measure—
not been part of the working groups. our communities are not connected by this very significant infrastructure
Perhaps, they weren’t part of the com- road, and the geography, the expanse bill—that a lot of work has gone into is
mittees that had advanced some of that we deal with, is that we are just the water and wastewater title. This is
these pieces of legislation that we have not going to be connected that way. significant. This is significant. We saw,
incorporated. They want to be partici- But we don’t need to be connected that not too many years ago, the situation
pants, and rightly so. This is the time way when we can be connected by the in Flint, MI, with lead pipes. We have
to do just that. air and when we can be connected over been working to address many of those
I think it is everyone’s intention the water. And so this legislation is, issues for a period of time, and rightly
that we have a robust amendment again, very important to those who fly. so. We provide significant funding—
process moving forward. I am actually And when I talk about flying, you more than $180 million over 5 years—
looking forward to this. I have had the know, sometimes these are small bush for the water and wastewater projects
opportunity on this floor several times carriers, moving mail and groceries in Alaska through the Clean Water
now to be able to manage energy bills, and people to medical appointments. State Revolving Fund and the Drink-
natural resources bills, bills that have But the fact that we have $15 billion in ing Water State Revolving Fund pro-
been significant, bills on which we have formula funding for the FAA Airport grams. These are significant for us.
actually been able to have a pretty de- Improvement Program, this is going to In so many parts of the State, we are
cent amendment process. be key. This helps with everything either faced with unserved commu-
Sometimes, in fairness—sometimes— from runway lighting to navigation, nities, when it comes to water and
that amendment process caused things taxiway initiatives. These are ways wastewater, or vastly underserved. And
to derail for a period of time. We don’t that the 400 public airports in Alaska when I say unserved, we kind of know
want to do that in this instance, not at are going to be able to move out on a what it means in the broadband sense,
all. But it is not very often that we more efficient basis, if you will, some but let me explain to you what it
really do have a true and a meaningful of the necessary safety upgrades that means in the water and sewer place. It
amendment process. We are going to they have in front of them. And, again, means that you don’t have running
have an opportunity for that with the us, it is not just about the land-based water in your home; you don’t have a
budget resolution coming forward. But airports; we also have the sea-based toilet that flushes. You have a commu-
I think, for the most part, most of us areas that we worry about. We have nity well where people go, and they fill
know that there is a lot of messaging some 114 sea-based airports that we up their cherry jugs and haul it back.
that goes on. This is not about mes- refer to. It means that for sanitation, for using
saging. This is about delivering results So recognizing that not every airport the bathroom, the bathroom is effec-
for the American people. This is about is like a Dulles or a DCA here, what we tively a Home Depot bucket. If you are
creating jobs as we build out legacy in- are able to do for our small hub air- fancy, you have a toilet seat on it. But
frastructure that is needed around the ports, our nonhub airports, our nonpri- it is the responsibility of somebody in
country. mary airports—communities of all the family to haul that bucket out and
Highways. We all know—we all sizes, because, again, whether you are dump it.
know—that our highways are in need of in Bethel or Utqiagvik or wherever you I have shared pictures on the floor
help and support. The provisions that may be throughout the State, all sizes here of what that really means in a
we have included in this measure for are not the same here. So making sure community to have no water—no
roads and bridges will be significant as that we are able to accommodate that water, no sewer system. Thirty-two out
we attend to the many damaged is going to be important. of a hundred ninety rural Alaska vil-
bridges that we see around the country, I have mentioned that we are also lages are currently in this situation.
that really do present a threat to pub- connected on land, air, but also by sea, I received a voice mail, over the
lic safety. Let’s get on them. We know and for those of us who are in coastal weekend, from one of Alaska’s mayors
our highways, in so many areas, are in States—the Senator from Delaware has from a smaller community—on the
serious disrepair, and in certain areas, a coastline, has ferries—people move road system, though. And she shared
we need to be doing more to help build around by ferries. We rely on our Alas- with me—and I owe her a call back—
out that highway infrastructure to ka Marine Highway System. There are but she shared with me—she said: You
ease the congestion to allow for greater some 30, 35 different communities know, there are so many people in my
efficiency, to allow us, as Americans, where that really is their connector. community who don’t have running
to do more of the things that we want That is how the kids move the high water. And, again, this is a community
to do, whether it is to spend more time school basketball team. That is how that is on the road system between An-
with your family, be more productive the church groups move. That is how chorage and Fairbanks. And so how we
at your work, but let’s have an effi- you pick up the groceries at Costco in can help address what most would say
cient system. Juneau, and you put them on the ferry is pretty basic infrastructure, is pretty
We have a little over 14,000 miles of to go over to Angoon. It is how people basic healthcare needs when it comes
public roads in Alaska. I can tell you shop. It is how they—it is their road. It to water and sanitation, there is sig-
that, as we look to my State’s roads is the Alaska Marine Highway System, nificant funding in this measure for In-
and the condition and the shape that and so recognizing the support that we dian Health Service’s sanitation facili-
they are in, I know that we need in- can provide for our ferry systems, ties.
vestments in this space, but I also whether it is in Alaska or Delaware or I am the ranking member on the In-
know that it is not just about roads places in between, is, again, an impor- dian Affairs Committee. I have been on
and bridges. We also allow for things tant opportunity for us. this committee since I came to the
like replacements of culverts for the We recognize that as we provide sup- Senate 19 years ago. I have seen, over
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
community—actually, the community port for those technologies that will the years, the efforts that we have
that I was born in—in Ketchikan. I just allow us to move people more effi- made to try to address the water and
met with the community leaders, and ciently and more cleanly, there is a lot sanitation needs in Indian Country in
they shared with me that some of these of emphasis from this administration, Alaska with our Native villages. Our
culvert replacement projects are as particularly, with focus on EVs. Well, reality that we face is we are still in an
key and critical to them as anything in this measure, we not only have pro- extreme deficit when it comes to our
else that they have going on. And so visions as they relate to clean Tribal communities. The reality is that
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5541
we have left them behind when it And so the recognition that the you are—if you are flying in your ma-
comes to something like modern-day grants for the deployment—the terials, it is almost impossible to be
water and the wastewater systems. And broadband deployment—with minimum able to afford any of it.
so the unprecedented investment in allocation to each State are important, There is so much, again, when I
sanitation infrastructure is one that, I but also recognizing a focus on these think about ways that we help to build
think, is significant and incredibly im- high-cost areas for deployment. I am our communities, help build our econo-
portant because we are seeking to clear just saying, if you are looking for a mies, help create jobs through infra-
all the known project needs. high-cost area for deployment, look no structure.
Now, people will say that is aggres- further than Alaska. It is not some- And I spent a lot of time focused on
sive, but let me tell you, when you go thing that we are proud of; it is a re- energy initiatives, and I am pleased
to some of these communities and you ality. But part of the tragedy that we with the work that came out of the En-
hear the concerns from the people in see is that, in many communities, ergy Committee that is focused in
the village about how they are sup- broadband has arrived. The internet is these various areas that drive the level
posed to keep their families from con- there, but people can’t afford to use it. of innovation that we will need as we
tracting this virus, when this first sim- We have heard in the height of the are working to be more efficient, to
ple step is to wash your hands, and pandemic last year a reality that fami- have cleaner energy sources, and to
they say: Water is pretty precious lies could not—could not connect be- really be more competitive.
around here because we don’t have a cause the cost to do so was just prohib- We effectively took the Energy Act
sink to wash our hands in. And so the itive, which meant that children that we passed last—at the end of last
effort here to catch up—and I don’t weren’t gaining that full access to the Congress and we helped to build out
even like to use those words in that information. It meant that if you were many of the provisions that were con-
sense. We have to do right by our Na- trying to work from home, that you tained in that act, whether it is the ad-
tive people, and the effort here, I couldn’t do that. And so it is a reality vanced reactor demonstration project;
think, is key and critically important. that it is not just about access, but ac- more on hydropower and marine en-
Another area that I am pleased that cess has to mean some level of afford- ergy research; funding for geothermal,
working with the committee of juris- wind, solar energy; the energy storage
ability.
diction, led by Senator CARPER, that So the focus in this broadband piece, demonstration projects—so much,
there has been a focus on—and this is I think, is critically important as we again, that is focused on what do we
something that Ranking Member CAP- look to the provisions in the Middle need to do to really be not only for-
ITO has been keenly focused on, as Mile Infrastructure grants; as we look ward-leaning and innovative, but effi-
well—and this is the PFOS contamina- cient to allow for a more competitive
to the support, again, for Tribal
tion through our clean water and our role globally.
broadband, recognizing, again, that
drinking water programs. When you think about our Nation’s
this is an area that has been chron- grid infrastructure and resiliency, you
I also recognize that there is a focus ically underfunded in the past.
on small and disadvantaged commu- don’t need to close your eyes and imag-
There is so much that—when you
nities. I have one small community ine what can happen when your grid
think about how solid infrastructure
down in southeast Alaska, Gustavus. It fails.
allows you to have an economy. In An- Unfortunately, as we are seeing—as
is the community that is right next to chorage, we host what we call Alaska’s we are seeing, whether they are
the Glacier Bay National Monument port. And it is a significant port. Obvi- wildfires, whether we are seeing brown-
area, and the PFOS in their little com- ously the largest one in the State. But outs with the extreme heat, our reality
munity, near the airport area, is some- it is through the Port of Alaska that is that our grid infrastructure needs
thing that is a major and significant over 85 percent of the goods, the com- support. We need to have that resil-
concern for that tiny, small, little modities come into the State, and then iency that we all talk about. And,
community. So making sure that, they are distributed either by truck or again, I am going to stand up for the
again, these programs—the funding by rail, air, but they are moved out small grids, the smaller utilities who
that we are helping to advance—is from there. And we know what an eco- face the same pressures that you might
good, whether you are an urban area nomic driver that port is to not only have in an integrated grid back here, in
with 100-year-old pipes that need re- Anchorage, but to the State as well. fact, even maybe more so.
placement or you are a community But it is not just big ports; it is also If you are a small, stand-alone com-
that has lacked the original infrastruc- the smaller ports. We have got more munity, you are your own grid. You
ture in the first place, how we are able coastline than any State in the coun- need to have a level of resilience and
to ensure that the needs of our small try. the ability to make sure that people
communities are met as well is signifi- And, again, if you don’t have the are not literally freezing in the dark.
cant, and I think it is an important roads, how are you getting in? And so the effort that we have in-
part of this legislation. You are maybe flying in by small air- cluded with regards to our set-aside for
I mentioned broadband as being that plane, but more likely your materials small utilities, these are—these are
other connector. We connect by way of are barged up during the summer significant initiatives.
transportation systems. We get that. months. That is how you get the lum- I have mentioned resilience a couple
But, nowadays, if you are not con- ber. That is how you get the snow ma- different times. I think sometimes peo-
nected—if you are not connected by the chine or the four-wheeler to go out and ple think that that is a word that is
broadband availability, the ability to do your hunting. overused, but I will tell you, we can’t
communicate elsewhere—your econo- Our reality is that our ports have to be doing enough when it comes to resil-
mies are limited; you are limited. I work in every size community, and so ience.
mentioned the fact that so many of the knowing that there will be additional We have included in this measure a
communities in my State are not con- support for remote and subsistence provision that we entitled ‘‘Tribal Cli-
nected by a road and probably will not harbor construction is going to be so mate Resilience.’’ This is funding that
be in my lifetime. And they are not key—so key—to these small, small, lit- is included to really help with those
seeking that as an answer, but they do tle communities for whom, if they threatened communities. Many we see
want to be connected to the rest of the didn’t have this, they have got noth- in my State, but certainly I hear from
world. They want to know that for the ing. colleagues in other States who are see-
crafts that they are able to make at You can’t move fish out, you can’t
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
ing the same concerns as communities
home, they have the ability to, per- move fish in; you can’t move goods in, are more threatened due to—whether it
haps, sell them to a broader audience. you can’t move goods out. Everything, is erosion, as we are seeing in Alaska,
Maybe it is on your own little website, then, is flown in; and think about what or flooding, but support to assist with
selling to folks in the lower 48 or glob- that means if everything is flown in. It climate resilience, adaptation projects,
ally. But you can’t do that. You can’t is crazy, wicked expensive. And you are as well as community relocation.
do that if you don’t have the connec- talking about a—you are talking about I will wrap up by just a little bit
tion. a sheet of sheetrock, the fact is that if more commentary on the resilience
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S5542 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
piece. We are seeing in the West incred- have had an open mind and a view to- about the need to address our poor con-
ible drought right now. We are seeing wards not only recognizing how unique dition bridges, I remember that. And
the extent of these forest fires from Or- Alaska is, but recognizing the unique for the folks who had lost loved ones
egon going east. But I think it is im- needs of rural America. that day, they remember that too.
portant for colleagues to know that, So we have a compromise product in We have gone through some troubled
again, when we are taking about infra- front of us, and it is a significant prod- waters here in the Capitol and the Sen-
structure and resilience, we also are uct, and we are now at a place where ate and in the House and in our coun-
acknowledging natural resource-re- we want colleagues to join us in this try in recent months, weeks, years, and
lated infrastructure and what more we product, weigh in with your good ideas. there is still trouble. And it is great to
might be doing with wildfire manage- Let’s move some good amendments. have a bridge over troubled waters,
ment, ecosystem restoration. But I would suggest that the sooner we like you, to carry us through. And I
And so to make sure that there is start moving with these amendments, just want to thank you for your great
support for things like mechanical the better it will be for us and this work in so many different ways but
thinning, fuel breaks, other activities process here, but also for the American also with respect to the gang of 22 and
to reduce the risk of wildfire, whether public. keeping people on track. You make
it is on our Forest Service lands or any I yield the floor. your family proud, and I think all of us
of our public lands, but also the con- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- proud, so thank you. Thank you.
cerns, then, when the fire knows no ator from Delaware. I have been joined by a fellow from
boundary as to whose lands they are. Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, while Louisiana, and I understand we are
Certainly in Alaska we saw the ben- the Senator from Alaska is still here, I also going to be joined shortly by the
efit of fuel breaks as they were imple- have been sitting here listening to a fellow from Ohio, Senator PORTMAN,
mented on the Kenai. We had a pretty tour de force. God, what a wonderful, who is going to come to the floor any
significant fire several years back, the wonderful speech and clearly from the minute, I think, to give his remarks.
Funny River Fire, and we saw full well heart. And I don’t know if the gentleman
what that fuel break really did to help The Presiding Officer and I are recov- from Louisiana is here to speak shortly
protect property and life. ering Governors, and the Senator’s fa- or not, but we look forward to what-
The bill also includes precommercial ther was a recovering Governor at one ever he has to say.
thinning, which, again, is important in time; and, actually, one of the smart- We are now joined by the Senator
a host of different areas, not the least est things he ever did, he appointed his from Ohio, successor to George Voino-
of which in my State on the Tongass. daughter to serve—when there was a vich, who was both a Senator and a
But I think we do a good job to make vacancy in the Senate, he appointed Governor. I had a great conversation
sure that when we are talking about Lisa to serve at that vacancy. with him in Ohio last week, and I am
infrastructure, we are recognizing the And 2 years later, Tony Mills, who very grateful to him for his extraor-
core infrastructure of—whether it is was Governor of Alaska, ran against dinary leadership through these trou-
legacy projects, like roads, rails, her. Tony is one of my closest friends. bled waters, and there will be another
bridges, but also recognizing that in- We were Governors together for 6 one of those bridges over troubled
frastructure has impact to our lands years, and I said: Oh, my God, this is a waters.
and how we ensure that there is greater hard choice. I am happy to yield the floor to Sen-
resilience, again, greater protections, And it was a hard choice for the folks ator PORTMAN.
and ensuring that it is addressed per- from Alaska to make as well. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms.
haps more broadly. And Lisa was elected to the Senate HIRONO). The Senator from Ohio.
