Congressional Record, Senate — August 8, 2021, S6034
Summary
This is S6034 of the Congressional Record, Senate, August 8, 2021, with interleaved columns. The page begins with the end of remarks by a Senator about tax policy and the infrastructure bill, and morning business is closed. The Senate resumes consideration of H.R. 3684, the highway bill, with Schumer for Sinema amendment No. 2137, the Carper and Capito amendment No. 2131, and Carper amendment No. 2633 pending. Under the heading Immigration, Mr. Carper discusses workforce training, comprehensive immigration reform, and his experience as Governor building a highway, with the views attributed to the speakers.
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“Congressional Record, Senate — August 8, 2021, S6034.”
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S6034 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
why that is. Giving tax breaks to the CONCLUSION OF MORNING keys to economic growth, whether it is
wealthy might make for a happy BUSINESS my State or the State of New Mexico,
Christmas at Mar-a-Lago but not for The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- where the Presiding Officer is from,
the rest of the country. pore. Morning business is closed. one of the keys is the workforce, hav-
The real test is not whether we put ing people who are either already
f
votes on the board—and that is the bot- trained or trainable and able and will-
LEGISLATIVE SESSION ing to do the work that needs to be
tom line in the Senate—but whether
done.
the center will hold, whether or not we ---
We have a little bit of a mismatch
have a strong enough center in the INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR right now in our economy with respect
Senate dedicated to responsible invest- THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUR- to the skills that a lot of folks who are
ment and infrastructure and can over- FACE TRANSPORTATION IN without jobs would like to be having;
come the forces outside. AMERICA ACT—Resumed they would like to have a job or maybe
Former President Trump has been The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- a better job. There is a mismatch in
making all these speeches about how pore. Under the previous order, the what employers are looking for and
bad it is to have an infrastructure pro- Senate will resume consideration of what a lot of workers bring to the
gram. Well, I would just like to remind H.R. 3684, which the clerk will report. workplace. A big part of what we have
the former President: He had no infra- The senior assistant legislative clerk done in these legislative packages—I
structure program. Talked big. Deliv- read as follows: call them cares packages—in the last
ered nothing. Now, we have a chance A bill (H.R. 3684) to authorize funds for year or 2 is to provide money for work-
under President Biden to have one that Federal-aid highways, highway safety pro- force development and redevelopment
is bipartisan in nature and truly will grams, and transit programs, and for other to better equip people with the tools
help this economy and this country purposes. that they need.
over the long run. Pending: H.R. 3684
In addition, I believe that we have to Schumer (for Sinema) Amendment No. Mr. President, the reason why I men-
move further—and we certainly will 2137, in the nature of a substitute. tion these things—comprehensive im-
with the budget resolution—in invest- Carper/Capito Amendment No. 2131 (to migration reform, workforce training,
Amendment No. 2137), to strike a definition. retraining—is those are important in-
ing in America. The notion of having Carper Amendment No. 2633, to change the gredients to get our economy and to
childcare—quality childcare—available enactment date. keep our economy moving. Our econ-
and affordable to families is something
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- omy is moving in the right direction
that, unless you are a grandparent or a
pore. The Senator from Delaware. now, but we have to keep it going.
parent and know the reality, you may When I was privileged to be Governor
IMMIGRATION
overlook and shouldn’t. It is a critical of the First State, we built a highway.
factor in family welfare and good out- Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, we just
heard from the senior Senator from Il- I took the handoff from Republican
comes for children. Governor Mike Castle, and we built a
linois. I remember when he was a jun-
In addition, 2 extra years of edu- ior Congressman from Illinois, elected highway all the way from I–95, in the
cation beyond the 12th grade, provided in 1982, along with about 80 other northern part of our State, down past
by our quality community colleges Democrats and Republicans from all Dover, past the Dover Air Force Base,
across America, is the ticket for better over the country. One of them was me. all the way to our beaches. Dover has,
jobs and better training and better One of them was me. And he has been I think, more five-star beaches than
workers in the 21st century. a colleague off and on. I left the House any State in America, I am told, and it
As we stand here, our major chal- to become the Governor of Delaware, is a significant part of our economy,
lenge, I suppose—our nemesis, foe—is and he came over to the U.S. Senate, our tourist economy. And, just as tour-
China. Some of us can remember some- and now, we get to work together ism is an important component, I
thing called ping-pong diplomacy, again. think, in the economies of most of
which occurred roughly when I came He is a smart guy, a very bright guy, ours, we found that, for folks to be able
out of college. That was opening up and a very caring person and very good to get to our beaches, they needed to
what we called ‘‘Red China’’ then to at not just working with Democrats have roads, highways, and bridges.
We built State Route 1—a limited
the world and giving them an oppor- but working across the aisle. I admired
highway—from one end of the State al-
tunity to compete and to be part of the that about him in the House, and I ad-
most to the other. We took I–495, which
world conversation, and it happened mire that about him in the Senate.
basically circles the city of Wil-
dramatically. He is passionate about a lot of
mington, and essentially shut it down
I remember visiting China several things, but one of those is an impor-
and resurfaced it. We resurfaced I–95
times and the first time, watching tant one, immigration reform. And im-
from Wilmington all the way up to the
them in their Mao jackets on their bi- migration reform may seem like it is Pennsylvania line.
cycles, taking their kids to school. far afield from what we are talking We did a lot of things that were de-
What I found in later visits was a real- about here today, but for the 8 years I signed not just to help the people of
ly developed economy. The Chinese was privileged to be the Governor of Delaware get where they needed to go,
have a plan. They are mercantilists Delaware, it was a good economy—Bill wanted to go, and move products, but
first, and they are marketing around Clinton was the President—and it was also to help interstate commerce, and
the world successfully—successfully— a good economy for the country. More that is a key ingredient for those seri-
because they have a plan. We don’t jobs were created in Delaware in those ous about growing the economy of our
have a plan, not until this President 8 years than in any 8 years in Dela- country. We have got to invest in our
arrived. ware’s history. As Governor, I didn’t roads, highways, bridges, and in our
create one of them, but we did see a lot rail.
President Joe Biden has started this of job creation and economic growth, As it turns out, I came down here
plan by saying: First, we invest in our and I was the beneficiary of that, as today on a train, as I do many days.
people and make certain that their were other people in my State and God willing, I will go home tonight on
lives are easier and successful. I sup- around the country. a train. It is an Amtrak train.
port him completely in that effort. I One of the reasons why I believe that Interestingly enough, if you were to
hope many will. It should be bipar- comprehensive immigration reform is take a ton of freight and move it from,
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
tisan. If we have sympathy for the something we should have done and we will say, Washington, DC, to Bos-
wealthiest in our country, I beg my Re- ought to do is not just because we are ton, you can do it on about a gallon of
publican friends: Have some sympathy reminded on Sunday afternoon of Mat- diesel fuel. Think about that—a ton of
for the middle-income families, who thew 25—when I was a stranger in your freight from Washington, DC, to Bos-
are struggling every day to get by. land, you welcomed me—but also, it ton, MA, on about a gallon of diesel
I yield the floor. makes good business sense. One of the fuel.
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6035
You can move a lot of people on Am- What the President did is he signed But one of the most encouraging in-
trak. In the Northeast corridor, they an Executive order that said basically, vestments in clean energy is with re-
travel on electricity. Out of the cor- why don’t we—just like this legislation spect to hydrogen. I remember going to
ridor, they use different fuels to move before us builds on a foundation of leg- the Detroit auto—Delaware used to
their locomotives. islation that was reported out of the build more cars, trucks, and vans per
But one of the beauties about the leg- Environment and Public Works Com- capita than any other State. We are
islation that we have been debating mittee on drinking water, wastewater not a big State. We have about a mil-
here for the last week or two is that sanitation investments, and also legis- lion people. But we had, as recently as,
actually, in terms of getting our econ- lation reported out of the Environment gosh, 10 years ago about 3,000 or 4,000
omy moving, keeping our economy and Public Works Committee that Sen- men and women working at a Chrysler
moving, we provide significant invest- ator CAPITO and I have the privilege of plant near Newark, where the Univer-
ments in passenger rail service. We leading that focuses on roads, high- sity of Delaware is located, and a GM
also provide significant investments in ways, bridges, and the climate. But the plant near Wilmington, and it also had
roads, highways, and bridges. We pro- press conference was designed to really about 3,000 employees. When we went
vide significant investments in rail to complement what we are doing here into the great recession a decade or so
be used by freight, and we make sig- today. The Presiding Officer was there, ago, both companies went into bank-
nificant investments in our ports. along with others, as I recall. ruptcy. We lost both of those plants.
A lot of people are going to be in- But the President, in concert with The question is, What do we do about
volved, as the Presiding Officer knows, the auto industry, has basically come it? How do we recapture those jobs—
in doing all the work involving the dif- to an agreement that, just like our leg- really good jobs, union jobs, high-wage
ferent kinds of investments I just men- islation on the floor today and for the jobs, high-skill jobs? How do we recap-
tioned. Those are good jobs. Many of last week, was built on the work of sev- ture those jobs? One of the ways that
them are union jobs. They all pay the eral committees, including the Com- we can do it is providing an infrastruc-
prevailing wage and provide a lot of in- merce Committee, rail safety; includ- ture that supports energy-efficient ve-
come for communities and for the folks ing the Energy and Natural Resources hicles, electric vehicles, and hydrogen-
who do that work. Committee, energy—nuclear energy. It powered vehicles.