So there is much good in this bill. and served with distinction. And when Mr. PORTMAN. Chairman CARPER,
There is not everything that I would she ran for reelection as a Republican, thank you. Thank you for managing
have wanted, most certainly. There are I think, was defeated in a primary, and this important legislation and all the
a lot of things in it that, in fairness, I then turned around and ran a write-in work you have put into it.
wish weren’t in it. There are some campaign that I will never forget. I am You know, I asked my team today:
pieces that I look at and I say ‘‘way sure she won’t either. Can you give me a sense of how much
over the top,’’ but I have to acknowl- And in a write-in campaign, in one of of this underlying legislation we are
edge I come from a State where infra- the cleverest political maneuvers I talking about on the floor this week
structure is just a little bit different. have ever seen—MURKOWSKI is not an that was already written? In other
We don’t have a big public transit easy name to write in. Not everybody words, what did Senator CAPITO, Sen-
system, so I look at the transit dollars, in Alaska, even though a famous name, ator CARPER, and others on the EPW
and my immediate jump is: Way too knew how to write ‘‘Murkowski.’’ Committee, as an example, already
much. Don’t need this. My recollection is the Murkowski write with regard to this surface trans-
But I recognize that in a collabo- campaign folks were smart enough to portation bill that we are simply pick-
rative process, in a negotiated process, distribute fliers and messages through- ing up in this legislation and moving
you have got to hear the views back out the State that had a picture of—a forward to be sure it gets reauthorized,
and forth of all of your colleagues, and drawing—a cartoon of a cow on skis, certainly before September 30, and we
you take some things and you leave with a bubble coming out of the cow’s hope far before that. And about half of
some things behind in a give-and-take mouth with the word ‘‘Mur’’—‘‘Mur the pages of the bill is language that
process. cow ski.’’ Then she won, rather hand- was written through the committee
And so just as my colleagues have ily, her write-in race and still is with process here. Now, some may be happy
listened to me convey the urgency of us today. to hear that, and some may be unhappy
need for more support for the Tribal We talked a lot here today about to hear that, but that is the truth.
programs when it comes to infrastruc- bridges. When I was in college, I was And, frankly, it made our job easier be-
ture, whether it is on water and sanita- actually a Navy midshipman, and I was cause a lot of the hard work was done.
tion or broadband, they heard the ur- driving down to Florida to visit my In the case of the legislation that
gency there; whether it was recog- parents and close friend, and we drove Senators CARPER and CAPITO shep-
nizing that not all infrastructure across a bridge across the Ohio River. I herded through their committee with
projects are big in terms of their size, want to say—actually, I think the date regard to our highways and bridges, it
but they are big for that small commu- was 1967. December 15, 1967, we were on was a 20-to-nothing vote, as I recall,
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
nity; to know that the fishing commu- our way to my parents in Florida, and out of committee, unanimous. So we
nity of Craig is going to be able to the next day the bridge that we had thought it was appropriate for us not
build out that little harbor there. gone across collapsed into the Ohio to tell them how to do their job but to
And so I have asked my colleagues to River between Point Pleasant, WV, and help them by picking up that legisla-
listen to the concerns of a very rural Conagua, OH, and 46 people were killed. tion, and as they have improved that
State like Alaska, a State where our Forty-six people were killed. I will legislation, their underlying authoriza-
infrastructure is very unique, and they never forget that. Whenever we talk tion legislation, and ensure that it is
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5543
included in the package. And I appre- mom who is looking at her commute how it makes the economy more effi-
ciate Senator CARPER and Senator CAP- every day and saying, ‘‘Why do I get cient and therefore more productive
ITO working with us on that even over stuck in traffic at rush hour both ways and therefore you have more tax rev-
the past few weeks. So, yes, we have and have to spend all this time in the enue generated. They get that. We have
added more on top of it because we be- car when I could be spending it with allowed our infrastructure to get to the
lieve our Nation needs a shot in the my kids,’’ wouldn’t it be great to im- point where we are not competitive as
arm. We have enormous infrastructure prove those highways and those bridges a country with so many others, not
needs. But without Senator CAPITO and to be able to reduce the amount of time just developed countries either.
Senator CARPER’s involvement, 20 to that someone is stuck in a car? So this We have cut back funding over the
nothing out of committee, we wouldn’t is about helping our country at a time years, and so it is probably no wonder
be where we are today, and that is the when we need it. this has happened. The Aspen Eco-
foundation upon which this was built. There is probably no better example nomic Strategy Group calculated that
So, again, I know that is not under- of that than broadband because think as of 2017, our total spending on infra-
stood by everybody, but that is a fact. about the child in Appalachian Ohio structure across the public and private
And our Nation’s infrastructure does who has no Wi-Fi service—like none. I sectors hit its lowest point since at
need the help. And this legislation, the am not talking about slow Wi-Fi; I am least 1947. So relatively speaking, we
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs talking about no Wi-Fi. I look at my have less expenditures on infrastruc-
Act before us right now, is an unprece- colleague from West Virginia and ture, and this lack of investment has
dented investment. It is historic, but it think of all the counties in West Vir- real impact. Historian Henry Petroski
is that because a historic investment is ginia that are in the same shape that estimates that the delays caused by
needed. It is important to note that we they are in Eastern Ohio. We are ex- traffic congestion alone cost our econ-
did so without raising taxes on the panding broadband in an unprecedented omy more than $120 billion every year.
American people or causing further in- way. The deployment of broadband into So I talked about the mom who is
flation in an already overheated econ- the rural community but also access in commuting and not being able to spend
omy. I heard some of my colleagues on the more suburban and urban commu- more time with her kids because she is
my side say: Gosh, I want to support nities, that is really important because sitting in her car—$120 billion a year is
you, but I am worried about the spend- that child now can be able to do the the economic impact. That is impor-
ing and its impact on inflation. Well, schoolwork at home. And during the tant, too. One 2017 study by the Amer-
this is what the economists would call pandemic, of course, this has been a ican Society of Civil Engineers esti-
supply-side spending. This is long-term huge issue, but it is an issue every day. mated there was a total infrastructure
spending for capital assets that may Rather than having to drive with her gap of more than $2 trillion that we
last 40, 50, 70 years. Think of a bridge mom to the local library, which some need to address by 2025; otherwise, we
or think of another infrastructure girl might have to do in Appalachia to could lose nearly $4 trillion in GDP,
project like a big water infrastructure find a Wi-Fi signal, she can actually economic growth, that we otherwise
project. So it is a different kind of get it at home because of this deploy- would have produced as a country.
spending. It is not going to be spent ment we have provided here, which is Now, those are big numbers. Those
over the next year. In fact, very little, unprecedented. are big numbers. These are the engi-
if any, will be spent in the next year, So all of this is in this. It is all part neers who say we have a gap of $2 tril-
but it will be spent over time—over 5, of it. It is important. lion we need to address by 2025. Ours is
10 years for these kinds of projects. The American Society of Civil Engi- $550 billion over the next 5 years—his-
That is the kind of money that goes neers has given our Nation a report toric levels. Some would say it may
into building infrastructure and build- card every year. Our report card right not be enough. I think it is. And you
ing jobs. Therefore, again, on the sup- now is a C-minus. We get a C-minus. will hear a lot about this, this week,
ply side rather than the demand side of Now, I did get a couple C’s in high all the different places where the infra-
the economy, as economists would say, school and college, so I don’t think C’s structure investments are made. But
it is not stimulating the economy in are always terrible, but I don’t want others would say we need to do even
that way; it is growing the economy our infrastructure to get a C, much less more. You can see that there is a need
long term. a C-minus. for renewed infrastructure.
Most economists who have looked at They estimate that somewhere in Let me give you a really specific ex-
this, including economists like Doug America there is a water break every 2 ample, and it is one reason I am inter-
Holtz-Eakin, who used to be here at minutes. Water infrastructure is part ested in this project, honestly. For,
CBO, or an economist like Michael of this. They also estimate that 43 per- gosh, 25 years now, we have been talk-
Strain at the American Enterprise In- cent of our public roads are in poor or ing about fixing our bridge in Cin-
stitute or the Penn work-study at the mediocre condition. This hasn’t im- cinnati, OH. It is called the Brent
University of Pennsylvania. They all proved in years. Spence Bridge. It is where I–75 and I–71
say the same thing, which is that this We are now listed 13th in the world come together, so think about all the
is actually counterinflationary kind of for infrastructure in the most recent commercial traffic. Actually, 3 percent
spending. That is important. rankings by the World Economic of the Nation’s commerce goes over
I will say that this is needed because Forum. They, every year, look at all this one bridge every year. It is a huge
we are falling behind as a country, and these countries around the world and economic issue for us in Greater Cin-
every State has its own needs here. I say, where do you rank? The United cinnati. There is congestion there
will tell you what my needs are in the States is right up there. I think Singa- every day. It is a bottleneck. The
State of Ohio, which is that we make a pore and the United States are some of bridge is busy. In fact, it is carrying
lot of stuff. So our factory workers who the most competitive countries in the twice the number of cars that it was
make tanks and cars and washing ma- world, in terms of all the analysis they built to carry already.
chines, we want to be sure that our in- do, but not on infrastructure. On infra- There are no shoulders anymore on it
frastructure works to be able to get structure, it drags us down because, because they tried to expand the lanes
that to market. Sometimes that mar- frankly, we haven’t invested as other as much as they can. We recently had
ket is the United States, and some- countries have. two trucks crash there partly because
times it is overseas. Therefore, our The number out there that people use there is no shoulder, and the safety
is that China spends four times more problems are huge on that bridge. It
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
ports are important but so is our rail
and so are our highways. Our farmers— than we do as a percent of their econ- took the bridge out for a couple
we have got a lot of farmers in Ohio omy on infrastructure. I think it is ac- months—a huge economic impact, huge
who plant crops. We want to make sure tually higher than that from the num- economic impact. This bridge, again,
that those crops can get to the ele- bers I have seen. But let’s say it is four for 25 years, people have said: We have
vators so that the grain can get out. times more. China gets it. They know got to replace this bridge. It is not
We have a lot of people in Ohio who infrastructure is important for eco- safe. It is not big enough. It doesn’t
live in cities and commute. And so the nomic growth. I talked earlier about connect 71 and 75 in the way that it
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S5544 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
should for our commercial activities. It ing the American people, more impor- and that is an important point my col-
is a bridge that has been deemed by the tantly, the infrastructure that they leagues should not miss.
U.S. Department of Transportation as want. And it is a good investment. One The President has said that the $3.5
‘‘functionally obsolete.’’ That sounds 2014 University of Maryland study trillion package, the so-called rec-
pretty dramatic—‘‘functionally obso- found that each dollar spent on infra- onciliation package, will not include
lete.’’ Unfortunately, again, these acci- structure can generate a return of as more core infrastructure funding. In
dents continue to happen because it is much as $3 to the U.S. economy—$1 in, other words, the President has said: I
not safe. You have got 160,000 vehicles $3 out. It is smart spending if done cor- propose $2.65 trillion. The bipartisan
on it rather than the 80,000 per day it rectly. That explains again why Presi- group pulled out core infrastructure
was designed to accommodate. It needs dent Trump put forward the $1.5 tril- and said it is going to be $550 billion. I
to be fixed, but it is really expensive, lion package, why President Biden put am now not going to put the additional
and the local community and the State together a package, and why Demo- amount I wanted into reconciliation.
just simply can’t do it alone. crats and Republicans alike up here on Simply put, Republicans and Demo-
There are critical pieces of infra- Capitol Hill talked about infrastruc- crats alike, coming together to focus
structure like the Brent Spence Bridge ture for years. on the core part of this, without taxes,
in States all over our country, from American workers need infrastruc- have ensured that the ‘‘lot more’’ is
roads to railroads, to ports, to ture. They don’t need new taxes. That not going to be spent both on core in-
broadband networks that all need up- is why, in this proposal, again, we say: frastructure and on so-called social in-
grades to stay competitive in this glob- Let’s take the taxes out. Let’s pull the frastructure with huge tax increases in
al economy. It is no surprise, then, core infrastructure out so it is more fo- another package. So this is the best
that infrastructure is an area where cused on what is really needed, and thing for the American economy by
the American people really do want ac- far, to have a bipartisan proposal.
let’s do it on a bipartisan basis. That is
tion. They get it on this one. They The President has said that we are
what we do in this proposal.
want us to come together as Repub- The pro-growth policies put in place not going to double-dip. In other words,
licans and Democrats and fix this prob- infrastructure won’t be in the next
by Congress through the Tax Cuts and
lem. package. He said that privately, he said
There was a recent poll by CNBC say- Jobs Act of 2017 was very good for our
economy in every respect. Wages went that publicly, and I believe he will
ing 87 percent of Americans think it is keep his word on that. Certainly, those
important we invest in improving our up, lowest poverty rate since we start-
ed keeping track of it back in the 1950s. of us who were involved in this will en-
crumbling roads and bridges. There was sure that that is not part of the agree-
another poll that came out a couple It had a lot of very good things. Unem-
ployment was at historic lows for ment that is violated.
months later, a very recent poll, say- So we are seeing these studies come
ing—again, this is a CBS poll—87 per- many groups, including Blacks and
out that show that this is the right ap-
cent of Americans support more Fed- Hispanics. It was an overall 15-year low
proach for the economy. We talked
eral spending on repairing roads and in unemployment.
about the University of Pennsylvania
bridges. Two polls, 2 months apart, We have to be sure that we are not
Wharton School of business proposal
same number, 87 percent. Eighty-seven raising taxes now because we went into
that says our proposal will actually in-
percent of the American people don’t this pandemic with a strong economy,
crease the economy, raise wages for
agree on anything, but they do agree and we have to come out of it with a
workers, and actually lower our na-
on this, which is let’s fix our infra- strong economy. But infrastructure is
tional debt over the longer term.
structure. Let’s do what Presidents in something that we should do without
Again, because of this feedback loop we
modern times have all said we ought to raising taxes.
talked about earlier, it makes the
do: President Bush, President Obama, There was a lot of discussion, after
economy more efficient, more produc-
President Trump, President Biden. President Biden talked about infra-
tive, grows the economy, and more rev-
President Trump had a proposal for $1.5 structure, as to whether it could be
enue will be coming into the economy,
trillion. Ours is $550 billion. President partisan or bipartisan. There were
and, again, we do so without raising
Trump is a developer, a builder, and he some people saying: Let’s put it in
taxes.
understood the need for infrastructure what is call reconciliation, where you A Democratic economist, Larry Sum-
investment, but, frankly, Congress don’t need a single Republican vote. I mers, and many on the Republican side
didn’t work with him to get that done. applaud President Biden and Repub- of the aisle have been warning for
There were also issues about how that licans and Democrats in this Chamber months about inflation. Again, as I
was to be paid for. But I commend for saying: You know what, this is one said earlier, this is counterinfla-
President Trump for raising that issue. where we ought to be able to get to- tionary.
He ought to be given some credit be- gether. If you can’t get together on a The bottom line is that the Infra-
cause we might not be talking about it. bipartisan basis on infrastructure, structure Investment and Jobs Act will
At the end, he continued to say we where can you? provide a historic investment in hard
That is why we were able to figure infrastructure, with input from a bi-
need to invest big time in infrastruc-
out a way—again, without raising partisan group of Senators, while
ture.
Then President Biden, in his cam- taxes and focusing on core infrastruc- avoiding the tax hikes and the reckless
paign, said the same thing, and when ture—to ensure that the critical infra- spending proposed by the Biden admin-
he took office, he said the same thing: structure we rely on every day—our istration.
We need to do an infrastructure plan. roads, our bridges, our railways, our Importantly, for the sake of future
His original plan wasn’t one that Re- electrical grids, our water supplies, our bipartisan hearings here in Congress,
publicans could support because it had broadband and more—will get fixed. this is an infrastructure plan that al-
huge tax increases in it and it had a lot Again, 87 percent of the American peo- lows us to avoid the repeat of the
of infrastructure that wasn’t core in- ple are looking for us to do that. It is COVID–19 $1.9 trillion spending bill
frastructure. That is why we came to- no wonder. Go home and talk to the that passed under the partisan process
gether as a bipartisan group. people you represent in your State, and called reconciliation. It demonstrates
Senator CAPITO is here. She worked they will tell you this is one where we to the American people that, in fact,
with the White House on this to try to can come together. We need to deal we can figure out how to work together
come up with a way to move forward, with the infrastructure challenges we to get big things done. President Biden
face and the digital divide that is out
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
and, again, that helped create the foun- said he wanted to work in a bipartisan
dation for what we have done here. there. way. Well, this is a great example of it.
But the point is, Republicans and What this does not include is a grab It is a genuine effort on behalf of Re-
Democrats alike over the years have bag of social spending priorities that publicans and Democrats to find com-
said the same thing, which is, it is the Democrats want to include in the mon ground and move our country for-
time; let’s fix this infrastructure. other bill they are talking about, ward.
Finally, we are giving infrastructure which is the $3.5 trillion spending pro- I am committed to working with my
the help it needs and deserves and giv- posal they unveiled earlier this month, colleagues here in the Senate to see
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5545
this legislation through to the end. We obvious, however. For example, when the High Commissioner for Human
have come a long way, and I believe we the novel coronavirus sent us into Rights sent the names of activists crit-
are close to achieving a historic vic- lockdown, we were finally able to draw ical of the Chinese Communist Party
tory for the American people. I encour- attention to how much control Beijing straight to Beijing.
age all of my colleagues to join us in has over healthcare in America. They And last year, we watched the World
supporting this Infrastructure Invest- have a stranglehold on our supply Health Organization praise Beijing for
ment and Jobs Act so that we can truly chains for active pharmaceutical ingre- lying to the world about the severity of
make an important bipartisan invest- dients and medical supplies. the disease that would eventually
ment in the next generations of Ameri- I introduced the SAM-C Act last year cause a deadly global pandemic.
cans. with Senator MENENDEZ. That legisla- We are in damage control mode. By
I yield the floor. tion would protect those supply chains the end of 2021, the U.N. will hold nine
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- and bring production back to the elections for heads of specialized agen-
ator from Tennessee. United States. This threat didn’t spon- cies and five for major funds or pro-
CHINA taneously evolve; it is the result of 100 grams. We control exactly none of
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Presi- seemingly small vulnerabilities that these positions.
dent, I am really on the record oppos- our adversaries in Beijing had found a Our task is twofold. First, we must
ing President Biden’s decision to way to exploit. How did it happen? fill these voids. We don’t have a choice.
abruptly withdraw troops from Afghan- Well, it has a lot to do with their slow But we must also inject accountability
istan, and I oppose it for the same rea- takeover of international organiza- by holding ourselves accountable for
sons many of the world’s most re- tions—namely, the United Nations. the integrity of our own relations with
spected military officials oppose it. Since 1971, the Chinese Communist the U.N. and foreign countries.
We knew our allies would suffer. The Party has exploited hopes that mem- Last week, I introduced the U.N.
Taliban have burned their way through bership in the U.N. would force them to Transparency and Accountability Act,
Afghanistan and staked a claim on behave like a normal country, but the which will strengthen America’s influ-
much of the territory that we have now reality of the situation is that Chinese ence as a key U.N. member nation and
abandoned. We created a void, and the diplomats control 4 out of 15 special- expose the threat adversarial countries
Taliban walked right on in. ized U.N. agencies and many other sub- pose to international organizations.
Last week, we watched as another of sidiary offices. Even more importantly, My colleague, Congressman MICHAEL
our adversaries planted their own flag the CCP is flooding the U.N. with lower MCCAUL, from Texas has companion
in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, the level staff, which means they have legislation ready to go in the House,
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs strength in numbers that we do not and there is no sane reason why we
tweeted this picture from a meeting be- have. They have seized far too much shouldn’t see these bills come up for a
tween Chinese Communist Party offi- power for comfort. vote sooner rather than later.
cials and the Taliban. That is correct, Since 2007, Chinese diplomats have We are going to find out exactly who
Wednesday of last week. They even led the U.N. Department of Economic these bad actors are. We are going to
went so far as to say they are hopeful and Social Affairs, which means they flood the U.N. with Americans to stop
that the Taliban will embrace a peace- have also controlled the direction of them. And we are going to account for
ful and more inclusive approach to gov- the U.N.’s development programs. every single penny we contribute to
ernment. By 2015, they had gained enough in- U.N. projects. And then we are going to
It was a nice piece of performance art fluence to make development synony- make the reports on all that spending
from a government recently accused of mous with Belt and Road Initiative available to the American taxpayer
genocide. But this is what the CCP projects, which, as we all know, are who is footing the bill. No more hiding.
does best—fill the void, throw up a dip- debt trap schemes for Beijing’s The bottom line is that we can’t win
lomatic facade, and seize as much leveraging against struggling nations. this war without brute force. There is
power as they possibly can seize as This is a debt trap scheme. no weapon that can neatly cut the
quickly as they can do it. In 2014, China placed a diplomat at strings Beijing is pulling. Ceding free-
Back home in Tennessee, we have felt the top of the International Tele- dom has consequences. The ripple ef-
the ripple effects of Beijing’s creeping communication Union. Since then, the fect created in Geneva and Brussels
dominance. You know, when most peo- ITU has more or less been Beijing’s and New York and Washington can and
ple think of a foreign threat, they mouthpiece. They promote Chinese will destroy the lives of people half a
think of an army or a spy ring, but companies, Chinese telecom standards, world away.
what we need to understand is that and, of course, support Beijing’s at- As effective as diplomacy can be, we
these threats are much more subtle. If tempts to monopolize communications are alone in this one. We are respon-
you don’t know what you are looking infrastructure in countries stuck in sible for safeguarding our freedom.
for, you will end up missing it. debt traps. It is all connected. As President Reagan once said, Free-
Back in the midnineties, when I was Since their admission to the U.N., dom is always one generation away
the executive director for the Ten- the CCP has practically achieved im- from extinction. ‘‘It has to be fought
nessee Film, Entertainment and Music munity from accountability for human for and defended by each generation.’’
Commission, we were already fighting rights violations. The NGO China has There is no kicking the can down the
a losing battle against Chinese intel- used for years to whitewash their bar- road. Once it is gone, it is gone. There
lectual property theft. Now, this might baric treatment of Tibetans is now a is no better voice for human rights
not seem like a matter of national se- U.N.-accredited organization. than the United States. And if we do
curity, but for the songwriters and pro- In 2018, when the United States with- not speak up, we give every other na-
ducers and creators who fell victim to drew from UNESCO, who was waiting tion on the planet an excuse to stay si-
it, it was a matter of economic secu- in the wings to become the largest fi- lent also.
rity. This theft made them vulnerable. nancial contributor to global edu- No one will come to our rescue if our
It made multiple industries vulnerable cation? You are right. It was China. supply chains are compromised. No one
in our State, including the auto indus- They have used their stranglehold on will come to the rescue of Tennessee
try, auto parts, aviation, water sports. the Department of Economic and So- innovators and companies if their sup-
They all started to feel the effects of a cial Affairs to officially silence the ply lines are compromised by the Com-
dishonest Chinese Communist Party, Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang. They used munist Chinese. And no one else is
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
and therefore, it made our country’s their status as members of the Human going to make sure our children and
economy vulnerable. The same goes for Rights Council as cover for horrendous grandchildren don’t fall into one of
those playing whack-a-mole with the human rights violations in Tibet, Inner Beijing’s debt traps.
pirates and counterfeiters selling sto- Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and on Perhaps we should keep that in mind
len or outright fake merchandise. the Mainland. this week as we take up all 2,700-plus
It is a serious vulnerability. Some- In 2019, we confirmed whistleblower pages of the infrastructure package. If
times those vulnerabilities are more testimony that revealed the Office of ever there was a time for restraint,
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S5546 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
this is it. The threat is staring us in As one report notes, in New York men and women who wear the badge.
the face, and I fear that my Demo- City, murders have increased 47 per- These radical leftists are opposing the
cratic colleagues are missing the cent since 2020. Tickets and routine ar- very idea of enforcing the law. The
threat. rests dropped by 90 percent, but re- prosecutor’s job is to enforce the laws
I yield the floor. quests for police intervention went up that are written, not rewrite the laws
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- by 50 percent. But the police won’t go. on the books. But these DAs are choos-
ator from Alabama. They are not wanted. ing to follow the law as they see fit.
LAW ENFORCEMENT Murders in Los Angeles this year are They know better than anybody else,
Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam Presi- up 22 percent, and shootings are up 59 ignoring what the people’s representa-
dent, when I go back to my hometown percent. But arrests in Los Angeles tives have passed.
of Alabama, I usually ask the people: have dropped 37 percent since 2020, and In San Francisco, District Attorney
What is the most important to you? are down even more this year. Chesa Boudin said his office wouldn’t
Every day, what is the most important In Chicago, murders were up 33 per- prosecute theft under $950. The result
to you? cent this year. Last weekend alone, 12 has been people robbing stores in broad
And, usually, there is a consensus of people were killed and 63 more were daylight. We have all seen it on TV,
three things: a good job, schools for shot—the latest in a string of deadly going in the store, just grabbing all
their kids, and safe neighborhoods for weekends this summer. And you can get and not running out the
their families. That is always what carjackings in this city have tripled in door, but walking out the door. If the
they talk about. the last year. cops are called, they don’t show up.
You know, the fulfillment of these Why would you buy a car in Chicago? They know they are not going to do
basic aspirations is a foundation of a It is going to get stolen. It makes no anything about these.
quality of life, the foundation of the sense. But probably the worst of all is in
American dream. In Minneapolis, where cries to defund
Boston. Rachael Rollins, elected DA in
In my relatively short time up here, the police are loudest, murders are up
Boston in 2018, released a list of crimes
I have noticed people in this building 69 percent. It turns out that when pro-
that her office would, by default, move
often lose sight of those three basic testers, activists, mainstream media,
to dismiss when they came to court; we
items. We waste time bickering over and elected officials told cops they are
are not going to prosecute these: tres-
things that, at the end of the day, don’t not wanted, it is not just the officers
passing; shoplifting; theft under $250;
much matter in the grand scheme of who heard them; criminals also were
things. We engage in bitter partisan disorderly conduct; drug possession
listening. And the American people are
commentary, all in the hopes of scor- with intent to distribute; malicious de-
paying the price.
ing political points. Also, the defund rhetoric from the struction of property; breaking and en-
Folks back home can’t relate to this left is having a severely negative effect tering, so long as the defender was try-
because they don’t have the luxury to on police morale—an ‘‘all-time low,’’ ing to sleep or escape the cold; resist-
waste time on cheap talk. some officers say. According to an NBC ing arrest.
We are witnessing a nationwide surge And that is not even the entire list.
survey of 200 police departments, offi-
in crime as we speak. In the last year, What do they need a DA for?
cer retirements are up 45 percent and
homicides have risen upwards of 30 per- So if a violent felon could steal $200
resignations are up 18 percent this
cent—this is unprecedented—and dou- worth of goods, have large amounts of
year.
bled the largest previous increase of 13 Why would anybody get up and put a drugs, break into someone’s home, re-
percent since 1968. uniform on in the morning with a sist arrest—and the DA’s office would
There is always more than one factor badge on their chest and a gun on their not even bother to prosecute these
to consider when analyzing crime side and go to work in this climate of crimes. Makes a lot of sense to me.
trends, but the effect of some Demo- If all of that sounds crazy to you, you
crime?
crats’ anti-police rhetoric has been per- We have to take our hat off to the are right. But these are the actual poli-
fectly clear. Just take a look at what men and women who are actually doing cies and the real-world effects.
is happening across our country as we this and doing the best job they can. And now Rollins, this same district
speak. Some police chiefs have had enough. attorney in Boston, who decided she is
For the last year, we have heard The Chicago police superintendent said just going to take a vacation than
some Democrats at every level talk their court system continued to release being a district attorney and not try to
about wanting to defund the police, the violent criminals in their jails, convict anybody, this Ms. Rollins has
take money away from them; we have ‘‘making us all less safe.’’ been appointed by President Biden to
too many of them. In many cities they The District of Columbia Police, be the U.S. Attorney for Massachu-
control, Democrats succeeded in reduc- right here in our hometown, said: ‘‘[We setts. He is giving the person who de-
ing policy budgets. They have been cannot continue to] coddle violent criminalized resisting arrest and all
very successful. They have told police criminals.’’ these other laws a promotion. That is
to stop doing their jobs, to stop enforc- Amen. But the ugly truth is there is from our President. I wonder what Fed-
ing certain laws. a deliberate attempt to coddle these eral crimes she will decide aren’t worth
I have heard Democrats say that they violent criminals, and it is bankrolled processing.
want to replace cops with social work- by the most radical fringe in the Demo- There is surely somebody in Boston
ers. You know, while I understand the cratic Party. who can do the job.
well-intentioned desire to address the District attorneys are the local pub- Yet President Biden is the only one
root cause of crime, instead of just fo- lic officials who determine whether and saying Republicans are lying. He said
cusing on the fallout, leaving our po- how the government will prosecute that just a couple of weeks ago about
lice underfunded and ill-equipped is not criminals, from petty theft to violent Democrats wanting to defund the po-
the solution. crime—district attorneys. There has lice. He said it is Republicans.
If someone is attempting to break been a big movement to elect ultra- I will tell you what is also not help-
into my house, I am not calling a so- radical liberal district attorneys in big ing to make our neighborhoods safer:
cial worker to come perform an evalua- cities across the country. They have the growing crisis at our southern bor-
tion and to develop a treatment for the succeeded in Philadelphia, San Fran- der—absolute shame. And the Biden ad-
assailant. I am not doing that. cisco, Boston, and just right across the ministration completely, completely
Too often, we have seen elected offi- lacks the urgency to fix it, and it is
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river in Fairfax County, VA.
cials take the side of radicals burning These rogue prosecutors—and they getting worse every day. I guess no-
property, looting small businesses, are rogue—are refusing to prosecute all body cares.
over the men and women who wear the sorts of crimes, like theft, disorderly We have already surpassed 1 million
badge and have sworn to serve and pro- conduct, and trespassing. illegal immigrants since President
tect our communities. And now we are Well, what is their job? Biden was inaugurated. And remember,
seeing the consequences all across the It is to prosecute. But not these pros- this data is looking at the illegal im-
country. ecutors. This isn’t just opposing the migrants and the drugs that Customs
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5547
and Border Protection catches. We tration won’t enforce the law, let’s give airports, ports, and waterways. We can
don’t know how many have slipped by local and State law enforcement the talk about some of the specifics, and I
or how many pounds of dope have opportunity to do it. am going to do that.
slipped by. We just know the ones that Folks, wanting safe communities is But first I want to applaud the ef-
we have caught. something every American wants and forts that we have made to move for-
President Biden is only making mat- deserves. We elect public officials. We ward in new directions. This bill, for
ters worse, folks. As our colleagues on pay taxes and trust our governments to the first time, in a major reauthoriza-
the Homeland Security and Govern- ensure safety for the greatest number tion of our surface transportation, ac-
ment Affairs Committee found, the of people possible. knowledges the realities of climate
Biden administration is spending $2 bil- It is pretty much impossible to have change. We know what is happening in
lion to not build a wall. We are paying good jobs and good schools if you don’t our communities. The increasing
$2 billion. Taxpayers in this country have safe neighborhoods, and it doesn’t amount of flooding, droughts, wildfires,
are paying $2 billion to not build a take a rocket scientist to see that. If and extreme weather events are fright-
wall. That is right. That is $3 million, the people don’t feel safe, their govern- ening to all of us.
every day, of your taxpayer money ment and we as government officials In my State of Maryland, I can point
wasted just to not build something have failed to perform its most basic to one community, Ellicott City, which
that would help fix this crisis. function. Failure of this is not an op- has seen two 100-year floods in less
The bare minimum we should expect tion. than 24 months. The situation is dire,
to happen at the border would be to So to reverse this rise in crime, let’s and we need to act on it.
make sure illegal immigrants we do ap- support the very people who have put The legislation before us provides $18
prehend have a court date so a judge their lives on the line every day. I cer- billion in reducing carbon emissions
can review their asylum claim. I mean, tainly do, and I encourage the Presi- and strengthening resilience and build-
that is common sense. But, according dent and Members of this body to sup- ing electric charging stations and al-
to a recent report, 50,000 illegal immi- port every member of our law enforce- ternative fuel infrastructure. That is
grants have been released into the ment. what we need to do, and I am pleased
United States in the last few months Madam President, I yield the floor. that the legislation addresses those
without a court date. Yet only 13 per- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- issues.
ator from Maryland. In a second area, I was pleased that
cent of those have bothered to show
H.R. 3684
this bill has a significant increase in
back up—13 percent. We are going to
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I the transportation alternative pro-
trust them to come over here and just
grams that I authored. This increased
do it on their own. That is not going to rise in support of the legislation that is
funding will make it easier for our
happen. before us, the bipartisan infrastructure
local governments to move forward on
At best, this hurts those who come package. I applaud all of those who
projects that are important to their
into this country actually looking to have worked so hard so that we could
priorities. We are talking about better
plead their asylum case. Congress have this legislation before us.
sidewalks and bike paths and dealing
needs to pass my bill, S. 1007, that It is desperately needed when we look
with safety.
would require the DHS to provide a no- at the status of our infrastructure
We are seeing an alarming increase
tice to appear before releasing the ille- today, the aged systems that we have in fatalities on our highways and roads
gal immigrants into our country. It across our Nation. In Maryland, we and community roads. The TAP pro-
just makes common sense. But, as we have some infrastructure that dates gram will allow us to deal with those
have seen, too many folks in charge back over a century and a half ago. issues. We all need to be able to get
don’t have any common sense when it We need a generational investment around our community without using
comes to enforcing the law. to modernize our infrastructure, and our cars, and the TAP program makes
Everybody can see violent crime ris- the legislation before us does exactly this a priority so we can enjoy our
ing in big cities. They can see the that. It will make the United States communities and we have local deci-
Biden administration turning a blind more competitive and create a lot of sion making in the use of our transpor-
eye to a continually growing catas- good-paying jobs. It will deal with the tation funds.