The other thing, at the end of the is built on the work of the Banking I remember being at the Detroit auto
day, when work is more or less com- show 10 years ago. It was the first time
Committee with respect to investments
pleted—we have made a lot of progress I met Mary Barra, who was a rising
in transit and built on the work of our
on roads, highways, and bridges, on star at General Motors, later to be-
committee too.
broadband deployment, on our ports The President’s Executive order was come the first woman CEO, and DEBBIE
and our rail and our airports—at the based on an agreement between really STABENOW, Senator STABENOW, was
end of the day, we will have created a five auto companies from about a year nice enough to introduce me to Mary
ton of jobs, and we are going to leave Barra that day.
ago in the State of California, the Cali-
in place an economy that is more effi- I also remember that that day, I
fornia Resources Board, to gradually
cient and more productive at the same think it was the Chevrolet Volt was
step up over a period of years, from
time and will enable us to grow our named the Car of the Year, and the
2022 to 2026, the requirements for re-
economy. Chevrolet Volt had its—you know, it
One of the things that I most enjoyed quired reductions by mobile sources,
reductions in greenhouse gases, with runs on battery, and at the time, it got
in the last campaign was hearing Joe
the idea that after 2026, we will expe- about 38 miles on a charge, and then
Biden talk about climate change or
dite and increase the amount of reduc- when the electricity went away, it was
global warming. He said that when he
tion that will be expected in green- all used up, the battery could run on
heard the words ‘‘climate change’’ or
house gases from our mobile source. gasoline. It was a classic hybrid. But
‘‘global warming,’’ the word that came
In any event, it is going to be hard that was 38 miles to a charge. Ten
to mind for him was ‘‘jobs.’’ ‘‘Jobs.’’
I like to say it is possible to do good for the auto industry, which was rep- years later, my family and I just
and do well at the same time. It is pos- resented at that press conference. It is bought an electric-powered vehicle,
sible to build a more efficient, more going to be hard for them to meet the and it gets 326 miles on a charge—326
productive economy and a cleaner kind of goals that are laid out in the miles on a charge. You think about 38
economy, but it puts people to work as President’s Executive order unless we miles on a charge a decade ago to 326
we do that, and then they will continue make investments not just in roads, miles on a charge today, that is one
to work in the years to follow. highways, and bridges but also in heck of an improvement, an increase. If
At the end of all those investments charging stations and fueling stations. we want to lead the—and that is where
and all that work, we will end up with As the Presiding Officer knows, there people are going to go.
far fewer emissions from our cars, are investments in our committee’s I drove to the train station this
trucks, and vans. God willing, we will bill and in this bill that is before us morning. It is just a fun car to drive. It
end up with a lot fewer emissions from today that make significant invest- has great torque, and it is just a fun
our stationary emitters of greenhouse ments in charging stations and fueling car, a great looking car. When you
gasses. stations. When we say ‘‘fueling sta- drive it, you have the joy of knowing
The second major source of emissions tions,’’ I am not talking about nec- that you are not polluting our planet.
in our country is powerplants, and the essarily gasoline and diesel; I actually If we can provide the electricity in sus-
third greatest source of emissions in am thinking of hydrogen. tainable ways, renewable ways—off-
our country is from manufacturing op- In the Finance Committee piece—it shore wind, for example, solar—that is
erations—cement plants for example. will probably be in the reconciliation even better. It is even better.
Those are the three top ones. The legis- package that we take up—there is leg- So we are at a point right now where
lation that is before us enables us to— islation that provides tax incentives to I think about 3 percent of the vehicles
we will make greater progress with re- really build a much more efficient and on the road in this country are powered
spect to those three sources of carbon clean economy in a variety of ways. by electricity or hydrogen or some
pollution than just about anything I Our Presiding Officer has worked a other sustainable source—3 percent.
can think of. lot on methane, to reduce methane That is up from about 1 percent just a
The President hosted a press con- emissions, and to provide maybe an couple years ago. That may seem
ference the other day at the White economic structure where leakage of small, but when you look at the mar-
House. He invited several of our col- methane, which is a potent greenhouse ket capitalization of Tesla and com-
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
leagues to join him and participate. He gas—we want to reduce that—but to pare it to, I think, any of the big three,
also invited the auto industry, auto big develop an economic model that re- the market capitalization of Tesla is
three, to come and the other auto com- wards companies, refineries, and others enormous compared to the other com-
panies as well. There were folks there to reduce their methane emissions and panies from which I bought our fam-
from the environmental community. It figure out how to reinvest that money ily’s cars for decades, and they are get-
was a great celebration. and ways to create clean energy. ting into the race.
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S6036 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
You know, renewable energy, electric world; in order for us to create the here in our Nation’s Capital, and that
vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles kinds of good-paying jobs that will flow is what the people who sent us here
have a little bit of catching up to do, from that economic activity; in order want us to do. Fortunately, we now
but the market signal here that we are to get reduction in not just carbon di- have a President and even a majority
getting from Tesla’s market capitaliza- oxide and greenhouse gases but in of Members of Congress who under-
tion is the market says EVs—hydro- other pollutants, the way to do that is stand that we can no longer wait for
gen-powered fuel cells—that is where to invest, and it is not all on the Fed- climate action. We need to take that
the market is going. It sends a very eral Government. action, take those steps.
strong signal for investment purposes, We provide R&D for technology On President Biden’s first day in of-
and that is where we are going. We in through a variety of ways, but the idea fice, he put the United States back in
this country can choose to follow the is for us to make those investments in the Paris climate agreement. Soon
parade, or we are going to lead the pa- ways that can be monetized, if you after, President Biden told the world
rade, and we can follow the parade led will, by businesses, by industry to cre- we would put this country on a path to
by the Chinese and Japanese and oth- ate good-paying jobs and do good and reduce over half of our climate emis-
ers toward this new future or not. do well at the same time, create eco- sions by the end of the current decade.
I want to go back to the Detroit auto nomic value, create good-paying jobs, The President then laid out a road-
show. I was there a couple of years and help us meet our targets to reduce map through the American Jobs Plan
after the Chevrolet Volt was named the greenhouse gases in this country by a on how he would reduce emissions, re-
Car of the Year, and I was walking great deal by the year 2050. That is the place our crumbling infrastructure,
around the place, a huge place, and I goal of the current administration. It and grow our economy all at the same
was walking around, and I came across is the goal of a lot of us here in this time.
a—they call it a stand, and at the auto body and across the country. The bill before us today does not
show—it is not really a stand, but they I hadn’t really thought about giving fully realize that transformative vi-
have these platforms for vehicles, you a talk, but it was just playing off of sion, as some of us had hoped. In many
know, maybe 2 or 3 feet up. They have what Senator DURBIN was talking areas, it falls short of the investments
platforms that they have for different about, and I wanted to share that with we need to reach our climate goals. But
models. Sometimes they are models everybody today. this bill does make significant and in
I love to quote Albert Einstein. A lot some cases historic investments in sus-
that are just being launched; some-
of people remember Albert Einstein tainable infrastructure and a cleaner
times they are models of the future,
used to say: The definition of ‘‘insan- economy.
you know.
ity’’ is to do the same thing over and As many of our colleagues know,
One day I was at the Detroit auto
over again and expect a different re- some of the most important climate in-
show, about 5 years ago. I think it
sult. That is a pretty good quote, but vestments we can make in the Federal
might have been Toyota—I went by
my favorite is, in adversity lies oppor- Government are investments in clean
their stand, and they had this—really
tunity. In adversity lies opportunity. I transportation. The transportation sec-
different—they had built around the
believe that with every fiber of my tor is the largest source, as I said ear-
vehicle on the stand, and they had
being. lier, of greenhouse gas emissions in our
framing. It was like 2 by 4’s of what I We face plenty of adversity politi-
was told was a garage. There was a car economy. Roughly 28 percent comes
cally here in this country today, with
in the—you have to use your imagina- from cars, trucks, and vans that we
direct threats against our country
tion, but there was a car in the garage, drive. So reducing emissions from our
from terrorism and threats against our
and there was a house, part of a house, mobile sources—our cars, trucks, and
planet from too much carbon in the air
attached to the garage. vans—is a critical part of reaching our
and greenhouse gases. But it turns out,
I asked the person from I believe Nation’s climate goals.
on almost every one of those fronts,
Toyota—I said: What is this? In the Environment and Public
there is opportunity to make a better
They said: This is the future. Works Committee, I am privileged to
world and to make a better world by
They had actually named their fu- lead with Senator CAPITO of West Vir-
providing a lot of jobs and a lot of eco-
ture of—division of the company—I ginia and our colleagues on both sides
nomic opportunity.
think it is called Mirai, something like With that being said, I don’t see any- of the aisle. We worked together ear-
that, which means ‘‘future.’’ one waiting to speak, so I am going to lier this year to pass the surface trans-
The idea there is to use fuel cells and give my prepared remarks. I should be portation reauthorization that ad-
hydrogen. They told that day—they finished by about sundown, or it may vances many of the climate goals in
said that combination can help propel seem that way, but it won’t be. But President Biden’s American Jobs Plan.
that vehicle that is in that make-be- these are too good not to enumerate. I might add that we have 20 members
lieve garage. It can heat the house that It is good to see the Presiding Officer of our committee—10 Democrats, 10 Re-
is there alongside of it using—image, this morning—this afternoon. I rise to publicans—and we voted unanimously
heat that house in the winter and cool talk about the downpayment that the to report the bill out of committee and
that house in the summer. bill before us makes in terms of cli- to send it to the Senate floor, where it
I said: Really? mate by making investments in clean became part of this legislation that is
They said: Yes. That is the future. vehicles and clean vehicle infrastruc- before us today.