trophe on the southern border. The growing backlog of infrastructure I am also very pleased that this legis-
American people are right to question projects that we have in each one of lation has a justice component to it. I
President Biden and the Democrats’ our States. worked long and hard with Senator
commitment to the rule of law, to I applaud the work that brought us CARPER and others in dealing with re-
question their commitment to keeping to this point. I particularly am pleased connecting our communities that had
our citizens and neighborhoods safe. that the legislation incorporates the been divided because of highways that
I am painting a pretty bleak picture work done by the Environment and had been put in a community that did
here, but my job is to call it like I see Public Works Committee as it relates not help that community. When we
it. But there are things we in the Sen- to transportation, infrastructure, and find out the communities that are
ate can do to make the situation bet- water infrastructure. most disproportionately affected, they
ter. We can do things here, right in this I particularly want to acknowledge are generally minority communities.
room right here, to make things better. the leadership of our committee, Sen- I will give you a good example. Let
It starts with everybody fully sup- ators CARPER and CAPITO. I was proud me use my hometown of Baltimore
porting our law enforcement because, if to be the chair of the subcommittee on City. A highway was built in the 1960s
we don’t, one day we are going to re- infrastructure, working with Senator that was never completed. We call it
gret it. We need to improve morale and CRAMER and Senator DUCKWORTH, the ‘‘highway to nowhere.’’ It is the
recruit the best and brightest in our which contributed greatly, particularly Franklin-Mulberry Corridor. If you go
police forces to keep our communities to the water infrastructure. to West Baltimore, you will see this
safe. I also want to applaud the leadership gully that is a blight to the commu-
We should also empower all law en- of President Biden. It was his leader- nity. It divides communities. Three
forcement to address the negative ef- ship that has brought us to this mo- thousand residents, mostly African-
fect at our border. This is the local and ment, his vision for America’s future, American, are directly impacted by
State police. The Empowering Law En- what we need, and he found a way for this ‘‘highway to nowhere.’’ It isolates
forcement Act that I introduced would us to move forward on modernizing in-
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neighborhoods such as Harlem Park.
give them the power to take over for frastructure. This legislation provides a billion dol-
ICE. So let me first, if I might, talk a lit- lars as a start to reconnecting commu-
My bill would grant this and give tle bit about the transportation parts nities that have been divided by high-
them the authority to investigate and of this bill that I am particularly ways.
identify an illegal immigrant who has pleased about. Clearly, we see a signifi- I know this is good news for the peo-
entered the U.S., which we at this mo- cant increase in our investments in ple of Baltimore and these commu-
ment don’t have. If the Biden adminis- roads, bridges, transit systems, rail, nities and, for other communities
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S5548 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
around the Nation where the transpor- sit in Baltimore. That project would land do not have access to broadband,
tation program has hurt their commu- then now be eligible for consideration and 96,000 households in the Baltimore
nity, not helped their community. for Federal funding. And I would hope region do not have access to
As I pointed out, there is increased that the leadership in Maryland would broadband. We must do better. Our
investments in all of our modes of take advantage of this opportunity and goal should be that every house should
transportation. put the Red Line back in the equation. have access to high-speed internet, af-
This past week, I was with Secretary I want to talk a little bit about water fordable internet. This legislation
Buttigieg in Baltimore and with Sen- projects. The Environment and Public moves us forward on both access and
ator VAN HOLLEN. The Port of Balti- Works Committee bill that we worked affordability on broadband. That is
more is the economic engine of our on, which is the basis of this bill on critically important, and I am glad to
community. Hundreds of thousands of water infrastructure, passed this body see that it is included.
jobs directly depend upon it. Baltimore by a vote of 89–2. It deals with the As much as I support this legislation,
is prepared for the super-Panamax. Drinking Water and Wastewater Infra- I have to express my disappointment as
Thanks to the partnership with the structure Act, increasing funding in all to how this bill is paid for. As chair-
Federal Government, this legislation those categories. man of the Small Business Committee,
will allow us to be more competitive in We have tremendous backlogs in I helped develop the programs that
our ports, creating more jobs in our water infrastructure in our commu- helped small businesses during COVID–
community. nity. We have waterlines that are over 19. They were lifesavers for small busi-
I also pointed out the Howard Street 100 years old still being used in our ness. It saved small businesses. It saved
Tunnel that was recently authorized communities. This bill will help us deal our community. It saved jobs, and it
under an INFRA grant, which will with that backlog. It includes author- saved the growth engine for innovation
allow double-stacking going through a izations that I sponsored, including af- in our community.
tunnel that is over 100 years old, fordability. One tool that we used that was ex-
through downtown Baltimore. This will I want to thank Senator WICKER, my tremely important was the Economic
make our community much more com- cosponsor on this. Injury Disaster Loan Program and Ad-
petitive. This bill provides additional This would allow grants so that low-
vance Program. Over 4 million EIDL
funding for INFRA grants. income families can afford their water
loans have been granted, in excess of
And then Maryland, like every State bills. I can tell you that in Maryland
$230 billion. These grants help save
in this Nation, has significant backlogs and in many other communities around
businesses. These loans help save busi-
in dealing with our bridges. I can men- the Nation, people can no longer afford
nesses. These are for the smaller of the
tion the American Legion Bridge, right their water bills because so much pres-
small businesses. They are the ones
around here, or the Johnson Bridge, in sure has been put on the ratepayers.
that use it. These are low-interest, 30-
This bill will set up a pilot program
Southern Maryland, and the list goes year loans. We have had 6 million small
similar to a LIHEAP program to help
on and on and on. This bill will allow businesses take advantage of the EIDL
low-income families deal with their
us to get to some of those bridges. Advance Program, $23 billion. These
Let me talk a moment, if I might, water costs.
I also authored an authorization bill are the differences between staying
about transit. We need public transit. afloat or going under. The GAO esti-
for resiliency grants with Senator CAP-
Our workers need to be able to get to mated this past week that 86 percent of
ITO to deal with extreme weather con-
work. We need to be much more sen- ditions and cyber security issues, and I the EIDL loans went to our most vul-
sitive to our environment and getting was pleased to see that included in the nerable small businesses, 10 employees
people out of their automobiles. We legislation. or less.
waste too much time in congestion. I I do want to express my disappoint- So why am I talking about it? Be-
can’t tell you how many hours are ment. There are things in this bill I am cause this bill takes away the $13.5 bil-
wasted every day because of unneces- sure all of us are not satisfied with. I lion from the EIDL Program—the
sary congestion. Transit—public tran- was disappointed that the bill does not EIDL loan program—just at the time
sit—helps us deal with those chal- fund those new authorized programs, as where we have small businesses that
lenges. was included in the legislation that are going to need these loans. We see
This bill takes a quantum leap for- passed this body and was recommended an increase in wildfires. Hurricane sea-
ward on the transit programs. I was by the Environment and Public Works son is coming. We are not through
particularly pleased that it includes a Committee. I hope we will have a COVID–19 yet, and yet they take away
reauthorization of the WMATA pro- chance during the appropriations proc- these funds. These are the most lever-
gram for the transit system in this re- ess to get funding for these new au- aged funds we have available. For the
gion. I call it the Nation’s transit sys- thorized programs. few Federal dollars we put into it, we
tem, since it is used so much by Fed- I was pleased that President Biden’s leverage much larger amounts of loans.
eral workers in order to get to work. It initiative to remove lead pipes was in- Do we really want to cut back on the
extends the authorization of $150 mil- cluded. I can tell you that in Balti- ability to help small businesses
lion a year from the Federal Govern- more, we have significant lead pipe through these long-term loans? Unfor-
ment through this decade. issues, particularly in our school sys- tunately, taking this money away does
Particularly, I want to thank my col- tem, and I am glad to see that those exactly that.
leagues in this region, Senators WAR- programs will be funded. In addition, it takes $17.5 billion from
NER and KAINE and VAN HOLLEN. The I was pleased also that we are moving the Advance Program under EIDL.
four of us worked together to make ahead on PFOS, which is a pollutant in These are the grants that go to small
sure we got the reauthorization in- our community as a result of Federal businesses that can’t afford to take out
cluded in this legislation. installations. I was pleased to see that loans.
Then, I want to acknowledge and I we will be able to move forward in Now, we know under a previous ad-
want to thank particularly Senator that. ministration, they put a $150,000 cap on
BROWN for his help on this. There is And then broadband, we all know we the EIDL loan program and $1,000 per
now language in this bill that will need broadband infrastructure. It is in- employee on the Advance Program.
allow those lines that were previously cluded in this bill. The Brookings Insti- Well, the Biden administration wants
eligible for capital contributions but tution indicates that in the spring of to increase the size of the loans up to
did not go forward to be able to be re- the first $500,000 and then $2 million
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2020, when we went into lockdown in
considered for Federal partnerships in our schools, 12 million out of 55 million but also to give $10,000 to the busi-
capital construction on transit. students did not have access to classes nesses that need it the most under ad-
We have a rapid rail line in Balti- online. That is a shocking number, and vances.
more City, known as the Red Line, look at what they lost during this past We have taken this money away—in
that was stopped by our Governor. We year. total, about $35 billion. It is going to
are hopeful that we can restart that. It In Maryland, it is estimated that as make it virtually impossible for us to
is needed for dealing with public tran- many as 324,000 people in rural Mary- be able to do what we need to do for
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5549
small businesses. That is not right, and I am speaking about the one that has I saw a picture recently of the Gold
we are going to need to do something 86-percent approval in two straight Coast, that very swank area in the city
about it. polls by the American citizens. of Chicago on Lake Michigan, and it
I might point out that we have the The other concern is that this will showed how the coastline had eroded
Restaurant Revitalization Act—and ev- contribute to inflation. Again, that is over time, and now, waves from Lake
eryone here was very proud to help our confusing it with the $3.5 trillion wish Michigan are lapping up onto the road
restaurants—that has been oversub- list that my Democratic colleagues in front of these very expensive apart-
scribed. We are going to need a lot have. No, the bill that we are pro- ment complexes. This is not on the At-
more money to be put into that pro- posing, with $550 billion in new spend- lantic, the Pacific, or the Gulf of Mex-
gram. Yet you are taking away our ca- ing over 5 years for roads, bridges, and ico; this is on a Great Lake. I saw an-
pacity in this bill to help fund small highways, is judged to not be infla- other picture of the beach off of North
businesses. That is not right, and I tionary, to actually improve our econ- Carolina, which in the last 150 years
hope I will continue to work with my omy over time. Lastly, that somehow has receded—I think it is 500 feet. So
colleagues so we can find a path for- this infrastructure bill that we propose homes that formerly had a distant view
ward to help America’s small busi- is somehow Republicans playing along of the water now have waves coming up
nesses. with Democrats in a way that is bad to their lawn. That is happening na-
We all talk about helping small busi- for our country. tionwide—no place more than my State
nesses. Here is one example where we Let me point out that President in Louisiana.
took the step in the wrong direction. Trump proposed a $1.5 trillion infra- This bill makes a significant invest-
We don’t have to choose between build- structure bill. We put up $550 billion in ment in coastal erosion and protecting
ing modern infrastructure or helping new spending. He proposed $1.5 trillion. those people who live on the coastlines.
small businesses. We can do both, and I Only 5 percent of his was paid for, It will create jobs as this is addressed.
am disappointed at this moment that whereas ours is paid for. It will increase the safety of those
we are not going to be able to do every- To make the point, this is something folks who live in such areas. It gives a
thing we need to do to help the small that Republicans have proposed in the better future for our country.
business communities in our country. past, that Democrats have proposed in There is $65 billion for broadband,
I hope I will be able to revisit this at the past, and this version is something prioritizing those places without serv-
a later time. But it doesn’t dull my en- which Democrats and Republicans can ice and those places with poor service.
thusiasm for this very important legis- support. It is paid for, and it does help I think of a place in my own State; for
lation that I urge my colleagues to the American people. How does it help example, Opelousas, LA, a small town
support. It will make a quantum leap the American people? It gives them on I–49. Think of a parent there who
forward in America’s competitiveness better jobs, increases the safety of wants her daughter to be able to study
and create more jobs for America’s fu- their families, and gives a better future Mandarin Chinese. There might be peo-
ture. for our country. ple there who speak Mandarin Chinese,
With that, I yield the floor. Let me give some ideas about how
but they are not the people teaching
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- that can occur. There is $110 billion for
school. If she has broadband internet,
ator from Louisiana. roads, bridges, and highways, not just
she gets the same educational experi-
Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I to repair some, to construct some oth-
ence as someone who lives in New Orle-
would like to rise and speak to the in- ers, but also for the safety of those
ans or Baton Rouge or Shreveport. We
frastructure bill that is before us and, that are being rebuilt or being built—
need to give every child in this country
specifically, about a component of the $110 billion.
We speak about jobs and safety and a the same access to that educational op-
infrastructure bill. My colleague, ear- portunity.
better future. Clearly, we talked about
lier, Senator TUBERVILLE from Ala- I am a doctor. Most people know
safety. Think about the jobs that will
bama, said that when he goes home he that. I also think of the expansion of
be created by this construction of these
speaks to people in his State, and he telehealth and telemental health.
highways. Think about the better fu-
always gets a consistent message. I, Right now, our country has a shortage
ture because these roads and bridges
too, get that consistent message: bet- will last for decades. Some person who of adolescent psychiatrists. If we have
ter jobs, greater safety for their fam- is now a child will drive over a bridge rural broadband or broadband in areas
ily, and a better future for our country. as an adult, and her life will be better of our cities which are currently poorly
And this infrastructure package ad- because of the highway that this served, the adolescent psychiatrist can
dresses those concerns. money paid for. be in her office in Lafayette, LA, doing
Now, the infrastructure package is There is $10 billion for ports and wa- a visit, an interview with a child who
about roads and bridges and highways, terways, those liquid highways that lives in DeRidder. A place that won’t
ports and waterways, increased access take our goods from our country to have a pediatric or adolescent psychia-
to broadband in areas that don’t have around the world and bring those goods trist has access to real-time visits be-
it now, flood mitigation, coastal res- from around the world back to our cause of the money that is in this bill.
toration. These are things that will country, along the way creating jobs Economic development. I once spoke
contribute to better jobs, more safety, for hundreds of thousands of Ameri- to somebody who was thinking of set-
and a better future for our country. cans. ting up a distribution center in North
But, first, let me dispel some myths. By the way, transporting products by Louisiana in a place ideally situated to
There are some misconceptions out water is the most environmentally get all the towns around, but it did not
there about this bill. One misconcep- sound way to transport goods. have broadband internet. With this
tion is that it is somehow the same as This investment in our ports and wa- bill, that economic development
the $3.5 trillion bill that people have terways—again, creating jobs, increas- project takes root because now that in-
heard about that Democrats have pro- ing the safety—also gives us a better vestor has the ability to manage inven-
posed, increasing taxes to a record future for our economy, a better future tory to receive orders and to commu-
basis and increasing our national debt for our workers, a better future for our nicate with drivers, all because rural
when obviously we are pushing up on families, and a better future for our broadband has been made a reality—
the debt limit. This is not that bill. country. creating jobs, increasing safety, giving
This bill is about roads and bridges There is $16 billion for the Army that community and our country a bet-
and broadband and flood protection. Corps of Engineers for, among other
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ter future.
That bill is about everything else. This things, to address coastal erosion, Let me just mention one more thing
bill is about improving the quality of which is occurring nationwide. My in the economic aspect and safety as-
life for our families and improving the State has lost more land mass than pect of this. There is money for sewer,
future for our country. That bill is any other State in the Nation. My water, and for drainage. If I think of
about a sugar high on an economy State has lost as much land as is in the the four corners of my State, but I am
which is already in an inflationary entire State of Delaware. But other sure every person could think of the
mode. These are two different bills. So States are losing land, too. four corners of their State—and I think
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S5550 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
of Hawaii as being a round State, so I sive infrastructure bill totaling $2.6 didn’t hear a word about a highway
am not sure I even think of those four trillion. It included a broad range of trust fund bailout.
corners—but if I think of New Orleans, controversial and, frankly, overpriced The massive bill, as I said, was
Shreveport, Monroe, and Lake Charles programs, all funded by massive tax dropped last night, and we are still try-
and all points in between, there was a hikes on the American taxpayer. ing to comb through the 2,700 pages of
pent-up demand to address water and The good news is, that is not the bill text, which, at this point, appears to be
sewer and drainage. This bill puts the we are considering today. A bipartisan full of surprises, and I will just men-
money out there, which can be com- group of our colleagues worked with tion one of them.
bined with other appropriations, which the White House to find common This bill should not be rushed
can meet the needs for those folks in ground and get a bill to the floor with through the Senate without providing
my community. support from both sides. The 2,700-page all Members a chance to read it, to un-
I also want to emphasize some of the text was just released last night, and I derstand it, and offer their suggestions
environmental aspects of this bill. We know, like everybody else, I am still in to improve it. I have been working
have billions being put forward to the process with my staff of evaluating with some of our colleagues on amend-
Superfund and brownfield sites. Now, just how it will impact my State and ments to this legislation to provide le-
Louisiana has 27 priority sites of those our Nation. gitimate pay-fors. Since this bill didn’t
nationwide requiring funding for the Our colleagues who negotiated and go through the regular committee
Superfund or brownfield. drafted this legislation put in a lot of process but was really cobbled together
We also have 4.75 billion to cap aban- long hours and hard work to reach an by a negotiation—again, in a bipar-
doned oil wells. That will improve con- agreement. I commend them for their tisan fashion that I commend for their
ditions not only in Louisiana but efforts. efforts—but it makes it all the more
across the Nation. I am eager to see a score from the important that since this is the first
It also includes the bill I wrote with Congressional Budget Office to provide time that many of us have seen the en-
Senator COONS of Delaware called the a better understanding of the true cost tire 2,700-page bill, that it be subject to
SCALE Act. The SCALE Act helps an open amendment process.
of this legislation. But even the pro-
build this carbon dioxide pipeline that This legislation will have impact on
ponents who negotiated this deal con- every State in the country, and every
will take CO2 from these manufac- cede that, at least before the $118 bil-
turing plants that are producing a Member of the Senate should have the
lion transfer from the general revenue opportunity to weigh in and offer
product that emits CO2, and it would fund last night, that even then, only
build pipelines to sequester that carbon changes. Members of the bipartisan
about half of it was paid for. group have committed to a process
dioxide beneath the ground or to allow I believe there, so far, have been
that CO2 to be used in another product that allows Senators on both sides to
some missed opportunities, one being offer changes to this bill, and in the
line, putting to work pipefitters, de- reforms to the highway trust fund
creasing the carbon intensity of our en- days ahead, I hope the majority leader
itself. For years, the highway trust will allow that to happen, and we will
vironment, and giving a better future fund has faced major shortfalls and, to
for our planet—jobs, safety, and a bet- have a robust amendment process.
a serious degree, Texans have footed GUN VIOLENCE
ter future. the bill for those shortfalls because we
I have already mentioned the $16 bil- Madam President, on another mat-
are one of the States that receive less ter, my State is no stranger to tragedy.
lion going to the Army Corps of Engi-
than we contribute. For every dollar In recent years, we have experienced
neers for coastal restoration and other
we put in the highway trust fund, only hurricanes, tornadoes, a crippling win-
projects.
This bill is an example of what Con- 95 cents comes back to my State. That ter freeze, and other natural disasters
gress should do. It is focused upon jobs is not the same treatment of every that have tested our resiliency. Sadly,
and safety and a better quality of life. State. In fact, we received the lowest too, some of our communities have ex-
This is good for the American worker. rate of return than any other State. perienced mass shootings.
I don’t think it is a stretch to say it Tomorrow, Texans will mark a sol-
It is good for American families. It is
good for the United States of America. is unfair that Texans subsidize infra- emn anniversary: 2 years since a gun-
I yield the floor. structure projects in every other State, man stormed into a Walmart in El
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- but that is only part of the issue here. Paso, TX, and opened fire. Twenty-
ator from Texas. The highway trust fund has been oper- three people died; dozens were injured;
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, in a ating in the red for more than a dec- and the lives of countless El Pasoans
State as big as mine, reliable transpor- ade. The current state of the highway were forever changed. My friend, the
tation infrastructure is absolutely es- trust fund is unsustainable, and unless former mayor, Dee Margo, said at the
sential. We are home to both the larg- something changes, we are going to be time:
est network of highways, as well as the in dire straits—even more dire straits Hate will not overcome love. Hate will not
largest number of bridges in the coun- in just a few years. define who we are.
try. We are also a major hub for im- The importance of the highway trust This shooting was, undoubtedly, hate
ports and exports both along the gulf fund is that we have always believed in in its purest form. The shooter was a
coast and the southern border. a user fee model when it comes to in- White supremacist who carried out an
As we continue to welcome more new frastructure. The people who use it are act that could only be described as do-
Texans every day, the strain on our in- the ones to pay to maintain it and ex- mestic terrorism. Our Hispanic neigh-
frastructure is growing. It takes a lot pand it. But rather than make reforms bors and friends were purposely tar-
of planning and maintenance to get all to the formula to make the fund sol- geted, and both Texans and Mexicans
29 million Texans, our visitors, and vent, this bill throws more borrowed were killed by this wicked individual.
crucial cargo around the State safely money at the problem. In the face of this pure evil, El
and efficiently. When you add in As I said, just this morning, I learned Pasoans responded with love. Off-duty
broadband, airports, levees, waterways, that another $118 billion was proposed surgeons and doctors rushed to the hos-
it is easy to see how big an under- to be transferred to the highway trust pital to save as many lives as they
taking this entire process is. fund with no reforms to help put it could. El Pasoans were comforted by
I continue to hear from my constitu- back on sound financial footing. This is their faith leaders, like Father
ents back home, like I am sure we all quite a step away from the user fee Marquez, who stayed up all night with
model where those who use the infra-
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do, about the need for Federal funding 17 families and sat beside them as they
to help repair, maintain, and expand structure are the ones who pay for it. were told their loved ones had not
infrastructure across our States. But This is a transfer from general revenue, made it. And hundreds of Texans lined
we just can’t keep adding expenses to from the taxpayer, into the highway up to give blood. I was proud to be one
the taxpayers’ credit card. We have to trust fund. This inclusion was a big of those 3,000 donations at the Vitalant
figure out how to pay for it. surprise to me, and in all the conversa- centers in El Paso and Las Cruces.
Earlier this year, President Biden tions we have had about this legisla- A young El Pasoan, Ruben Martinez,
floated his idea for an absolutely mas- tion over the past several weeks, I was just in sixth grade when this mass
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5551
shooting took place. In the days that I said last weekend at the Health, watching when we do a budget resolu-
followed, he created the El Paso Chal- Education, Labor, and Pensions Com- tion, but it is vote after vote, hour
lenge, where he and his mom performed mittee, of which he and I were both after hour, often well into not just the
23 random acts of kindness in honor of members and overlapped for a number evening but well into the next morn-
the 23 victims. Two years later, they of years, that Mike Enzi was the par- ing. And to preside over that, as Mike
are still keeping up that tradition and agon of decency, and that is probably was at the time as the chairman of the
recently gave out roses at San Jacinto an understatement. ‘‘Decency’’ isn’t a Budget Committee, I just recall him
Plaza to remind people to spread love word that is often attached to public standing at the lectern, hour after
and kindness. officials, unfortunately, but in Mike’s hour, having to comment on every
El Paso, a community that saw the case, it applied. He was a decent human amendment, whether he opposed it or
face of evil, unequivocally chose love, being and treated everyone with re- supported it, and if he opposed it, of
and I am grateful to Texans like Ruben spect, and we could all learn more than course, he had to make an argument
who have continued to make the one lesson from the way he treated against it. That is part of the job of
choice, day after day, to honor the people and the way he conducted him- being the chair, standing there all
lives of the 23 whom we lost. self as a person and the way he con- those hours.
As we remember the lives that were ducted himself as a U.S. Senator. But even when he was making the
lost just 2 years ago and the families Just in terms of work, a number of us case against Democratic amendments,
and the victims that many of us com- can share stories about issues we which was often, and stating his oppo-
forted in the hospitals in the aftermath worked with Mike on. I can share one sition, there was no snarl; there was
of this, we are also—we also carry the or two. no—rarely political rhetoric. He would
painful reminder that justice has not One, in particular, I remember a bill just state his objections very forth-
yet been served. Last week, the Federal that had not been ‘‘reauthorized.’’ That rightly and very soberly and then move
hearing for the accused shooter was is another fancy Washington word for on. There was no finger-pointing, no
postponed until November, and the taking a policy or taking a program demonization of the other point of
State’s case continues to await a trial and, in a sense, reinstituting it by up- view. So I always appreciated how he
date due to delays stemming from dating it and, maybe, getting author- did that in an environment where there
COVID’s impact on our court system. ization to have either new policy or often is that kind of invective flying
My heart is with the families and new appropriations or additional ap- back and forth.
propriations. But we wanted to reau- So, Mike Enzi, when I say he was the
friends looking for closure who must
thorize the Perkins Career and Tech- paragon of decency, that applied to his
now deal with this additional delay in
nical Education Program, but the bill whole life, and we know how terribly
justice being served.
I know I speak for all Texans when I had not been acted on. The proposal, his family must miss him and how his
say that the 2-year anniversary ap- the bill itself, or versions of the bill State mourns the loss of Mike Enzi,
proaches tomorrow; that, as it ap- were around for something like, oh, but that loss was felt in a bipartisan
gosh, about 12 years, between 2006 and fashion here on the Senate floor and
proaches, we all stand in solidarity
2018, before we finally got it done. within the Senate family.
with El Pasoans and remember the en-
I won’t walk through the policy but Madam President, today, I wish to
during strength and spirit of this vi- pay tribute to the distinguished life
just share a personal story that, when
brant community. and career of Senator Michael B. Enzi,
I yield the floor. Mike Enzi and I were working on the
Senate version of it—there was another who passed away on July 26, 2021. Sen-
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms.
version in the House very similar, if ator Enzi was an honorable public serv-
DUCKWORTH). The Senator from Penn-
not identical, but it needed work in ant and decent man who always had a
sylvania.
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I ask both Chambers—we were working with kind word for everyone in our shared
then-Chairman Alexander, Lamar Alex- office hallway in the Russell Senate Of-
unanimous consent to speak as if in
ander and the ranking member, PATTY fice Building. I was privileged to have
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without MURRAY. So the four of us had to work spent 13 years working alongside him.
very hard to get it done. But once it While Senator Enzi was born in
objection, it is so ordered.
was done, I remember standing here on Bremerton, WA, in 1944, he grew up in
REMEMBERING MIKE ENZI
the floor, and Mike Enzi was standing Wyoming, the same State he would de-
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I vote more than four decades of his life
on that side of the floor talking about
wanted to offer some remarks about to by serving in local, State, and Fed-
what we had done. And as I was paying
two of our former colleagues who eral Government. He graduated with a
tribute to his work and commending
passed away, and I know many have al- bachelor’s degree in accounting from
him, I thought: My goodness. I may be
ready spoken about both of their lives George Washington University in 1966.
getting him in trouble back home by
and their contributions, their public having a Democrat compliment him so Senator Enzi was dedicated to his edu-
service. And so I am not speaking much, and he was complimenting my cation and his sense of civic responsi-
today about the pending legislative work. But I remember that because it bility, and he earned an MBA in retail
business but just wanted to make sure was a typical—in some ways, a very marketing from the University of Den-
that I took some time today to talk typical Mike Enzi work product. It de- ver in 1968 while also serving in the
about both of these individuals. I will fied resolution for a long time, but he Wyoming Air National Guard from 1967
go in the order of their passing just in stayed at it, and he stayed in the room, to 1973. After receiving his graduate de-
the last week, really. so to speak, until we had it done. gree, he followed his father’s footsteps
The first is the former Senator from So I want to thank him for that work and worked as a shoe salesman and
Wyoming, Mike Enzi, who served in that will allow more and more Ameri- business owner.
this institution since being elected in cans to have the opportunity to have Senator Enzi’s long career in govern-
1996 and then left the Senate after 2020 that career in technical education that ment started when he was elected
was concluded. I will have a longer they would not have or at least not mayor of Gillette, WY, in 1974. He
statement that I will ask consent to would have it in the manner that the served in the Wyoming State Legisla-
put in the RECORD. But I just wanted to bill set forth, which was a dramatic ture as a member of the House of Rep-
share some personal reflections be- and substantial improvement in that resentatives and State Senate begin-
cause sometimes, when you outline kind of career in technical education, ning in 1987. He was elected to the U.S.
someone’s career in a position, whether
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from a Federal Government perspec- Senate in 1996 and would go on to serve
it is in government or otherwise, that tive. 4 consecutive terms. It was during the
doesn’t really tell the story about who The final thought that I will share— 110th Congress that we became col-
they were, and we all have different because I want to be brief because I leagues and began our committee work
impressions, but it is remarkable how also have a statement to submit—are together, first on the Senate Com-
often, in the last couple of days, Mem- on our budget votes. mittee on Banking, Housing, and
bers of both parties in the Senate have As many Americans know, if they are Urban Affairs and later on the Com-
commented on Mike Enzi as a person. watching—and maybe they aren’t mittee on Finance and the Committee
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S5552 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- rectly—Carl Levin always made sure he was in charge of the Subcommittee
sions. Senator Enzi loved ‘‘solving that their voice was heard. on Investigations, and I ended up being
problems for folks in Wyoming and And as much as he was a supporter— the chairman of the committee;
America,’’ and I am honored to have and I think a consistent and strong worked pretty close with Tom Coburn
had the opportunity to work with him supporter—of a strong national secu- and others.
on bipartisan solutions to help Ameri- rity, no Member of the Senate could And Carl asked me—he said he want-
cans. say they did more than Carl Levin to ed me to come up—as chairman, he
The passing of Senator Enzi is a ter- support our national security, both in wanted me to come up and tour the
rible loss for his wife, Diana; his chil- terms of what he supported, but in border—the U.S.-Canadian border, and
dren, Amy, Emily and Brad; his four terms of his leadership on the Armed right there by Detroit on boat, by
grandchildren, Trey, Lilly, Megan, and Services Committee, and ultimately as water, by helicopters, and so forth.
Allison. He will be dearly missed by his the chair of the committee, working in I said: Sure. Count me in.
family, friends, and former staff. I echo a very bipartisan fashion to keep us We just had one—just one heck of a
my Senate colleagues and fellow citi- safe, working with Senators like John day. It was a lot of fun and very in-
zens when I say that we are grateful for McCain and others, Democrat and Re- formative. Got to spend time with
his service to our Nation. May he rest publican alike. Coast Guard people and others just
in peace. But even though in the midst of—or very much involved in our border secu-
REMEMBERING CARL LEVIN in the course of supporting national se- rity.
Madam President, and then just some curity you deal with big institutions, And late in the day, it was opening
additional comments on another col- big defense contractors, big, powerful day of baseball season, and the Tigers
league we lost this year, this time a interests that he worked with and were playing in Minnesota, the opening
Democratic Senator, Carl Levin, who made sure were part of the best na- game. It was an afternoon game.
served the people of Michigan starting tional security in the world, he was And after we had finished our day’s
in 1978—I think, almost immediately also very tough on those same big in- activities, it was moving on toward
after serving on the city council in De- stitutions; because, as many of you suppertime. He said: Let’s go to this
troit—and I will submit a statement know—many people here in the Senate area of Detroit where they have all
about his life as well. know, Carl was the chairman of what is these Mexican restaurants, and we will
But Carl, as well, was decent and known as the Permanent Sub- have dinner.
honorable, and I have no doubt that committee on Investigations, maybe And when we got to the restaurant,
people in both parties had that same the most powerful subcommittee in the the Tigers game was on the radio, and
impression of him, dealing with him— entire U.S. Senate, or at least for many he said let’s have a couple of libations
again, I will say—as a person and as a years it was. and sit in his car and listen to the Ti-
And as the chairman of that sub- gers game, and so we did.
U.S. Senator, as a public official.