They were going to call it, I think, ture. Our bill includes a historic climate
Mirai. And that is becoming real. That Long before I began representing title with over $18 billion in invest-
is becoming real. Delaware in the U.S. House of Rep- ments to reduce greenhouse gas emis-
One of the pieces of legislation that a resentatives and later as Governor and sions and make our roads more resil-
bunch of us have worked on is how do as Senator, I was a naval flight officer ient to a changing climate.
we provide hydrogen in a clean way so in the Vietnam var. I am the last Viet- Within the surface transportation
we don’t contribute to more green- nam veteran serving in the U.S. Senate climate title is significant funding in
house gases. There is a process—I stud- today. support of a national network of clean
ied economics, but I know relatively In the Navy, we had a lot of sayings, vehicle recharging and refueling infra-
little about chemistry, but there is a but the Navy has one saying that I structure throughout our Nation’s
process called electrolysis where you think is most fitting for our fight highways and our State roads. This in-
can use electricity and water and cre- against climate change, and it is this: vestment is about giving Americans a
ate oxygen and hydrogen and do it in a ‘‘All hands on deck.’’ ‘‘All hands on real choice when it comes to figuring
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
clean, sustainable way. deck.’’ This is an all-hands-on-deck out what they want to drive and ensur-
So those are some of the things that moment, and it requires us to move ing that every driver in America in
are going on. The reason why I men- past divisive rhetoric and to work to- every region of our country can con-
tion them is because, in order for us to gether to find solutions. veniently access fueling and charging
lead the parade on cars, trucks, and Today, we are showing that we can stations for electric or hydrogen-pow-
vans, low-emission vehicles around the work together and make real progress ered vehicles.
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6037
Investments in clean vehicle infra- from the private sector. So we are air and a healthier climate and grow-
structure is more important today using a little bit of Federal money—ac- ing economy.
than ever. Every CEO of our Nation’s tually quite a bit of Federal money to You know, the thing that we love
car manufacturers tells us the same incent investment by the private sec- most of all about our electric vehicle is
thing: The future of the auto industry tor. it is just fun to drive. It is, as we say
is zero-emission vehicles. Let me say I was talking to some folks from a in Delaware, a hoot, and great torque,
that again. The future of the auto in- company; I think it is a Tennessee- great acceleration, and a lot of fun to
dustry in this country and around the based company. I don’t want to mess be out on the road. That more than
world is zero-emission vehicles. The up their name. But they have truck- anything else will help sell it and pro-
global market is rushing to zero-emis- stops throughout the country where vide the infrastructure that they need.
sion vehicles, and our car companies larger trucks can fill up on diesel fuel. With all the good work we did in our
need to invest in electric vehicles or be They sell gasoline, and they have food EPW Committee on the surface trans-
left behind. and that kind of thing. They are inter- portation bill, it should be no surprise
I mentioned Mary Barra earlier. I ested in investing in charging stations that the EPW bill is part of the founda-
met her at the Detroit auto show a and fueling stations, hydrogen fueling tion of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal
number of years ago. I called her last stations, and what they need is an in- that is before us today. The bipartisan
year and urged her and General Motors centive to do that. The legislation that compromise before us expands invest-
to join five car companies that had is before the Finance Committee pro- ments for charging and refueling infra-
found common cause with the Cali- vides that kind of incentive, and I structure to a total of I think about
fornia Air Resources Board and several think it will make a difference. $7.5 billion. The bill also includes fund-
dozen other States in stepping down So the need for charging stations and ing for electric schoolbuses and elec-
and reducing greenhouse gas emissions fueling stations is not going to be just tric transit buses.
from vehicles in manufacture. I urged on the Federal Government’s dime. It Specifically, our bill authorizes a
her to bring GM into the fold and join is not going to be just the State and grant program for alternative fuel cor-
with the other five or so companies local governments. It is not going to ridors that will provide much needed
just be the Wawas of the world or the funding to strategically deploy pub-
that had found common cause with
convenience stores of the world. It is licly accessible electric vehicle charg-
California and lots of States, including
not going to just be the auto industry. ing infrastructure along designated al-
my State of Delaware.
She said to me: We are not prepared It is really all of us, with a major role ternative fuel corridors that will be ac-
to do that just yet. She went on to say that the Federal Government could cessible to all drivers.
We also create a community grant
that the future is electric. She said the play to encourage those investments.
Speaking of General Motors, General program to provide funding to expand
future of her industry is electric. I am
Motors has announced its intention to access to electric vehicle charging in-
all in on electric. She said: We need frastructure, especially in rural and
three things in order to be able to be produce only electric vehicles by 2035—
disadvantaged communities.
successful in doing that, in making only electric vehicles by 2035. Ford has
This bill will also provide an addi-
that transition. The first thing we need announced that all the vehicles it sells tional $5 billion distributed by formula
is a 300-mile range on recharging. in Europe will be electric by 2030. Jag- to the States to build out EV charging
I just bought a vehicle a month or uar will go electric in 2025. Volvo has so that drivers and car buyers can be
two ago that gets 326 miles on a announced that it will sell only elec- confident of having access to a nation-
charge—326. That is up from 38 miles tric cars by 2030. Volkswagen has an- wide network of charging infrastruc-
on a charge on a Car of the Year 10 nounced its plan to increase its sales of ture.
years ago, a Chevrolet product, and it electric vehicles by 2030 such that 70 As I said before, this is just a down-
was a huge improvement. percent of the vehicles it sells in Eu- payment on what we can and must do
Anyway, Mary Barra said: We need a rope and 50 percent of the vehicles it in terms of climate action. However, as
300-mile range. And they have it in sells in the United States and China everyone who has bought a house
their cars now, several models. Ford will be electric. Mini, like Mini Cooper, knows, sometimes downpayments are
has it. Chrysler is moving in that di- has also announced its transition to hard to do and the most important step
rection and a bunch of foreign compa- electric vehicles. Mercedes just an- toward success.
nies as well. nounced its new cars would all be elec- Let me close with this. My colleagues
Anyway, she said: In addition to a tric by 2030 in markets that are ready know that I try to focus on the areas
300-mile range, we need fueling sta- for electrification. And the list goes on. where we can find consensus.
tions, charging stations. We need them, The leading trade association for the We just had a funeral out in Wyo-
she said, not just in a couple of places, auto sector states that it is committed ming a couple of days ago to say good-
but we need them all over the country. to ‘‘net zero carbon transportation’’ bye to our beloved colleague, Senator
The third thing she said: We need and believes that the nation that leads Mike Enzi, who is sort of—I call him—
technology where people can charge development and adoption of elec- the author of the 80–20 rule that says:
and recharge their batteries and not in trification and other innovative tech- We agree—this is in his words. He used
hours around the country but in min- nologies will ‘‘shape supply chains, de- to work with Ted Kennedy on the
utes. fine global standards, and potentially Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-
My wife and our son and I drove over reshape the international market- sions Committee. It is an amazingly
the Fourth of July weekend. We drove place.’’ productive committee and an impor-
from Wilmington, DE, to Wilmington, A recent letter from the Alliance for tant committee. Ted Kennedy was the
NC, in our new electric vehicle. We had Automotive Innovation, United Auto senior Democrat, and Mike Enzi was
to recharge it a couple of times, but it Workers, and the Motor and Equipment the senior Republican.
has a 326-mile range. Manufacturers Association states that And I always asked Mike Enzi on this
The other thing: Along I–95, we have both business and labor are ‘‘com- floor—I said: How can the two leaders
a lot of charging stations. We have a mitted to working toward a netzero in this committee, one a Democrat and
vehicle that actually tells us where the carbon transportation future that in- one a real conservative Republican—
charging stations are, so you don’t cludes a shift to electric-drive vehi- how can you get so much done?
have to worry about having range anx- cles.’’ To accomplish this, they believe And he said: We believe in the 80–20
iety. that the United States must have a rule. We focus on the 80 percent that
But we don’t have enough charging ‘‘comprehensive national vision and we agree on most of the time; and the
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
stations, and the legislation that is be- strategy’’—a ‘‘comprehensive national other 20 percent, we set it aside to
fore us today will not create enough in vision and strategy.’’ work on it some other time.
and of itself. But the investment tax Expanding and improving access to If Mike Enzi is looking down today, I
credit that will be part of our Finance clean vehicle infrastructure will facili- know that he will be saying ‘‘amen.’’
Committee package later on will help tate increased consumer demand for And we should follow his lead there,
encourage a whole lot of investment more clean vehicles, spurring cleaner and this is one good place to do that.
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S6038 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
I always want to get things done by West Virginia worked together, on a bi- And that digital divide makes a huge
working with my colleagues across the partisan basis. And my recollection is difference because, again, those kids
aisle because I think bipartisan solu- the underlying bill that we pick up in are going to fall behind, certainly dur-
tions are lasting solutions. I like to this broader bill that has to do with ing the pandemic, when they had to be
find those where we can. I am com- roads and bridges and so on passed with accessing the internet to just stay up
mitted to working with my Republican a vote of 22 to nothing out of this com- with school. But even postpandemic,
friends in the Senate on getting all mittee, and that is because they did you know, we want to be sure that that
these actions across the finish line. good work in finding out where there learning opportunity is there.
We will continue to work toward was common ground. And, frankly, you And then in terms of telehealth, you
these urgent needs in the budget rec- know, the American people deserve to know, there are veterans in southeast
onciliation process. Again, it is an all- have good roads and bridges and infra- Ohio who aren’t able to make the drive
hands-on-deck moment, requiring structure to drive on and travel on. So to the VA clinic in Columbus or else-
meaningful investments in climate ac- it is a big part of this bill, and I thank where, but they can take advantage of
tions in a lot of different ways. The him for his work on that. telehealth; and they have, to the ex-
last thing we cannot afford is inaction. We have now voted twice to proceed tent they have access to it during the
The last thing we cannot afford to do is to this very important legislation, to pandemic, and it has been actually
to wait until later. finally, after a lot of years of talking quite helpful. But if they don’t have ac-
We got to put in place commonsense about it, making major improvements cess to the internet and high enough
policies, some of which we talked about to our Nation’s roads and bridges and speed internet, they can’t get the
today, and a lot of which is included in railroads and ports and waterways and healthcare at home that they need for
the legislation before us. These are water infrastructure, electrical grids, appointments.
policies that can spur economic invest- our broadband networks, and more. It It is also important for business. If
ments in our Nation’s aging infrastruc- is overdue. you are a small business owner in these
ture, reduce our transportation pollu- And I am delighted to say that twice parts of the country that don’t have
tion, and support the millions of Amer- now we have voted to proceed to final internet access, it is really tough to
icans who are considering buying a passage. One was a vote of 66 to 28, and get off the ground. And these are the
clean car today or sometime soon. the other was a vote of 67 to 27. And, very areas of the country where we
My hope is that we can work to- frankly, there were a couple of people want to have more economic develop-
gether to support our Nation’s clean on our side of the aisle who were not ment, so that is in this legislation as
energy infrastructure and move our able to come vote, one of whom has well.
economy to a brighter future. COVID and the other, in both cases, And in terms of water infrastructure,
And before I yield the floor, I will somebody had travel difficulties. So we Ohio has got a lot of aging water infra-
just say to the Presiding Officer my ap- would have had two more votes on our structure. I saw someone wrote a story
preciation to her and the work that she side that were positive votes as well. recently, saying that only about a
and the committee that she serves on So this is a supermajority, and it is quarter of this bill goes into hard as-
and helps to lead, the Energy and Nat- because the legislation makes sense for sets. That is just not accurate. In fact,
ural Resources Committee. the States represented here in this a quarter of it goes to roads and
I mentioned that a major source—a Chamber and for the American people. bridges and even more, I guess. But
large source of carbon emissions comes It will improve the lives of all Ameri- water infrastructure is a hard asset.
from our mobile sources, but No. 2 is cans. It will make life better. So the Ask the communities in Ohio that
power plants, and the Presiding Officer mom who is stuck commuting, who have been told by the EPA, in Repub-
is doing good work that helps to ad- would rather be spending time with her lican and Democrat administrations:
dress emissions there. The rest of us family every day, you know, is going to You got to fix your sewer system; you
look forward to being able to partner have the ability, through better trans- got to fix your drinking water system;
with her on that in the days ahead, so portation infrastructure, to have fewer you can’t have combined sewer over-
I thank the Presiding Officer for her minutes and hours every day in grid- flow.
good leadership. lock. And they just can’t afford it, particu-
Before the gentleman from Ohio The truck driver who leaves the larly in these mid-size cities. They are
speaks, I just want to acknowledge my home, you know, and says goodbye to really excited about water infrastruc-
friend and the friend of the Democrats. his family and goes on a long haul and ture.
I shouldn’t say complimentary things thinks, ‘‘You know, am I going to be Our ports, that is hard infrastructure
like that to our Republican colleagues, safe?’’ it will be safer, thanks to this too. So ships are lined up at some ports
I suppose, but I just want to applaud legislation. right now, including out West. And so
him for the leadership that he and Sen- We had two trucks collide on a bridge if you are a consumer, you are trying
ator SINEMA and 20 other colleagues in Ohio recently. It is not safe. There is to buy something and you are won-
have fought for us in trying to get us no shoulder on the bridge anymore be- dering why you can’t get it, including,
to a good place and bringing the legis- cause the traffic is bearing twice the you know, maybe an electronic device
lation here before us. We are grateful number of vehicles that it was designed you want, or maybe it is a part to an
for his leadership. He has about an- for. automobile that you want, a lot of it is
other year, year and a half to serve in The mom who has been taking her it is stuck. Stuff is stuck right now be-
the Senate, and I and the rest of us daughter to the public library parking cause our ports are not efficient
want to make sure that that is a very lot 30, 40 miles from their home to get enough and capable enough to handle
productive period of time. We are hope- internet access in order for her daugh- what they should be able to do.
ful we can get this done, and we will ter to do her homework will now be Our land ports, if you are concerned
not just celebrate together, but we will able to have internet and be able to about the southern border and the abil-
do good work. We will have done really have broadband in her community ity to screen trucks and cars coming in
good work together. right up to her home because of this to try to keep some of this deadly
I yield the floor. historic investment in ensuring that fentanyl and other drugs from coming
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. the digital infrastructure is put in over our southern border, you should
SMITH). The Senator from Ohio. place. So you don’t have this divide. want this legislation because it is
Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I We have got counties in Ohio that going to provide more infrastructure
appreciate my colleague from Dela- just don’t have internet, period, and for our ports.
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
ware. He is the chair of the committee others have very slow internet. We So there is a lot in here that will
that produced a lot of the work that have got about 30 counties that are a make people’s lives better, and that is
went into this package. Roads, bridges, part of Appalachia. We have got about obviously one reason that this is so
the highway bill, and the surface trans- 18 of those counties that are unserved popular, because people do expect it
portation bill comes through his com- and another large group that are un- here in America. This great economy
mittee. He and Senator CAPITO from derserved. we have, we should be able to also lead
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6039
the road in infrastructure, and we key foreign competitors, like China, for this proposal. So for those in Big
don’t. There is a study out saying, in spend now four times more on infra- Ag States, I would say, listen to your
fact, we are not even in the top 10 in structure than we do. Farm Bureau—you usually do—and
terms of infrastructure around the China is spending four times more as they will tell you this is very good for
world. a percent of their economy on infra- the farmer who wants to get his crops
It also will make our infrastructure structure than we do. Why? Because to the market.
more resilient to natural disasters and they want their economy to be more ef- In Ohio, we have a lot of soybeans.
other crises. It will make our Nation ficient. They want to compete with us We want to get them to the elevator in
safer and more secure. It will grow our and win. We want to compete with order to be efficient, but we also send
economy in a million small but mean- them and have American workers win. them all over the world. So we want
ingful ways. What the economists say Thirteenth in the world is based on a our ports to be efficient.
when they look at this legislation—and study that is done periodically. To en- But it is not just the Farm Bureau.
by the way, again, every President in sure that we are comparing apples to You have the National Association of
modern times has proposed this big in- apples, they look at all kinds of things. Manufacturers supporting this, the
frastructure package for this reason. America has a very strong, competitive American Chamber of Commerce, the
They say it will make your economy economy, generally, but infrastructure Business Roundtable, and the AFL–CIO
more efficient. is a weakness for us. Building Trades Council. The men and
So we have fallen behind on infra- So this is the World Economic women who do the work strongly sup-
structure, and if we can catch up, the Forum. They put this study out peri- port this legislation. So it is going to
economy is more efficient; therefore, odically. I follow it. I look at it be- help in terms of jobs, competitiveness.
we are more productive; therefore, the cause it has a lot of different things in And, again, it is no wonder that so
economy grows; therefore, more tax it—not just infrastructure—as to how many people over the years have said:
revenue comes in from infrastructure. our economy is working. We need to fix our infrastructure.
How are we doing on permitting? Every President in modern times, by
So it is a good long-term investment.
Not so good. Guess what. We have the way, has had a proposal to do so.
It is not money that is going to be
permitting reform in this package, and The joke here in Washington is, ‘‘Oh, it
spent next year. Think of the projects
the permitting reform will allow the is infrastructure week again’’ because,
in your community that might be
Federal dollar to go further. frankly, administrations over time
helped. That project may last for 10, 15
So think about it: If it takes 6, 8, 10 have had infrastructure week—‘‘We are
years, even before it is finally com-
years to permit a project, the enor- going to get infrastructure done this
pleted.
mous cost involved in that. But if you week’’—and nothing has happened.