Carl Levin had a work ethic which committee, Carl Levin held the feet of And the game—we were in the 7th or
was second to none. I don’t ever re- powerful interests—held their feet to 8th inning. We stayed until the very
member him in a setting where he the fire over and over again with a end, and it turned out to be a very
wasn’t working. It was as if he was cross-examination skill that very few sweet ending and the Tigers won the
never relaxed and kind of turned off. Senators would possess, even Senators ballgame and we had a couple libations
He was always on the floor, trying to who were good lawyers. and some laughs. And then we went in-
And Carl Levin would not let those
get support for an amendment, trying side, and for, like, six bucks we bought
powerful interests up for air if he
to get support for a bill. And the dif- two of the biggest dinners I have ever
thought they had information that he
ference between Carl and many of us is seen, and I had a wonderful time.
needed to extract from them in the
that he knew the detail of that bill But I loved Carl. Loved Sandy too.
public interest. And anyone who ap-
sometimes as well or better, maybe, And the idea that Carl has left us is
peared before him knew how tough he
than the staff. He knew every part of real sad. Barbara, his wife, wonderful
could be on the most powerful people
the policy. If he were allowed to be on woman, thank her for sharing her hus-
and the most powerful institutions in
the Senate floor, with his jacket off, he band with us.
the country, if not in the world.
would roll up his sleeves. So we appreciate Carl Levin’s de- Here is an issue, on a more serious
Someone was telling a story the cency and the honorable service that note, called beneficial interests, which
other day how that was kind of an he rendered, but we also appreciate involved shell corporations and some
image we had of Carl; that his sleeves how hard he fought for people who criminal people who are doing unto-
were always rolled up when he was didn’t have power. ward—maybe illicit, illegal things.
working, but, of course, on the Senate Mr. CARPER. Would the Senator They are using shell corporations to
floor, he wasn’t allowed to do that. But yield the floor? try to do those bad activities. And
it was emblematic, I think, that rolling While the Senator is still on the there was a question about who should
up of his sleeves when he was traveling floor, we are talking about the serious have the authority, who should be re-
or addressing constituents or the like— side of Carl, and there is also a lighter sponsible for making sure that no ne-
it was emblematic of his work ethic side of Carl, as you know, and I just farious activities were taking place be-
and the scholarship that he put into want to recall one of those today. cause of these shell corporations.
the work he did for the people of Michi- I was elected to—been State treas- Delaware happens to be a State
gan and often for, of course, the work- urer and elected to Congress in ‘82, and where there are a lot of corporations. I
ers. There have been stories that have one of the Members of my professional think half of the New York Stock Ex-
been told in the last couple of days class was Sandy Levin, Carl’s brother— change, half of the Fortune 500 are in-
about him carrying around his union his older brother—who apparently had corporated in Delaware. So we had a
card when he worked in a factory as a run for Governor—not successful—and real interest in doing this, but doing it
young man. later on got elected to the House, and in a way that doesn’t unduly burden
He never forgot those workers. It I think he served as the Ways and the State.
wasn’t just a symbol of a union card in Means Committee chair. This was an issue that we didn’t let
his wallet; he never ever stopped fight- But, anyway, so I got to meet Carl come between our friendship. This was
ing for them—workers in Detroit, pretty early, although he didn’t join an issue that lasted and lasted and
lasted and lasted.
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whether they are autoworkers or oth- me here until about 20 years ago. But
erwise. he is from Detroit and that area and And Carl, when he went to meet our
So that is something we pay tribute loves the Detroit—loved the Detroit Ti- Maker, about a year or so before, we
to today, and his work on behalf of gers, and so do I. And try to figure out resolved that issue, and it took years
those who were powerless or those with why an Ohio State boy would end up to resolve that issue. And he was tena-
little power, those who don’t have a being a big Tigers fan, but I was. cious, his staff was tenacious, and,
lobbyist, those who don’t have the op- Ended up on the Homeland Security frankly, so were a lot of other folks,
portunity to influence legislation di- Governmental Affairs Committee, and but we got the job done in a way that
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5553
I think protects the public interest and lowing amendments be called up to the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
makes sure that government, State substitute and be reported by number: clerk will call the roll.
and local and Federal, are doing their No. 1, Padilla-Moran, No. 2133, Indian The senior assistant legislative clerk
job. health; No. 2, Thune-Tester, No. 2162, proceeded to call the roll.
And so, Carl, if you are listening, communications workers; further, that Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I
buddy, our Tigers are doing better this at 5:30 today, the Senate vote in rela- ask unanimous consent that the order
year, and hopefully they will continue tion to the amendments in the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
to. listed, with no amendments in order to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
But thank you for raising those these amendments prior to a vote in re- objection, it is so ordered.
points. lation to the amendment, with 60 af- H.R. 3684
Mr. CASEY. I want to thank the sen- firmative votes required for adoption, Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I
ior Senator from Delaware for those and 2 minutes of debate equally divided come to the floor today to bring atten-
kind, personal reflections about Carl prior to each vote. tion to the wildfires raging in our
Levin. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Western States, devastating commu-
Madam President, today I wish to objection? nity after community. I am also here
pay tribute to the life and career of Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I to call on my colleagues to use the on-
Senator Carl Levin, who passed away don’t have an objection. I just wanted going infrastructure discussions to
on July 29, 2021. As the longest-serving to say to the—to Chairman CARPER take the swift, bold action necessary
senator in Michigan history, Senator here and others in the bipartisan group not just to confront the current crisis
Levin was a role model as a person and but to address the root cause and help
and all of us here: We are ready to get
as a public official. save others from having to endure
this thing started.
Senator Levin was born on June 28,
This is a great way for Members to similar fires and tragedies in the fu-
1934 in Detroit, MI, the city he would
say what they like and what they don’t ture.
call home for his entire life and contin- For nearly a month now, the Bootleg
like, and the amendment process is on
ually fight for during his six terms in Fire, pictured here, has been the big-
the Senate. I am proud to say that he its way.
Thank you. gest of 91 fires burning across 12
received his bachelor’s degree in polit- States. It has been raging in Southern
Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I
ical science at Swarthmore College, Oregon. It has burned about 415,000
would say thank you to the ranking
which is located in my home state of
member for those comments. I, too, am acres. Translate that into square miles.
Pennsylvania, in 1956. During his un-
ready to get to work. This is a good That is 646 square miles. Translate
dergraduate education he worked as a
way to do it, a couple of amendments that. That is an area about 20 miles
taxi driver and on an auto factory line.
that I think a lot of us can support. wide and 30 miles long, half the size of
He would continue to keep his union
But I appreciate the consent to lock the State of Rhode Island reduced to
card in his wallet for many years, a
in votes on these two amendments. We ash and smoke.
habit emblematic of his commitment
will start with these and work to have It is ranching country. There are not
to American workers. After graduating
votes on others as well, hopefully soon- a lot of developed communities, but
from Harvard Law School in 1959, he
er rather than later. you still have a lot of homes getting
practiced law for several years before
I yield the floor. burned, at least 161 homes; double that
becoming an assistant attorney general
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without or roughly double that in outbuildings.
and general counsel for the Michigan
objection, it is so ordered. Hundreds of vehicles have been de-
Civil Rights Commission, beginning his
AMENDMENT NO. 2133 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2137 stroyed. Thousands of families have
long career as a defender of civil rights.
Senator Levin first entered elected The clerk will report. been forced to evacuate.
office as a member of Detroit City The senior assistant legislative clerk This fire grew so large, it started
Council in 1969. In 1978, he was elected read as follows: generating its own weather system.
to the U.S. Senate, where he would The Senator from Delaware [Mr. CARPER], Think about that. Usually, we watch
earn a reputation as an effective legis- for Mr. PADILLA, proposes an amendment the weather to see how the weather is
lator, tenacious investigator and per- numbered 2133 to amendment No. 2137. going to influence the fire. Will rain
son of integrity. He understood that The amendment is as follows: and storms slow them down? Will hu-
serving in political office is a public (Purpose: To amend the Indian Health Care midity slow them down a little? Will
trust and demanded the same degree of Improvement Act to expand the funding dry, hot conditions help them grow or,
accountability and transparency from authority for renovating, constructing, worst of all, hot and dry with wind?
corporations and government that his and expanding certain facilities) Well, that is not the case with the
constituents came to expect from him. At the appropriate place, insert the fol- Bootleg Fire, which created these mas-
Whether on the floor of the Senate or lowing: sive clouds rising more than 30,000 feet
abroad during our trip to Afghanistan SEC. ll. EXPANDING THE FUNDING AUTHORITY into the air, and as the air surges up,
FOR RENOVATING, CONSTRUCTING, then below it, it pulls in air from all
and Pakistan in 2008 when he served as AND EXPANDING CERTAIN FACILI-
Chairman of the Senate Committee on TIES.
around, which feeds oxygen to the in-
Armed Services, Senator Levin led Section 509 of the Indian Health Care Im- ferno. Then, when that air cools and
with humility and a sharp intellect. provement Act (25 U.S.C. 1659) is amended— drops down, it pushes the bottom air
Senator Levin’s service in the Senate (1) by striking ‘‘minor’’ before ‘‘renova- out, spreading sparks like some living
was the kind of public service we tions’’; and monster sucking in fire, intensifying
should all emulate and his death is a (2) by striking ‘‘, to assist’’ and all that fol- oxygen, and then spewing out fire-
lows through ‘‘standards’’. spreading embers as the air cools and
loss for our Nation and, of course, his
AMENDMENT NO. 2162 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2137 descends. It even generates its own
loving family. My thoughts and pray-
ers are with his wife, Barbara; his three (Purpose: To address the workforce lightning storms and spawns fire torna-
daughters, Kate, Laura and Eric; his needs of the telecommunications in- does, swirling vortexes of heat and
six grandchildren; and his nephew, Con- dustry.) flame.
gressman Andy Levin, as they mourn The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Fires are an annual occurrence in Or-
his passing. May we all learn from Sen- clerk will report. egon, but decade after decade, they are
ator Levin’s example, and may he rest The senior assistant legislative clerk getting a lot worse. There are two
read as follows: major reasons for this. Climate chaos
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in peace.
I yield the floor. The Senator from Delaware [Mr. CARPER], is one, and poor forest management is
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- for Mr. THUNE, proposes an amendment num- the other. The forests, due to climate
ator from Delaware. bered 2162 to amendment No. 2137. chaos, are drier and more prone to fire.
AMENDMENT NOS. 2133 AND 2162 TO AMENDMENT (The amendment is printed in today’s Why are they drier? Because, well, car-
NO. 2137 RECORD under ‘‘Text of Amendments.’’) bon dioxide from burning fossil fuels
Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I Mr. CARPER. I suggest the absence and methane gas leaking out of our
ask unanimous consent that the fol- of a quorum. natural gas systems are heating the
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S5554 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
planet. So we have to pivot quickly and the best science. I have asked the head treating forests through timber sales
transition to renewable energy to stop of the Forest Service to get us the best that are always hung up in disputes in
it from getting worse. science so we can apply the best strate- the courts, we are not getting the job
But that is a discussion really for an- gies to make different types of forests done.
other day. Let’s focus today on the sec- more fire-resilient. This effort to increase the role of
ond part of the challenge, which is for- But we need to be able to fund such these collaboratives puts people in the
est management. efforts on a much more massive scale. room who have been traditional oppo-
When fires erupt, we put them out as Out in Oregon, we have 2.3 million nents. They are talking to each other,
fast as we can, trying to prevent dev- acres that have been approved environ- and they are working out plans to-
astating fires like the Bootleg Fire. mentally to be treated that aren’t gether. They find out they actually
But the result of putting fires out fast treated because we haven’t had the sometimes like each other. So we need
over decade after decade after decade is funds. So this infrastructure bill is an a lot more of these collaboratives.
that a lot of fuels build up on the floor opportunity to address so much of the We have in Oregon close to two dozen
of the forest. work that needs to be done to make collaboratives. Only four are federally
In addition, we have a lot of forests the forest more fire-resilient. funded. So by increasing the funding,
that are second-growth forests, with Well, I am pleased to say that the bill we enable more collaboratives to do a
trees planted very close together, and is going to have quite a bit in it, and I lot more work, and that would be a
they all grow up at about the same really am pleased with this. I have very good thing.
height and their canopies are touching been pushing for this for years, that we I spoke to the billions of dollars, but
each other, which makes it very easy need to spend not millions but billions you know what—these couple billion
for the fire to spread from tree to tree of dollars in forest management. So $8 dollars is not enough. I will be intro-
to tree. billion of wildfire-related funding is in- ducing legislation modeled on the
So you throw in the combination of cluded, and that will go out through Great American Outdoors Act to fund
longer, hotter, dryer summers and sec- the Forest Service and the Department $30 billion in hazardous fuel treatments
ond-growth forests, and you have the of the Interior; $2.4 billion for haz- across our public lands over the next 5
perfect recipe for infernos like the big ardous fuels reduction efforts; $2.1 bil- years. That is closer to the scale we
fires we have been seeing out West. lion for efforts to restore ecosystems need to undertake to manage these for-
To reduce the risk of these dev- on a broader scale in a fashion that ests.
astating fires in the short-run, we have will help reduce the vulnerability of It used to be you thought about, well,
two basic tools. One is, we reduce the the forests and other ecosystems to when do I want to go out and hike on
grass and undergrowth that fuels the fire; $1 billion to help fund wildfire the Pacific Crest Trail? Well, August
fire—we sometimes call that mowing— mitigation activities for at-risk com- has the least chance of rain. Now it is
and then we do prescribed burns, and munities; $650 million for rehabili- like whatever you do, think twice
the second is, we thin the forest. tating areas burned by fires; and $600 about going out in August because you
Now, thinning the forest works bet- million to give firefighters the pay will be dodging forest fires. It has hap-
ter in some forests than in others. For raises they deserve and to increase the pened to my wife Mary and me a num-
ponderosa pine, it works really well. year-round workforce. ber of times now. We planned to hike in
You spread out those pine trees. They For years, I have been saying that the southern part of the Pacific Crest
would never have grown so close to- one of the problems we have is a big at- Trail, and twice we had to move to the
gether. In the old days, when fires reg- trition rate for firefighters. They go northern part. We hiked in the north-
ularly swept through, they would kill out for a season, and then the job is ern part twice and had to dodge forest
the younger trees. The older trees over, and they have to find other jobs. fires. One time, it was the fire that
would survive, widely spaced trees. When they find those other jobs, well, erupted and put the whole Columbia
They would burn up the fuel on the they are not there to fight the fire the Gorge on fire. They had fireworks on
floor of the forest, and it worked well. next season. Crew bosses are essential. the Fourth of July.
Other forests—wetter forests, Douglas You don’t want to lose these experi- Just last year, we were hiking start-
fir forests, other types of forests—we enced crew bosses. ing on the Warm Springs Reservation,
are still trying to figure out exactly So what is the answer? Well, part of and other hikers said: Hey, did you
the best way to do forest management the answer is, let’s create year-round know that there is already a fire on the
to reduce fire risk. The Bootleg Fire jobs with decent pay so that when you Warm Springs Reservation—right
did show the effect of these types of ef- are not doing firefighting directly, you where we were. Well, the wind was
forts. are doing fire prevention by working blowing the other way. We hadn’t
Over the last decades, ecologists have on forest management projects, and I smelled the smoke. You are out of cell
been working in the Sycan Marsh Pre- think that idea is starting to gain phone range. You are up in the moun-
serve. They have been thinning out the some traction. tains. We hadn’t heard that. But it re-
forest, and they have been using pre- We also have funding in here to in- flects the fact that you have to worry
scribed fires. So they have been reduc- crease the collaborative forest land- now when hiking because the forest is
ing the number of ponderosa pines to scape restoration projects, CFLR so vulnerable. It is so dry. It so easily
make it a less fire-prone forest. projects. A CFLR collaborative brings turns into a fire that can move very
As the Bootleg Fire came into the together the stakeholders from every quickly, especially if there is a wind.
preserve, firefighters on the ground re- perspective—from the environmental I have worked to get funding for the
port the flames didn’t jump as easily or side, from the timber side, from all National Guard to be able to help fight
readily from treetop to treetop; they sides in between—and they work out fires over the last 4 years, including
went back to the ground. Going back what they refer to as a prescription for 1,500 members of the Oregon National
to the ground, where there had been a specific forest. Guard who have been trained. They
prescribed fire, they didn’t burn as They go out, and in the beginning, have been out helping on this Bootleg
quickly. The fire moved a lot more when they don’t really have a great Fire, so that is great. We have been
slowly, and, in addition, it is easier for trust relationship, they go out to- working to enable FEMA to deliver dis-
firefighters to get into the front of the gether, and they will go through the aster assistance more quickly to the
fire. acreage and mark the trees. Then later communities impacted by catastrophic
So the thinning and burning of the on, as the trust grows, they write the fires.
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Sycan Marsh Preserve are strong proof prescription, and they know it will get And we have sat to recognize that we
of why we need to use these tools, with implemented as they desire, and they need to tackle the issue of smoke. We
science-informed adjustments resulting can get a lot more work done. Do you didn’t used to talk about smoke in Or-
in the most effective strategies for dif- know what? It means this thinning op- egon, but it was smoke from burning
ferent kinds of forests. But, again, eration, this forest treatment oper- our grass seed fields, because the way
those strategies may not work as well ation, stays out of the courts. That is to get grass seed very pure was to burn
in other types of forests, and we need very important because if we are just fields every year. So we had this haze
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5555
throughout the summer. Well, it was Well, we just turned the calendar onto COVID–19 pandemic, when items like
very unhelpful to people’s health to be August—August, September, October. ventilation, along with social
breathing that smoke. So eventually We had fires starting early in the year, distancing and other infrastructure up-
we said: No, no, no, we are not going to as early as March, burning late in the grades, are desperately needed. This is
burn the fields in that fashion. year. In California, it is a year-round an easy, no-cost, bipartisan way to
But now we have the smoke from the proposition already, and Oregon isn’t help ensure that this package bolsters
forest fires, and—wouldn’t you know far behind. infrastructure in Indian Country, be-
it—when I was home last weekend, I My fervent hope is that with fires en- cause no infrastructure package would
expected to see a lot of smoke. There gulfing Oregon and California and be complete without robust, strategic
was a previous moment where I drove Idaho Montana and others, it will be a improvements to Tribal infrastructure.