So this money goes out over time for
can do it in 2 years, which is the goal Congress has been stuck.
hard infrastructure. That is one reason We have been in gridlock on this,
it doesn’t affect inflation in a negative of our permitting reform, that makes a
kind of like the gridlock during rush
way. In fact, it is counterinflationary huge difference. And a lot of it is be-
hour in so many of our cities today
because it invests in hard assets and in cause you have a lot of different Fed-
that we want to fix with this bill. Well,
jobs over time. If you are in business, eral Agencies that are requiring per-
that gridlock here has kept us from
think about your capital expenditures. mits. If you have an energy project,
doing what we are trying to do in this
Your capex budget is going to be dif- whether it is a fossil fuel project or
legislation.
ferent than your day-to-day spending whether it is a renewable energy Five hundred and fifty billion dollars
than you probably thought of from project, you can have as many as 30—I in additional funding over the next 5
your capex. am told, in 1 case, 35 different permits. years is what this is. Others have said
It is going to also take some impor- By the time you finish the first 30, you it is a trillion. I don’t—it is $550 bil-
tant steps to repair, replace, and build have to go back to the first one again lion. It is actually a little less: $548 bil-
assets that will last for decades. Again, to get fit in. It is crazy. lion is what the final number was over
that makes life better for people. It We had a project in Ohio actually 5 years, as a shot in the arm to help get
makes the economy more efficient. It shut down because they just couldn’t these projects going, not just in the
also is something that, as economists handle the permitting. It was actually next year or 5 years but over the next
look at it, they believe will be counter- a hydropower along the Ohio River. 20 or 30 years. This money will be
inflationary. So that is in this legislation, too— spread out over time.
It has been made clear in poll after historic permitting reform—and that But this is part of how we get Amer-
poll this is something that brings this should make sense to every taxpayer. ica on a track where we have good-pay-
country together. So, unbelievably, Yet we want to go through the environ- ing jobs and more efficiency in our
there is a poll by CNBC showing 87 per- mental studies. That is fine, but let’s economy long term.
cent of the American people think it is do it quickly and efficiently and re- Every President, as I said, has tried
important that we, here in Congress, quire one Agency to be in charge and to get the infrastructure bill done. One
invest in improving our roads and our accountable. That is what this does. It of those Presidents is our most recent
bridges. requires that there be a dashboard that President, President Donald Trump,
Within a couple of months, another anybody can look up and find out who pushed to pass a $1.5 trillion infra-
poll by CBS found exactly the same where that project is. That keeps it structure bill during his time in office
number, that 87 percent of the Amer- moving, very transparent. That is in in his budget. As a developer, he gets
ican people support more Federal this proposal. it. He understands the importance of
spending on repairing roads and So there are some good things in here infrastructure, and I applaud him for
bridges. that ensure that the money that is that.
An Associated Press poll found that 8 spent is spent more wisely than it has And, honestly, I think he changed
in 10 Americans favor plans to increase been in the past. the discussion a little bit on my side of
funding for roads, bridges, and ports, Let’s be sure people can’t come back the aisle. I think he got more Repub-
and for pipes that supply drinking and sue after the fact. We take the licans thinking. One of my colleagues
water. That is what the bill does. amount of time that someone can come told me recently the two things gov-
And we need the investment. Let’s be back after the fact and sue on a project ernment ought to do and do well is na-
honest. The American Society of Civil from 6 years to 2 years. That is very tional defense and infrastructure. I
Engineers gives our infrastructure in important to developers. That is very think there are other things that gov-
America a grade of C-minus. That is important to our workforce. That is ernment does as well, but that is not a
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
not very high. And they project our very important to the building trades bad list for what the priorities ought to
economy stands to lose more than $10 in this country. be for the Federal Government. Look
trillion in GDP—$10 trillion in our You look at the list of supporters of at the Interstate Highway System as
economy—by 2039, if we fail to invest this project, and, I mean, it is unbeliev- an example of what needs help now.
in these repairs. We have fallen to 13th able. The American Farm Bureau and So I appreciate the fact that Presi-
in the world in infrastructure while over 30 farm groups have now come out dent Trump got the discussion going
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S6040 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
among Republicans who might not pre- advantage of it. So that is really im- credit to the feedback effect from tax
viously have focused on that. portant. cuts.
Here are just a few highlights of what We also strengthen the provision, Democrats are kind of just the oppo-
we secured in this legislation. make it cover more projects, and en- site. They think there should be more
We are going to provide billions in sure that, again, we are going to get feedback effect—in other words, a dy-
funding for some of our most pressing these permitting reforms to make this namic score as relates to spending.
hard infrastructure needs: $110 billion dollar—this Federal dollar—go further. And we disagree on their calculation
in new spending over the next 5 years And we are going to make a nec- of scoring. But that is who we have to
to construct, rebuild, and maintain our essary investment in the future of our rely on.
Interstate Highway System, our roads, economy by providing $65 billion to in- So the CBO estimate that just came
and our bridges. crease access to broadband services to out, including what they said about
That is going to make a big dif- connect more Americans to the inter- their official score, was disappointing
ference for us in Ohio. We have 123,000 net. to me because they didn’t follow what
miles of roads. And where traffic con- In Ohio, it is estimated that about we wrote in the law. We have had this
gestion occurs in Ohio, we have an esti- 300,000 households lack access to the discussion, and, you know, they are the
mated $4.7 billion lost each year—lost high-speed broadband that many of us arbiter. So my same Republican col-
time, wasted fuel, according to the just take for granted. We assume ev- leagues who have complained about
American Society of Civil Engineers— erybody has it. People don’t. It is hold- CBO over the years in other contexts
$4.7 billion because of traffic conges- ing folks back from being able to get are now saying: Well, look, the CBO
tion in Ohio alone. the schooling they need, the healthcare score isn’t high enough. You know, you
They also say there are currently they need, or to have the economic op- said about half of it would be paid for
more than 46,000 bridges in our country portunities that come with being con- by official CBO scores. Well, it is, but
that are considered structurally defi- nected to the internet. they didn’t give us credit for it.
cient and in poor condition. Think These are just a few highlights, and I One example is CBO’s limitation that
about that: 46,000 bridges considered can go on. But the bottom line is that they can’t account for States returning
structurally deficient and in poor con- we are dedicating almost $550 billion to to the Federal Treasury the money
dition—46,000. And yet, 178 million new infrastructure spending over the that we dictated they had to return in
trips are taken across these deficient next 5 years to go toward a wide range our bill. They just won’t do it.
Fifty-three billion dollars was in our
bridges every single day. One hundred of priorities that will collectively have
legislation for unused funds from the
and seventy-eight million cars or a positive impact on the people I rep-
enhanced COVID UI supplemental put
trucks go over these same structurally resent and all Americans.
in place during COVID–19. Recouping
deficient bridges. Importantly, we have funded our bill
this outdated supplement is a win for
Ohio, by the way, is No. 2 in the Na- through a number of responsible pay-
the American taxpayers, and everyone
tion for bridges. We like bridges in fors without any new taxes on working
should support sending it back toward
Ohio. We have lots of creeks and rivers families, on small businesses, on large
projects like infrastructure that help
and railroad tracks to go over. We have businesses, on anybody. This is being move our economy forward rather than
over 40,000 bridges, but nearly half of done without tax hikes. for other purposes. And yet CBO gives
those are not in good condition. That is That is significant because, remem-
us no credit for that.
the reason I am pleased this bill pro- ber, when we first started talking CBO is not fully able to reflect the
vides $12.5 billion to fund the bipar- about infrastructure, it was in the con- funding streams that will help pay for
tisan Bridge Investment Act that will text of a proposal from the Biden ad- our legislation in other ways as well. I
award competitive grants to improve ministration for a huge increase in will give you, perhaps, the two most
our Nation’s bridges based on whether taxes. It was a $2.65 trillion package striking examples of this.
they are major bridges of commercial and included incredibly steep tax in- One is that working with the White
activity, based on their condition, creases. In fact, taxes increased to House, working with the Office of Man-
based on their safety. much more than taxes were cut back in agement and Budget, working with the
We have $60 billion total to help 2017 in that proposal, about four times individual Agencies, we were able to
State and local government fund major more. Some say five times more. determine that some of the COVID–19
construction projects, like the long- But we decided: No, let’s not do that. funds that this Congress had sent back
awaited Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Let’s pull infrastructure from this to the States through Agencies was not
in my hometown of Cincinnati, OH. We package—really core infrastructure, being spent, and so we wanted to repur-
have been talking about replacing the because infrastructure is being defined pose that money through this purpose.
Brent Spence Bridge as long as I have in ways that it had never been defined Remember, we spent a lot of money, in-
been in elected office, and that has before, including so-called soft infra- cluding $1.9 trillion recently. But even
been a while. It has been probably 25 structure: social spending for nursing before that, four different pieces of leg-
years of talking about this. Let’s get it homes or for healthcare or for electric islation were sending money out to the
done. car companies outside of infrastruc- States for COVID–19 purposes.