600 miles during the Labor Day fires wake-up call that we need in this It has the support of the chairman and
last year, and I never got out of the Chamber to realize that we have a re- ranking member of the Indian Affairs
smoke for 600 miles. This time, I was in sponsibility to act and to act quickly. Committee, which just held a hearing
blue skies. And then I looked and saw We have an opportunity to make an on this issue last month, and I urge my
that the weather patterns were driving impact, but we have to have the policy colleagues to support it.
the smoke from our fires into Montana, knowledge and the political determina- I yield the floor.
and it was going up in the jet stream. tion to take that quick action. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
It was swirling around. There was a lot The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ator from Montana.
of smoke here in DC from the fires out ator from California. AMENDMENT NO. 2162
West. AMENDMENT NO. 2133 Mr. TESTER. Madam President,
Well, so it is a national issue. In fact, Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I thanks for the recognition. I want to
I guess the index for air quality in New understand Senator CARPER has al- start by thanking Senator JOHN THUNE
York City surged to 157, and anything ready called up the amendment 2133. on this amendment. He and I cospon-
above 100 is pretty dangerous. But that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- sored this together.
just shows the level of challenge that ator is correct. There is incredible investment in
we are addressing. Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, broadband infrastructure in this bill.
So we need to tackle the smoke, and thank you for the opportunity to speak For obvious reasons, the pandemic has
that is why I am introducing the on this important bipartisan amend- taught us that we need to have better
Smoke-Ready Communities Act and ment. I want to thank Senators broadband service if we are going to be
the Wildfire Smoke Emergency Dec- LANKFORD, MORAN, ROUNDS, SCHATZ, able to have distance learning, if we
laration Act. We need to recognize the FEINSTEIN, and SMITH for joining me in are going to have telehealth, and if we
threat not just from the fires but also this effort. are going to have businesses have it
the impact of the smoke on commu- Tribal communities face grave and and give them the opportunities to be
nities. So we need to have a way to re- unjust disparities in access to all kinds able to expand their customer base.
spond and create a national emergency of infrastructure, but the disparities Well, the challenge out there is work-
related to it. We need to prepare our and access to healthcare and health in- force, and what this bill will do is it
communities to be ready for the frastructure are increasingly stark. will help us better understand how
smoke, to have some kind of air-fil- This amendment is very simple. It is many folks are actually going to need
tered locations where people with asth- common sense, in my opinion. It is a to be hired to train on this enormous
ma and other healthcare conditions technical fix that would allow urban endeavor. It will not only help with
can escape and get to clean air when Indian organizations to use the Indian workforce, but it will also help to
the air quality drops so dramatically. Health Service funds that they already make sure working conditions are safe
And we need to protect our farm receive for infrastructure and facilities and the folks are fairly compensated
workers. So I will be introducing the improvements. for a hard day’s work.
Farmworker Smoke and Heat Protec- So I want to be clear. This amend- Look, the broadband provisions in
tion Act. We lost one of our farm work- ment would not give urban Indian or- this bill are landmark and will create
ers due to heat when this heat dome ganizations more funding or take away good-paying jobs not only during the
struck Oregon a couple of weeks ago. funding from anybody else. It would building of the infrastructure but also
There in Portland, where my house is, simply give them additional flexibility well on for decades and decades past.
it was 116 degrees, plus a wind that was to use the funding they already receive We need to make sure every commu-
blowing that turned it into a hairdryer. for necessary infrastructure improve- nity is included and nobody is left be-
You stepped outside, and you were just ments. hind. This amendment will help us
watching the plants just shrivel up. Urban Indian organizations provide achieve those goals. I would encourage
And we were fortunate. We converted culturally competent care for over 70 my colleagues to support it.
With that, I yield the floor.
our gas furnace to a heat pump so that percent of American Indians and Alas-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
we could heat our house with renew- ka Natives who live in urban centers.
ator from Delaware.
able electricity rather than fossil fuels. Many of those served live in low-in- Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I
The side benefit is we got air-condi- come, medically underserved areas. Ac- suggest the absence of a quorum.
tioning. So we had air-conditioning for cording to recent congressional testi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
the first time. But so many houses in mony from the Indian Health Service, clerk will call the roll.
Oregon don’t have it. Think about the ‘‘expanding the current authority to be The legislative clerk proceeded to
impact of 116-degree heat in a place consistent with the authority for other call the roll.
where it is rare to have a single day government contractors. . . . would Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I
ever break 100 degrees during the sum- allow [urban Indian organizations] to ask unanimous consent that the order
mer. make renovations, construction, or ex- for the quorum call be rescinded.
So we need Federal standards related pansion of facilities necessary to im- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
to smoke. We need to work with the prove the safety and quality of care objection, it is so ordered.
Occupational Health and Safety Ad- provided to urban Indian patients.’’ AMENDMENT NO. 2133
ministration to ensure that farm work- In fact, the Deputy Director of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
ers get the assistance they need to be Indian Health Service went on to state: the previous order, there will now be 2
able to work safely. Providing [urban Indian organizations]
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
minutes of debate, equally divided,
I can’t underscore enough the impor- with broader authority . . . to improve prior to a vote in relation to Padilla-
tance of us coming together as a nation their health care facilities will assist Moran amendment No. 2133.
to tackle these western fires. At this in providing the high quality, safe, and Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I
moment, the fire season is just begin- culturally relevant health care for the ask unanimous consent to yield the
ning in Oregon. It feels like we have Urban Indian population.’’ time back.
been in it forever. It is just July. We This amendment, I believe, is par- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
have August, September, October. ticularly relevant in the midst of the objection?
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S5556 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
Without objection, it is so ordered. In order to reap the benefits of 5G, we Manchin Risch Sullivan
Markey Romney Tester
VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2133 must have a skilled workforce in place Marshall Rosen Thune
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The to deploy the infrastructure necessary McConnell Rounds Tillis
question is on agreeing to the amend- to support this new technology. Menendez Sanders Toomey
Merkley Sasse
ment. Importantly, 5G technology will re- Moran Schatz
Tuberville
quire not just traditional cell phone Van Hollen
Mr. CARPER. I ask for the yeas and Murkowski Schumer Warner
nays. towers, but small antennas called Murphy Scott (FL)
Warnock
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a small cells that can often be attached Murray Scott (SC)
Warren
Ossoff Shaheen
sufficient second? to existing infrastructure, like utility Padilla Shelby
Whitehouse
There appears to be a sufficient sec- poles or buildings. Wireless providers Peters Sinema Wicker
Wyden
ond. will need to install roughly 800,000 Portman Smith
Young
Reed Stabenow
The clerk will call the roll. small cells around the Nation to sup-
The legislative clerk called the roll. port this nationwide 5G network. And NAYS—1
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the some estimates suggest we will need an Paul
Senator from New Jersey (Mr. BOOKER) additional 20,000 tower climbers alone NOT VOTING—4
is necessarily absent. for installation of this wireless infra- Booker Inhofe
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators structure. Graham Rubio
are necessarily absent: the Senator In addition, after installation, every The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this
from South Carolina (Mr. GRAHAM) and one of these small cells will have to be vote, the yeas are 95, the nays are 1.
the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. monitored and maintained, which will Under the previous order requiring 60
INHOFE). require a substantial increase in the votes for the adoption of this amend-
The result was announced—yeas 90, telecommunications workforce. ment, the amendment is agreed to.
nays 7, as follows: This amendment will help identify The amendment (No. 2162) was agreed
[Rollcall Vote No. 291 Leg.] ways in which we can expand the num- to.
YEAS—90 ber of workers enrolled in 5G training The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
Baldwin Hassan Reed programs and identify ways to grow ator from Virginia.
Barrasso Hawley Risch the telecommunications workforce Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I suggest
Bennet Heinrich Romney
well into the future. the absence of a quorum.
Blumenthal Hickenlooper Rosen The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Blunt Hirono Rounds This amendment received unanimous
Boozman Hoeven Rubio support by the Commerce Committee clerk will call the roll.
Brown Hyde-Smith Sanders earlier this year, and I would encour- The senior assistant legislative clerk
Burr Johnson Sasse proceeded to call the roll.
Cantwell Kaine Schatz age my colleagues here to do the same.
Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I
Capito Kelly Schumer The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ask unanimous consent that the order
Cardin King Scott (FL) ator from Montana.
Carper Klobuchar Scott (SC) for the quorum call be rescinded.
Casey Lankford Shaheen
Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I want The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms.
Cassidy Leahy Shelby to associate myself with the words of SMITH). Without objection, it is so or-
Collins Luján Sinema JOHN THUNE: Listen to THUNE, vote yes. dered.
Coons Lummis Smith
Cornyn Manchin Stabenow VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2162 AMENDMENT NO. 2180 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2137
Cortez Masto Markey Sullivan The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I
Cramer Marshall Tester question is on agreeing to the amend- ask unanimous consent that the fol-
Crapo McConnell Thune
Cruz Menendez Tillis ment. lowing amendment be called up to the
Daines Merkley Toomey Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and substitute and be reported by number.
Duckworth Moran Van Hollen nays. No. 1, Barrasso, 2180, which deals with
Durbin Murkowski Warner building energy codes; further, that the
Ernst Murphy Warnock The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
Feinstein Murray Warren sufficient second? Senate vote in relation to the amend-
Fischer Ossoff Whitehouse There appears to be a sufficient sec- ment at 7:40 p.m., with no amendments
Gillibrand Padilla Wicker
ond. in order to the amendment prior to a
Grassley Peters Wyden
Hagerty Portman Young The clerk will call the roll. vote in relation to the amendment,
The senior assistant legislative clerk with 60 affirmative votes required for
NAYS—7 adoption, and 2 minutes of debate di-
called the roll.
Blackburn Kennedy Tuberville
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the vided equally prior to the vote.
Braun Lee The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
Cotton Paul Senator from New Jersey (Mr. BOOKER)
objection?
NOT VOTING—3 is necessarily absent. Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I
Booker Graham Inhofe
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators would just like to join my chairman
are necessarily absent: the Senator and thank him again. This will be our
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. from South Carolina (Mr. GRAHAM), the
HEINRICH). On this vote, the yeas are third amendment of the night. I think
Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. INHOFE), it shows good progress for all of us.
90, the nays are 7. and the Senator from Florida (Mr. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Under the previous order requiring 60 RUBIO). clerk will report the amendment by
votes for the adoption of this amend- The result was announced—yeas 95, number.
ment, the amendment is agreed to. nays 1, as follows: The senior assistant legislative clerk
The amendment (No. 2133) was agreed read as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 292 Leg.]
to.
YEAS—95 The Senator from Delaware [Mr. CARPER],
AMENDMENT NO. 2162 for Mr. BARRASSO, proposes an amendment
Baldwin Coons Hawley
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under Barrasso Cornyn Heinrich numbered 2180 to amendment No. 2137.
the previous order, there will now be 2 Bennet Cortez Masto Hickenlooper The amendment is as follows:
minutes of debate, equally divided, Blackburn Cotton Hirono
(Purpose: To limit the use of certain funds
Blumenthal Cramer Hoeven
prior to a vote in relation to the Blunt Crapo Hyde-Smith made available for grants to enable the
Thune-Tester amendment, No. 2162. Boozman Cruz Johnson sustained cost-effective implementation of
The Senator from South Dakota. updated building energy codes)
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
Braun Daines Kaine
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, amend- Brown Duckworth Kelly In section 309(e) of the Energy Conserva-
Burr Durbin Kennedy tion and Production Act (as added by section
ment No. 2162 would aim to address the Cantwell Ernst King
workforce needs of the telecommuni- 40511(a)), strike the closing quotation marks
Capito Feinstein Klobuchar
and the following period and insert the fol-
cations industry and increase the num- Cardin Fischer Lankford
Carper Gillibrand Leahy lowing:
ber of workers available to deploy 5G ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of
Casey Grassley Lee
technology and broadband services to Cassidy Hagerty Luján the funds made available under subsection
rural areas across the Nation. Collins Hassan Lummis (e) may be used—
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5557
‘‘(1) to encourage or facilitate the adoption their homes, to cook, and all of those it. They want to use it because they
of building codes that restrict or prohibit the things. know the value to them and their fami-
direct use of natural gas in residential and And the article points out that Mas- lies and their way of life. They don’t
commercial buildings for space heating, sachusetts is emerging as a key battle- want Washington coming in and say-
water heating, cooking, or other purposes; or
‘‘(2) to compel the adoption of model build-
ground in this U.S. fight over whether ing: No, you can’t do it because we
ing energy codes.’’. to phase out natural gas for home know better than you do.
cooking and heating, with fears of un- And I hear a lot about that at home
Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I in Wyoming—people saying to Wash-
known costs. That is what people are
suggest the absence of a quorum. ington: You don’t know better than we
concerned about—unknown costs and
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The do. We don’t need you telling us.
unfamiliar technologies fueling much
clerk will call the roll. The bill doesn’t say that it is going
of the opposition as the country is
The senior assistant legislative clerk to tell them. We just want to make
being encouraged to go all electric.
proceeded to call the roll. sure that by adopting this amendment,
So what we are seeing is that more
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I the building codes do not bar the use of
towns around Boston are debating
ask unanimous consent that the order natural gas hookups to your home.
measures to block or limit the use of
for the quorum call be rescinded. I yield the floor.
gas in new construction, and they talk
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without I suggest the absence of a quorum.
about climate change as a reason for
objection, it is so ordered. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
that. Well, builders and realtors will
AMENDMENT NO. 2180 clerk will call the roll.
tell you that construction costs go up The legislative clerk proceeded to
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I and the cost of heating and cooking go
come to the floor today to address the call the roll.
up if you are not allowed to use natural Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I
amendment on which we will be voting gas in the construction. As a matter of
in the next 15 or 20 minutes. It is the ask unanimous consent that the order
fact, a study by a subsidiary of the Na- for the quorum call be rescinded.
Barrasso amendment to No. 2137. It has tional Association of Home Builders, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
to do with building codes in the bill published this year, estimated that objection, it is so ordered.
that is on the floor tonight for our dis- building all-electric homes in the cold- AMENDMENT NO. 2180
cussion and debate, the bipartisan in- er climates of Denver, CO, the Rocky Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I
frastructure bill. Mountain West, and Minneapolis—as rise to urge my colleagues to vote
There is money in this bill that is part of their study, they say it may against this Barrasso amendment be-
being debated today for building codes, cost at least $11,000 more to build those cause there is nothing in the under-
and this amendment is quite simple. It than it would if you could allow them lying provision that would in any way
is a consumer protection amendment, to be built for the use of gas. promote prohibiting natural gas, and
and it just says no money—no money So they are saying: Wait a second. that is what Senator BARRASSO is sug-
in this bill—can be used to bar natural Before you drive up the cost of buying gesting is in the bill.
gas hookups to your home. You can’t a new home, before you drive up the Now, if it were such as Senator BAR-
block commercial use, residential use, cost of cooking and heating your home, RASSO says, I don’t think we would
and new constructions. So no money in let’s let people make some decisions have received strong letters of support
the bill can be used to restrict or pro- for themselves. They don’t need Wash- for this specific provision from both
hibit the direct use of natural gas in ington telling us what we need to do the National Association of Home
residential and commercial buildings and what we can do. Builders and the American Gas Asso-
in support of it—space heating, water Major cities right now, including San ciation.
heating or cooking, and for other pur- Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and New I have the letters right here. I would
poses. And you can’t also use money to York, have enacted or proposed meas- actually like to read from the Home
compel the adoption of modern build- ures to ban or discourage the use of Builders’ letter.
ing energy codes. Those are local deci- natural gas in new homes and in build- The Home Builders support section
sions that are made. ings. This is 2 years after Berkeley, one 5101, which was the original section in
Why I come to the floor to speak spe- of the most liberal bastions of the the Energy bill as it passed the com-
cifically about that is that people all country, passed the first such prohibi- mittee.
around the country are very concerned tion in the United States. Cost-Effective codes implementation for
about what is in this bill and how it is And, as you can imagine, when these efficiency and resiliency.
going to affect them at home and how things are coming out of California, a And this is the important point:
they live and their pocketbooks. No State with the highest electricity costs This section promotes technical assistance
matter where you are from, people are in the country, a State with ongoing and funding for code adoption while main-
saying: How is this going to impact blackouts because of their lack of en- taining the flexibility for state and local
me? ergy effectiveness and efficiency and governments to deliver safe, energy efficient,
People who are living under the and affordable housing.
all of the mandates related to energy
times of this massive inflation that and sky-high prices, the efforts have Why would we want to get in the way
they are hitting—they are paying more sparked a backlash—no surprise— of what States and communities are al-
for groceries, they are paying more for prompting some States to make gas ready doing?
gasoline, and now they are looking at, bans illegal. I ask unanimous consent that both of
if they come out with building codes So I am coming to the floor with this these letters be printed in the RECORD.
that block natural gas hookups, what There being no objection, the mate-
amendment to point out that, as we
is that going to do to the cost of en- rial was ordered to be printed in the
are working on bipartisan legislation
ergy to heat their home, to cook, and RECORD, as follows:
and there is money in the bill for build-
all of those sorts of things? ing codes, no money can be used to pro- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
And for people who are not nec- HOME BUILDERS,
hibit natural gas hookups to homes, Washington, DC, July 13, 2021.
essarily tuned into this who may be commercial construction, residential, Hon. JOSEPH MANCHIN,
Members of this body but who don’t and new construction, because con- Chairman, Senate Energy & Natural Resources
think about how so many of the deci- sumers have to have a say in this. Committee, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
sions here impact hard-working Amer- It shouldn’t be government saying: Hon. JOHN BARRASSO,
ican families, I come to a story that We know better than you do. We will Ranking Member, Senate Energy & Natural Re-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
was in this morning’s Wall Street Jour- spend your money. We will make deci- sources Committee, U.S. Senate, Wash-
nal. The headline is ‘‘Natural-Gas sions about how you get to spend your ington, DC.
DEAR CHAIRMAN MANCHIN AND RANKING
Phaseouts Are Facing Resistance.’’ hard-earned money. MEMBER BARRASSO, On behalf of more than
And there is a reason they are facing And it is coming from the State of 140,000 members of the National Association
resistance. They are facing resistance Wyoming where a significant produc- of Home Builders (NAHB), we write to ex-
because people do not want to have to tion of natural gas is affordable, reli- press our strong support for the Energy In-
pay more money for energy to heat able, available, and people want to use frastructure Act. This legislation advances
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S5558 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2021
efforts to increase energy efficiency and re- get the American Gas Association, the Cortez Masto Luján Schatz
duce greenhouse gas emissions without strin- Duckworth Manchin Schumer
National Association of Home Builders, Durbin Markey Shaheen
gent energy code mandates that will increase and the energy efficiency advocates all Feinstein Menendez Sinema
housing prices for American home buyers.
NAHB strongly supports climate change
in agreement, and that is the result of Gillibrand Merkley Smith
the extensive negotiations that went Hassan Murphy Stabenow
programs that recognize and promote vol- Heinrich Murray Tester
untary, above-code compliance for energy ef- into this section of the bill that Sen- Hickenlooper Ossoff Van Hollen
ficiency programs. There are several pro- ator BARRASSO would overturn. Hirono Padilla Warner
grams, certifications, and other options that Now, Energy Chairman MANCHIN Kelly Peters Warnock
are incorporated into this legislation that King Reed Warren
wasn’t able to get here to speak to this Klobuchar Rosen Whitehouse
promote verifiable reductions in greenhouse provision and this amendment, but he Leahy Sanders Wyden
gas emissions. Specifically, NAHB supports opposes it. And if he were here, he
Section 5101, Cost-effective codes implemen- NOT VOTING—7
tation for efficiency and resiliency. This sec-
would say: ‘‘Let’s not mess with a good
Blunt Hawley Rubio
tion promotes technical assistance and fund- thing.’’ Booker Inhofe
ing for code adoption while maintaining the This provision doesn’t ban—it doesn’t Graham Kaine
flexibility for state and local governments to even touch natural gas. So I strongly The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this
deliver safe, energy efficient, and affordable support the bill as written and urge my vote, the yeas are 45, the nays are 48.
housing. colleagues to vote no on this amend- Under the previous order requiring 60
We commend your leadership on this vital ment.
legislation and look forward to working as a votes for the adoption of this amend-
I yield the floor. ment, the amendment is not agreed to.
partner with all levels of government to en-
courage energy efficiency. Madam President, I ask unanimous The amendment (No. 2180) was re-
Thank you for your consideration on this consent that the vote that is scheduled jected.
matter. begin immediately. The Senator from Illinois.
Sincerely, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I
JAMES W. TOBIN III. objection? suggest the absence of a quorum.
-- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Seeing none, without objection, it is
AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION, clerk will call the roll.
so ordered.
July 12, 2020. The bill clerk proceeded to call the
Hon. JOE MANCHIN III, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
Chairman, Senate Energy and Natural Re- the previous order, there will now be 2 roll.
sources Committee, Washington, DC. minutes of debate, equally divided, Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask
Hon. JOHN BARRASSO, prior to a vote in relation to Barrasso unanimous consent that the order for
Ranking Member, Senate Energy and Natural amendment No. 2180. the quorum call be rescinded.
Resources Committee, Washington, DC. Mr. BARRASSO. I yield back all The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
DEAR CHAIRMAN MANCHIN AND RANKING time. LUJÁN). Without objection, it is so or-
MEMBER BARRASSO: On behalf of the Amer- dered.
VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2180
ican Gas Association (AGA), we appreciate AMENDMENT NO. 2181 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2137
your Committee’s consideration of the legis- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask
lative proposal to address energy infrastruc- question is on agreeing to the amend-
ture throughout the country—the Energy In- unanimous consent that the following
ment.
frastructure Act. AGA is committed to re- amendment to the substitute be called
Mr. BARRASSO. I ask for the yeas
ducing greenhouse gas emissions through up and reported by number: Lummis-
and nays.
smart innovation, new and modernized infra- Kelly No. 2181; further, that the Senate
structure, and advanced natural gas tech-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
vote in relation to the amendment on
nologies that maintain reliable, resilient, sufficient second?
Tuesday, August 3, at 11:45 a.m., with
and affordable energy service choices for There appears to be a sufficient sec-
no amendments in order to the amend-
consumers. With these principles in mind, we ond.
ment prior to a vote in relation to the
are pleased to support Subtitle B—Hydrogen The clerk will call the roll.
Research and Development, Section 5002— amendment, with 60 affirmative votes
The bill clerk called the roll.
Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Cap- required for adoption and 2 minutes of
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the
italization Grant Program, and Section debate equally divided prior to the
Senator from New Jersey (Mr. BOOKER)
5101—Cost-Effective Codes Implementation vote.
and the Senator from Virginia (Mr.
for Efficiency and Resilience within the En- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
ergy Infrastructure Act. KAINE) are necessarily absent.
objection, it is so ordered.
AGA, founded in 1918, represents more than Mr. THUNE. The following Senators The clerk will report the amendment
200 local energy companies that deliver clean are necessarily absent: the Senator by number.
natural gas throughout the United States. from Missouri (Mr. BLUNT), the Senator The senior assistant legislative clerk
Nearly 180 million Americans and 5.5 million from South Carolina (Mr. GRAHAM), the
businesses use natural gas in all fifty states read as follows:
Senator from Missouri (Mr. HAWLEY), The Senator from New York [Mr. SCHU-
utilize natural gas served by an infrastruc- the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr.
ture base that is unrivaled in the world. MER],for Ms. LUMMIS, proposes an amend-
The use of natural gas, in combination INHOFE), and the Senator from Florida ment numbered 2181 to amendment No. 2137.
with energy efficiency and renewable gases— (Mr. RUBIO). The amendment is as follows:
such as hydrogen—has contributed to U.S. The result was announced—yeas 45, (Purpose: To require the Secretary of Trans-
energy-related carbon dioxide emissions de- nays 48, as follows: portation to carry out a highway cost allo-
clining to the lowest levels in three decades. [Rollcall Vote No. 293 Leg.] cation study)
Furthermore, methane emissions from nat-
YEA—45 At the end of subtitle E of title I of divi-
ural gas utility distribution systems have
Barrasso Fischer Portman sion A, add the following:
declined 73 percent since 1990, even as nat-
Blackburn Grassley Risch SEC. 115ll. HIGHWAY COST ALLOCATION
ural gas utility companies added more than
Boozman Hagerty Romney STUDY.
760,000 miles of pipeline and approximately a Braun Hoeven Rounds (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years
customer every minute. Burr Hyde-Smith Sasse after the date of enactment of this Act, the
We appreciate the work your Committee is Capito Johnson Scott (FL)
Secretary, in coordination with State de-
doing to advance legislation that would put Cassidy Kennedy Scott (SC)
Collins Lankford Shelby partments of transportation, shall carry out
in place fuel neutral approaches to address-
Cornyn Lee Sullivan a highway cost allocation study to deter-
ing the country’s energy infrastructure
Cotton Lummis Thune mine the direct costs of highway use by var-
needs. The natural gas industry has a proven
Cramer Marshall Tillis ious types of users.
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
track record of reducing emissions through Crapo McConnell Toomey (b) INCLUSIONS.—The study under sub-
energy efficiency and innovation, and we Cruz Moran Tuberville section (a) shall include an examination of—
look forward to continuing to work with you Daines Murkowski Wicker (1) the Federal costs occasioned in the de-
on these important issues. Ernst Paul Young
sign, construction, rehabilitation, and main-
Sincerely,
NAYS—48 tenance of Federal-aid highways by—
GEORGE LOWE.
Baldwin Brown Carper (A) the use of vehicles of different dimen-
Mrs. SHAHEEN. As many of my col- Bennet Cantwell Casey sions, weights, number of axles, and other
leagues know, it is unprecedented to Blumenthal Cardin Coons specifications; and
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August 2, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5559
(B) the frequency of those vehicles in the Wyoming State Grazing Board. TRIBUTE TO DR. JIM LOGAN
traffic stream; Through his work, the wildlife of Wyo-
(2) the safety-, emissions-, congestion-, and ming is left more abundant for future Ms. LUMMIS. Mr. President, today I
noise-related costs of highway use by various
generations. am honored to recognize my good
types of users, and other costs as determined friend Dr. Jim Logan, who is being in-
by the Secretary; and As Mark Anderson, current chairman
ducted into the Wyoming Agriculture
(3) the proportionate share of the costs de- of the Wyoming State Grazing Board
Hall of Fame. Since the Wyoming Agri-
scribed in paragraph (1) that are attributable observed, ‘‘Keith is currently our val-
to each class of highway users.
culture Hall of Fame was established in
ued representative on the Wyoming
(c) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the 1992, 67 agriculture leaders have been
Board of Directors to the National
study under subsection (a), the Secretary recognized for their substantial con-
Public Lands Council and he is the
shall— tributions to our great State. I speak
type of person I would like to have as
(1) ensure that the study examines only di- for many when I say Dr. Logan is more
rect costs of highway use; a neighbor.’’
than deserving of this distinguished
(2) capture the various driving conditions The Hamilton Ranch and Keith honor. He built an outstanding career
in different geographic areas of the United would not be as successful as it is in Wyoming and has risen to the high-
States; today were it not for his wife, Linda.
(3) to the maximum extent practicable,
est ranks of his profession. Beyond his
Linda has a servant’s heart and has professional success, he exemplifies
distinguish between costs directly occa- dedicated her time and efforts to many
sioned by a highway user class and costs oc- what it means to be an outstanding
events and organizations within the Wyoming citizen.
casioned by all highway user classes; and
(4) compare the costs occasioned by var- Hyattville community. She served as a
founding member of Wyoming Agri- Dr. Logan began his studies at the
ious highway user classes with the user fee
culture in the Classroom as well as on University of Wyoming in 1969 and con-
revenue contributed to the Highway Trust
Fund by those highway user classes. their board of directors. She has also tinued his education at Colorado State
(d) REPORTS.— served on the board of directors for University earning his doctor of veteri-
(1) INTERIM REPORTS.—Not less frequently Northwest College alumni, the nary medicine degree. Upon gradua-
than annually during the period during Hyattville Methodist Church, and the tion, he returned home to Riverton,
which the Secretary is carrying out the WY, and joined a veterinary medicine
study under subsection (a), the Secretary
Wyoming Association of Conservation
District. Linda held the important role practice. He later opened his own prac-
shall submit to Congress an interim report tice, and for over 40 years, he gra-
on the progress of the study. as a spokesperson for conservation dis-
tricts in both State government and ciously served his community. During
(2) FINAL REPORT.—On completion of the
study under subsection (a), the Secretary the legislature. Linda leads with a self- that time, he established a strong rep-
shall submit to Congress a final report on less volunteerism, a community-based utation among Wyoming’s farmers and
the results of the study, including the rec- spirit, and an outstanding work ethic. ranchers. He quickly excelled and be-
ommendations under subsection (e). came a reputable leader in his profes-
(e) RECOMMENDATIONS.—On completion of
In addition to their involvement in
sion.
the study under subsection (a), the Sec- civic activities, Keith and Linda Ham-
retary, in coordination with the Secretary of ilton’s love and dedication for agri- After developing extensive knowl-
the Treasury, shall develop recommenda- culture show both in their dedication edge and expertise in his field, he gen-
tions for a set of revenue options to fully to organizations, as well as in the im- erously offered many years of service
cover the costs occasioned by highway users, provement of operations on their to the State of Wyoming. Dr. Logan
including recommendations for— ranch. The Hamilton Ranch was recog- served the Wyoming Livestock Board
(1) changes to existing revenue streams; nized as the 1998 Environmental Stew- in many capacities, including as the
and State veterinarian. The agriculture
(2) new revenue streams based on user fees.
ardship Award winner, as well as a Wy-
oming Centennial Ranch in 2015. Both community in Wyoming is grateful for
f Dr. Logan’s contributions and his com-
of these reflect the nature of Keith and
TRIBUTE TO KEITH AND LINDA Linda as leaders in agriculture. mitment to health and safety for an in-
HAMILTON The Hamiltons were one of four oper- dustry that makes up the very fabric of
ations to initially enroll in the Wyo- Wyoming culture.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, at
the 109th Wyoming State Fair, Senator ming Stewardship Program in 1982. As a member of various working
LUMMIS and I will have the pleasure of This program opened the door for the groups and regulatory boards, he
introducing Keith and Linda Hamilton Hamiltons to work closely with agen- helped address some of the most press-
as 2021 inductees to the Wyoming Agri- cies such as Wyoming Game and Fish ing issues affecting our State. He was a
culture Hall of Fame. Department, Wyoming Department of central figure in the development of
Growing up as the fourth generation Agriculture, Bureau of Land Manage- Wyoming Brucellosis Designated Sur-
on the Hamilton Ranch, Keith’s agri- ment, U.S. Forest Service, and Natural veillance Area regulations. With any
cultural involvement holds deep roots Resources Conservation Service on im- decision, he constantly kept the best
in working to advance agricultural proving ranch operations. The Ham- interest of Wyoming’s livestock pro-
leadership and conserve natural re- ilton Ranch continues their involve- ducers in mind. For this, we are thank-
sources important to the western life- ment with these agencies today, lead- ful.
style. In 1975, Keith joined the Wyo- ing the way for agricultural innovation I would also like to mention that Dr.
ming Farm Bureau and began taking and collaboration in Wyoming. Logan has exceeded all expectations in
on leadership positions in 1981 as the Keith and Linda are longtime mem- what it means to be a leader in the
Big Horn County Farm Bureau vice bers of the Wyoming Wool Growers As- community. His passion for agriculture
president. In 1988, Keith joined the Wy- sociation, Wyoming Stock Growers As- has inspired the next generation of
oming Farm Bureau Federation board sociation, and past members of the farmers and ranchers. Dr. Logan is a
of directors and represented Big Horn, Mountain States Lamb Co-op. proud supporter of 4–H and FFA, serv-
Fremont, Hot Springs, Park, and With the Hamilton family’s unwaver- ing as a mentor and instructor to
Washakie Counties as the northwest ing commitment to our State, it is young people with a heart for agri-
district director until 2010. with great honor to induct them into culture. He has also taken on many
In addition to serving the agricul- the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of other leadership responsibilities on
tural community through the Wyo- Fame. Keith and Linda Hamilton rep- several State and national industry as-
ming Farm Bureau, Keith has been resent the best of Wyoming courage, sociations and committees, including
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
very active in serving on public lands optimism, and the Western Code. They the American Veterinary Medical Asso-
boards, wildlife working groups, and have represented Wyoming’s interests ciation, American Sheep Industry As-
livestock organizations. Keith has with dedication and distinction for sociation, and the Western States Live-
given his time to the Big Horn Basin many years. My wife, Bobbi, joins me stock Health Association. Outside of
Sage Grouse Working Group, the Big in congratulating Keith and Linda the agriculture industry, he served as
Horn County Predator Management Hamilton as 2021 inductees into the the chairman of the Riverton Memorial
Board, and is the past chairman of the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. Hospital Board.
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