We are going to make immediate re- ture. And so we said: Well, if it is unused
forms to the permitting process, as I We said: No, let’s just pull the core COVID funds, let’s return it to the
said, because that will help with regard infrastructure out of it, and let’s take Treasury and apply it to this. And it
to that bridge and others to do it more the taxes off. And that is how we got makes sense. Infrastructure is some-
quickly, more efficiently, with less down to, again, $548 billion and without thing States and localities are eager to
cost to the taxpayer dollars. taxes. have—better infrastructure—and it is
Again, I want to commend the Trump So from the start, we have said some appropriate to use some of that fund-
administration because they of our pay-fors will not be fully re- ing.
prioritized that issue. But the legisla- flected in the formal CBO score that So we said in our proposal that $41.8
tion that we had passed here to help came out on Thursday. But, instead, it billion would be rescinded based on
with speeding up permitting sunsets. will be reflected in CBO estimates. what we got from OMB, from the indi-
So this legislation that we are voting What is CBO? CBO is the Congres- vidual Agencies on their unobligated
on here actually ends that sunset and, sional Budget Office. It is the group up funds. The White House signed off on
therefore, ensures we can continue that here that we have to rely on in terms it. We all signed off on it, Republican
permitting going forward. of our legislation to say how much and Democrat. Unfortunately, CBO
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
If we don’t do it in this bill and don’t something costs. chose to give us credit for just $13.4 bil-
do it soon, we are not going to have Republicans and Democrats alike lion rather than $41.8 billion. It is frus-
projects signing up for this interagency love to complain about CBO. In fact, trating. It is a difference of $28.4 billion
council on permitting because they often, it is my Republicans com- in savings.
will have the sunset. They know that plaining about them on my side of the Now, what they say is that we are
they are not going to be able to take aisle because they don’t give enough not convinced that even though these
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6041
are unobligated balances—which we So just as they took $30 billion away ware development, with one recent
have been able to prove, by the way, from the CBO score with regard to study from the Association of Equip-
and we have documents from the White repurposing COVID money, which is ment Manufacturers finding that the
House, now, after the fact, showing this based on the unobligated balances that legislation could create around half a
again. But they have said: Well, we the White House agreed to, that OMB million jobs by 2024.
don’t believe that these Agencies that agreed to—but CBO is saying somehow This is why every business group in
have extra money are going to spend the Agencies aren’t going to spend that America is supporting this legislation,
the money. That is one of the reasons money. I mean, all the records, if you as well as all the ag groups—over 30 ag
they gave. We think they will just keep look at what happens, is that they will groups—including the American Farm
the money. spend the money. Bureau. It is why the AFL–CIO Build-
When has an Agency not spent the So we are saving the money. We are ing & Construction Trades Council is
money that Congress provides them, I pulling it back and applying it to a supporting it, because they are going
would ask my colleagues? good purpose: infrastructure. to provide a lot of the workers for this.
I will give you a real-world example So I would just caution my col- Even more importantly, given the re-
of this. As we started to look for these leagues who, again, traditionally are cent economic news we have seen, is
unused COVID funds, it turns out that skeptical of CBO and somehow, in this this proposal will not cause inflation to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, case, think CBO is perfect, to look a increase. As Democratic economist
USDA, had some extra funds that they little closer at these scores and look at Larry Summers on the other side of
had not sent out to anybody and the fact that they are not necessarily the aisle and many of us here on the
weren’t planning to. When they heard accurate. Republican side of the aisle had been
that we were nosing around with the What this legislation does not do— warning about for months, including
Office of Management and Budget and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs me, inflation is here, with prices for
with the White House to pull back Act—is it does not include the grab bag consumers up 5.4 percent over this time
some of those funds for this purpose, of massive new social spending that last year.
for a good purpose, for infrastructure— Democrats included in their first pack- And this rate of inflation, in my
guess what—they came up with an- age and certainly that they are now in- view, could well go up even further.
other program. They had the discretion cluding in their $3.5 trillion spending Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former CBO Di-
to send the money out under another proposal they unveiled earlier this rector, now head of the American Ac-
program. So they came up with one month. tion Forum, a conservative economist;
and said: Oh, now we have got this And this is an important point that Michael Strain, director of economic
money covered. You are not allowed to my colleagues shouldn’t miss. The policy studies at the American Enter-
touch it. President has said that the package— prise Institute, AEI, also a conserv-
So I am just telling you that is one of the $3.5 trillion—will not include more ative scholar, has said that our bipar-
the challenges with these CBO scores. core infrastructure spending. Now, re- tisan infrastructure package will slow
They took $28.4 billion in savings and member, that was pulled out of his down inflation.
just decided, because they knew best, original package, the $2.65 trillion. We They said: ‘‘Improving roads, bridges,
that this was not going to be available took about half of the core infrastruc- and ports would make it less costly for
because the Agencies were going to ture out of there and took out all the businesses to operate, allowing them to
spend it, even though they haven’t taxes, so we are at $548 billion. increase their output per hour, and
spent it, they had no reasons to spend And he made a commitment, both putting downward pressure on con-
it, they had no plans to spend it. And, privately and publicly, as have Demo- sumer prices.’’
again, the Office of Management and crats up here, that that is the negotia- So I know some of my colleagues
Budget at the White House had con- tion on the core infrastructure. So the want to conflate these two, the $3.5
firmed that. roads and bridges we have talked about trillion extravaganza with huge tax in-
Another example: We went from a earlier, the water infrastructure, the creases and immediate social spending
savings of $65 billion from the next rail, the ports—that can’t be double and this long-term spending we have
auction for spectrum down to $20 bil- dipped in terms of also including that talked about here, where very little
lion in response to concerns by col- in the $3.5 trillion. money is going to go out the door even
leagues on our side of the aisle that Now, they will have a lot of other in the next year or two. But they are
this might affect our national security. spending in there that is social spend- not the same, and I think it is irre-
So $65 billion in savings, CBO-scored ing, that is not this capital expenditure sponsible to say they are the same.
savings, in this legislation, went to $20 spending we talked about. Many of my The bottom line is that the Infra-
billion—working with the Department colleagues know what capex means, structure Investment and Jobs Act will
of Defense, carefully; working with the that you typically borrow for your provide a historic investment in hard
Office of Management and Budget;
capex, and it is long-term spending for infrastructure, with input from a bi-
working with the Armed Services Com-
hard assets. But that is not what the partisan group of Senators, while
mittee here, ensuring that we weren’t
$3.5 trillion is about, and that is why I avoiding the tax hikes that would hurt
going to touch any spectrum in that
strongly oppose it, as do my colleagues our economy, destroy jobs, and under-
future sale that had a national security
on this side of the aisle. mine our competitiveness around the
implication.
The President having said that the world.
So that reduced our CBO score. We
package will not double dip, that we And importantly, for the sake of fu-
understood that, but we wanted to be
sure that we weren’t taking any risks won’t have that in there, is very impor- ture bipartisanship here in Congress, it
by having any issue with regard to tant to remember because we have is an infrastructure plan that allows us
DOD spectrum that they didn’t want to saved taxpayers not only huge tax in- to avoid the repeat of the COVID–19
provide. creases by finding a bipartisan solution spending bill, the $1.9 trillion that
CBO then, in their report on Thurs- here, but we saved taxpayers from a lot passed under this partisan process of
day, decided that they weren’t going to of additional spending that otherwise reconciliation.
give us credit for that $20 billion. They would have occurred. It is also the alternative way that we
took it down to about $10 billion. We This investment in repairing and up- ought to operate around here instead of
lost $9.8 billion on a CBO score there. grading our Nation’s infrastructure the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package
And, again, when we pushed on that, will have real, lasting benefit for our that is coming next. It demonstrates to
they said: Well, we just need to know country through building out hard as- the American people that we can, in
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
that the White House is going to move sets that improve productivity and im- fact, work together to get big things
ahead with a spectrum auction. prove efficiency without adding to in- done in a responsible way.
Well, they are, and they have sent us flation. It will create hundreds of thou- President Biden promised to govern
a letter saying they are. sands of good-paying jobs in industries in a bipartisan manner, in his inau-
So, again, this is a little arbitrary, ranging from construction and plumb- gural address and in his campaign. Un-
don’t you think? How can CBO decide? ing to electrical engineering and soft- fortunately, he hasn’t done that with
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S6042 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
regard to the COVID package, the $1.9 poses, means a sale—on behalf of some- extend the deadline. No additional
trillion under reconciliation, the $3.5 one else. money for anybody. I think every Sen-
trillion that they are now going to at- Some crypto brokers already comply ator here supports it.
tempt to pass here in this Chamber. with these standard information-re- These are some of the bipartisan
But this bipartisan package is an op- porting obligations, but for those who amendments that we are debating, and,
portunity for all of us to fulfill that have not yet adopted these practices, hopefully, we are going to get votes on
pledge, to figure out how to work to- this rule change is going to make it these because whether you are going to
gether to get big things done. easier for their customers to pay their be for the bill or against the bill, I
It is a genuine compromise. It is not taxes due. think most of us would agree they are
the bill I would write. It is not the bill The concern has been expressed that going to improve the bill. My amend-
my colleague KYRSTEN SINEMA would some in the cryptocurrency industry ment would. But I know a bunch of
write on the Democratic side of the who are not brokers could be inadvert- amendments—Senator CORNYN has one
aisle. But it is good for the country. It ently caught up in this definition. The that I am supportive of and cospon-
builds our core infrastructure. It Department of the Treasury, the non- soring. So there are a number of
doesn’t raise taxes on the American partisan Congressional Joint Com- amendments that we hope we can get
people. It will grow the economy. It mittee on Taxation, and others believe and debate here on the floor.
will lead to more tax revenue coming that the current language is clear and But, as you know, the Senate has a
in to the Treasury, and yet it includes that the reporting requirements only lot of other work besides just this, and
responsible pay-fors. covers brokers. I just want to talk a little bit about
Soon, I hope we will all be able to But my view is that we should work that work that is going on. Right now,
vote on final passage of this legisla- to clarify this, given the potential for we are going to turn to the Senate ma-
tion. As I indicated, we have already confusion on an extremely important jority leader, Senator SCHUMER. After
had two votes to proceed to final pas- issue. In particular, we want to be sure this debate, he is going to want to turn
sage. One was 66 to 28; the other was 67 miners and stakers and others, now or to a completely different bill, and that
to 27. I think it is time for us to come in the future, who play a key role by is the $3.5-trillion partisan tax-and-
together and to enact this bipartisan validating transactions, or sellers of spend spree that is just completely in-
achievement for our Nation, for our hardware or software for digital wal- appropriate right now for our country,
economy, and for the people we rep- lets, or node operators, or others who especially after the Democrats finished
resent. are not brokers are clearly exempted. up a partisan bill in February of $2 tril-
While it is not the intent of the un-
CRYPTOCURRENCY lion.
derlying bill to include them, I believe This is a reckless amount of spending
Madam President, I want to address a we can do more to make this clear,
specific part of the legislation that is that they are looking at doing, and I
which is why I will continue to work am pretty sure some of my colleagues
before us. It relates to cryptocurrency. with colleagues to clarify the intent of
As we know, cryptocurrency is a dig- know that. But part of what is going on
the information-reporting language.
ital asset that more and more people here is a hijacking of the Democratic
There have been a number of amend-
are investing in, and we should want Party by the far left. You have seen
ments that have been filed to try and
that to continue and continue in a make this provision more clear, and I that in a whole host of areas.
healthy and sustainable way. have been working with my colleagues NOMINATIONS
There is consensus here in Wash- Senator WARNER, Senator WYDEN, Sen- Let me give one other area that is
ington and around the country that ator TOOMEY, Senator LUMMIS, Senator really important, from the Senate’s
there should be better and more con- OSSOFF, and Senator SINEMA on a po- perspective, where that is starting to
sistent reporting on cryptocurrency tential solution that I believe will help happen, and that is on nominees. I have
transactions. By the way, this would be reassure stakeholders that these indi- been coming down to the floor to talk
a good thing for honest, taxpaying viduals will not be considered brokers, about nominees, where we have an ad-
holders of cryptocurrency, which is the while maintaining the information re- vice and consent role as U.S. Senators.
vast majority of them who, today, have porting in this bipartisan legislation. One in particular is being put up for a
to figure out their basis and sometimes Today, we will continue these impor- position for the Bureau of Land Man-
their gross proceeds when filing taxes tant discussions, and I am hopeful we agement, which has enormous power
because they don’t get a 1099. can come to a solution that will pro- over my State and my constituents—
The form 1099 that a financial insti- vide certainty for taxpayers and avoid enormous. And yet, somehow, the
tution would give you if you invested any potential loopholes for bad actors. President of the United States has de-
in stocks or bonds or other financial With that, Madam President, I yield cided to put forward someone who is
instruments often is not available for the floor. not just an extremist but a violent ex-
holders of cryptocurrency, which cre- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- tremist, a former ecoterrorist, named
ates problems. ator from Alaska. Tracy Stone-Manning, to be the head
Standardizing this basic information H.R. 3684 of the Bureau of Land Management.
reporting by crypto brokers for tax Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I I have been coming down to the floor
purposes is going to help provide more want to thank Senator PORTMAN for his and speaking out against this. This
certainty for everyday Americans look- outstanding work, all the great work nominee clearly undertook activities
ing to invest in these digital assets. that he is doing on this bill with Sen- as part of a group called Earth First!—
The experts at the nonpartisan Con- ator SINEMA and others, and I am hope- tree spiking, they call it, that is actu-
gressional Joint Committee on Tax- ful that we can get some of these ally meant to harm Americans who are
ation and the Department of the Treas- amendments—bipartisan amend- legally harvesting logs and timber.
ury say that this would lead to better ments—on the infrastructure bill onto This is unbelievable that we are actu-
tax compliance as well. So the infor- the floor. ally even debating this nominee.
mation reporting would lead to better I know my colleague Senator Now, some of my colleagues said:
compliance with the Tax Code. HAGERTY is going to work on that here Well, that was a while ago; she is sorry
The question is who should issue that in a minute. I support what he is trying about that.
1099 in a cryptocurrency context. to do. But then she came before the Senate
Again, the consensus is that it should I have an amendment, for example, and didn’t tell the truth to Senators.
be the brokers of cryptocurrency, just that is very bipartisan and would help That should be No. 2—strike two, you
as it is for stocks and bonds and other all the Tribes in America—Alaska Na- are out.
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
financial instruments. tive Tribes, lower 48 Tribes—to simply But here is strike three, and this just
In the underlying bill, a broker is de- get the authority to extend the spend- happened. Her husband, in a Harper’s
fined as any person responsible for reg- ing of their original CARES Act money Magazine—I guess he is some sort of
ularly providing any service effec- that they got in March of 2020. far-left radical, too—said that fire-
tuating transfers of digital assets by They just got authority to actually fighters who are trying to put out fires
cryptocurrency—which, for tax pur- start spending it. All we want to do is in national forests should just let the
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6043
homes built there burn to the ground— This is a perfect opportunity to arrest peo- which rights of our Bill of Rights they
burn to the ground. Ten months ago, ple before committing crimes rather than re- want to protect and enforce, our de-
she applauded her husband’s views on sponding after the fact. mocracy erodes with it.
that. The person who looks like they Let that one sink in. My constituents in Alaska do not
are going to be BLM manager is saying Has anyone here seen the movie ‘‘Mi- think Mr. Chipman is remotely quali-
that if there is a fire in, say, a national nority Report,’’ with Tom Cruise? That fied. And, by the way, I am starting to
forest in Alaska and you have a cabin is actually what that movie was about: hear that it is not just Republicans
there: ‘‘Let the fire burn the cabin Let’s arrest people before they commit who have this view, but some of my
down.’’ I mean, this is outrageous. It a crime. Democratic colleagues have this view.
was just 10 months ago. It is dis- He has actually advocated arresting And I hope that is true.
turbing. And, again, I ask that the people who failed background checks. Further, several former ATF career
President pull that nominee. This is extreme, to say the least. officers with whom Mr. Chipman
I would also request that another And it is, apparently, not only the served, sent a letter recently to the
nominee—here we go again—who has Second Amendment that he wants to Senate saying: His strong personal be-
been put forward by the Biden adminis- do away with. In his recent confirma- lief on firearm issues will create seri-
tration should also be withdrawn. And tion hearing, he appeared to want to ous long-lasting problems for the Bu-
I think some of even my Democratic ban all rifles larger than a .22-caliber reau in the effective execution of its
colleagues have concerns about Mr. rifle. He couldn’t define what con- law enforcement mission.
David Chipman to head up the Bureau stitutes a so-called assault rifle. But The Biden administration should
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex- good luck protecting yourself in the withdraw his nomination, just like it
plosives, ATF. He is another extreme Alaska wilderness with a .22. should withdraw Tracy Stone-
activist, this time against the Second He also called for more burdensome Manning’s. Our country doesn’t need
Amendment and Second Amendment regulations on popular sporting rifles radical officials in charge of very im-
rights. He will be in charge of an Agen- under the National Firearms Control portant Agencies, particularly impor-
cy, if confirmed, that is actually in Act. And in his work restricting the tant for my State, who do not view the
charge of law enforcement with regard Second Amendment, he has lobbied law and the Constitution in the way
to firearms. Congress for universal background they should. I hope my colleagues on
As the senior Senator from Iowa so checks and instituting age-based gun both sides of the aisle work to defeat
aptly put it, many see putting a com- bans, which would definitely not work these nominees if and when they come
mitted gun control proponent like in my State, and wanting to establish for a vote in the Senate.
David Chipman in charge of the ATF a national firearms transfer delay pe- I yield the floor.
like putting a tobacco executive in riod. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms.
charge of the Department of Health Not only is he hostile to Second ROSEN). The Senator from Tennessee.
and Human Services, or Antifa in Amendment rights, but, remarkably, UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—AMENDMENTS
charge of the Portland police depart- the person they want to put in charge Mr. HAGERTY. Madam President, I
ment. of firearms is condescending to the ask unanimous consent that the fol-
Well said, Senator GRASSLEY. I agree people in America who actually own lowing amendments be called up to the
100 percent with you. Count me in and them, as so many on the far left are, substitute and be reported by number
the vast majority of my constituents especially first-time gun owners. and that they be the only remaining
in Alaska for feeling the same way. In an interview in April 2020, during amendments in order: First, Ernst, No.
I want to talk briefly about why I the height of the pandemic, when it 2639; Cornyn-Padilla, No. 2602; Wicker-
feel so strongly about this nominee and started, he mocked first-time gun own- Stabenow, No. 2206; Cruz, No. 2389; Lee,
am coming down to speak out against ers who were purchasing firearms. Re- No. 2517; Grassley-Klobuchar, No. 2500;
this nominee as well. member, this was a rather uncertain Crapo-Wyden, No. 2507; Blackburn, No.
The Second Amendment is not some troubling time during the country. And 2328; Warner-Portman, No. 2617; Wyden-
lower class constitutional right. It is he talked about these people putting Lummis-Toomey, No. 2619; Cantwell,
the Second Amendment to the Con- themselves and their families in danger No. 2588; Wyden-Murkowski, No. 2603,
stitution. In my office, I actually have because they are going to go buy a fire- Cantwell-Braun, No. 2621; Van Hollen,
the Bill of Rights emblazoned on the arm. No. 2613, as modified; Cruz-Lun, No.
wall of my office—every word of it—to He said: First-time gun owners 2490; Daines, No. 2599; Sullivan, No.
remind me, and others who come there, should put their guns away in their 2586; Shelby, No. 2535; Rounds, No. 2636;
just how important this is for our cabinets behind their ‘‘beef jerky and Sinema-Portman, No. 2620; further,
country. If my colleagues believed that cans of tuna’’ that they had presum- that the Senate vote in relation to all
the Second Amendment was as impor- ably been saving for the apocalypse and pending amendments, with no amend-
tant as other amendments—freedom of only take out the weapons when ‘‘the ments in order to the amendments
speech, the right to a jury trial, protec- zombies start to appear.’’ prior to a vote in relation to the
tions against search and seizures—they This is the guy the President has put amendment; and that if a rollcall is or-
wouldn’t be supporting Mr. Chipman as forward to be in charge of firearm laws. dered, then 60 affirmative votes be re-
head of ATF, the law enforcement I guess he thought he was being clever quired for adoption for the amend-
Agency tasked with enforcing our Na- in the same way that former President ments listed in this agreement, except
tion’s firearm laws. They just Obama thought he was being wise when for Lee, No. 2517; Warner, No. 2617;
wouldn’t. he spoke on high about people in rural Wyden, No. 2498; Ernst, No. 2639; and
Let me talk a little bit about his States clinging to their guns and their Grassley, No. 2500; and that there be 2
background. I respect Mr. Chipman’s 25 religion. But most of us don’t find this minutes for debate, equally divided,
years as an ATF agent, but when he funny, especially my constituents. prior to each vote.
left government, he has spent his time In Alaska, we take our gun rights The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
working as a gun control advocate and very seriously. We need firearms to put an objection?
is well-known for his views—extreme food on the table, to defend ourselves Ms. SINEMA. Madam President.
views—on restricting the Second in the wild—rural, urban, Native, non- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
Amendment. Native, all races, all income levels. Re- ator from Arizona.
For instance, on an online site in sponsible gun ownership is part of the Ms. SINEMA. Reserving the right to
2019, he said the following, which is re- fabric of my State; so is valuing our object. As my esteemed colleague from
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
markable: constitutional right, especially our Tennessee is aware, and as we are all
While at ATF I conducted studies involv- Second Amendment. aware, the Senate operates under unan-
ing people who failed background checks to We understand these rights form the imous consent, reserving the right and
determine how many later committed crimes foundation of our democracy, and when the prerogative of any one Senator to
with a gun—many did. these rights begin to erode, when peo- object to moving forward when consent
I am still quoting him. ple in power pick and choose at will is not present.
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S6044 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
Now, as the Senator from Tennessee there is a lot of merit, by the way, to through Ways and Means Committee
made clear yesterday in his remarks on address difficult subjects like infra- and Roads and Transportation, and by
the floor, he has declined to provide structure. And I believe defense is the the time we were done, we had roughly
unanimous consent for a time agree- most important thing we need to do, 45 out of 47 witnesses—stakeholders
ment moving forward in this and I generally have questions about from the manufacturing association to
postcloture time period. I am sure it that: Why we don’t do audits, why we the Farm Bureau, to the Indiana
will then come as no surprise to him don’t adhere especially to budgeting Truckers Association for it.
that there are Senators on both sides here, why we don’t do budgets across We got people to buy in. And how did
of the aisle who object to unanimous the entirety of the Federal Govern- we do it? We did it with diesel and gas
consent on one or more of the amend- ment. I think, give or take, it has been taxes.
ments listed in his proposed list today. 20 years since we have done one and Some complained that we were rais-
I am sure that he offers the same level have adhered to it. ing taxes. It was in the context,
of respect to those Senators, in deny- So in looking at our infrastructure though, in Indiana of a balanced budg-
ing their unanimous consent, as has plan and the merits within it, everyone et, rainy-day funds. We got one of the
been offered to him as well. is going to find something that they best business climates in the country.
Now, I am proud to report that, like. And I am talking about the $1.2 So it was within a system that was
throughout this bipartisan process, we trillion infrastructure plan. I think working.
have produced, over the course of a probably for roads and bridges and a I think what disturbed me, listening
number of months, a piece of legisla- lot of that physical hard infrastruc- a little bit ago, is—I agree with Sen-
tion drafted entirely by the inde- ture, the need is even more than that. ator DURBIN, this is a shared blame in
pendent and bipartisan Members who But Senator CARPER, who used to run terms of how we have gotten here. My
have worked together over this number a State—I used to be on a school board observation, building a business, frus-
of months. We have introduced the leg- in my hometown for 10 years and trated each night coming home and lis-
islation, and we have had robust debate served as a State legislator, with the tening to the news is that starting
intention of going there to do some- nearly two decades ago or so, when we
and, I am proud to say, the consider-
thing on infrastructure in Indiana, the went from Democrat and Republican
ation of 22 amendments on this bipar-
crossroads of America, living in the administrations that did believe in
tisan bill. It has been an open and wel-
southern part of the State that has maybe having some political will—in
coming process.
As we are currently in the never had its fair share. other words, paying for the things we
I think you need to be entrepre- do here in a way that is not borrowing
postcloture debate time, again, as I
neurial through government in certain the money. Borrowing money is some-
have mentioned, it requires unanimous
cases, especially at the local and State times OK if it is a tangible asset. That
consent to both move forward with all
level where you are accountable, to is an investment. That kind of makes
of the amendments or any of the
where your entrepreneurism through sense, and this has a little bit of that
amendments as well as a time agree-
government—and I almost don’t like to component as well.
ment. And, as we have seen today, we But, in general, when you become a
do not have unanimous consent on ei- use that word because I have been a
nation of consumption and spending,
ther a time agreement or on moving Main Street entrepreneur my entire
and you are putting it on display in a
forward on amendments, and, there- life and it is hard to use that as an
way like we have over several decades
fore, I propose that we continue mov- analogous term to what we do here.
here from the Gulf wars to what we did
ing forward under regular order. Anyway, Senator DURBIN was talking
in 2008 and 2009, looks like small
And, with that, I object. about, I think, more than just the con-
change compared to what we are doing
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- tent of the bill. I—generally when I am
right now.
tion is heard. coming down to vote for something— I don’t begrudge trying to get things
The Senator from Tennessee. look at the principles that I know have done in an effective way. But I want
Mr. HAGERTY. Madam President, worked in the real world in building a the American public to understand
the Senator’s objection exposes the business or running a school board, clearly that when you borrow money to
Democrats’ true intention. I have local or State government. He referred spend it or consume it, that has never
never objected to considering amend- to something that really caught my in- ended up well in the long run.
ments on this bill—not once. Demo- tention; and that is, inevitably, in I read a book given to me by our
crats say they want amendments, but times like these we will then, on our friend Mike Enzi called ‘‘The Empire of
they can’t take yes for an answer. The side, revert to wanting to do a balanced Debt.’’ Actually, in that reading, it
Democrats’ true intention is to rush budget amendment. Of course, I have took a dismal subject, looked at it his-
this bill through so that they can been a proponent of that and term lim- torically, put a little humor alongside
hurry up and light the fuse on their $3.5 its as well—not at the local and State it—because you need that to get
trillion spending spree—a socialist debt level, but here. through it, to see how this ends up. It
bomb—and then leave town for vaca- I don’t think that the Founders ever has never worked well.
tion. intended us to grow a government like If you are, by nature, spending and
If they want to vote on amendments, this, that for all the good intentions of consuming and borrowing the money to
why would the Senator object to my policy that we want to put in place, to do it, I did not need to be a finance guy
reasonable request? The only way the where we do it on the back of bor- from business school and have an eco-
Democrats will agree to the amend- rowing money and not doing it in a nomics degree from undergrad to know
ments is if they can rush this bill way that is painful, takes political that doesn’t work.
through. will. Even the folks who lean toward
I suggest the absence of a quorum. I will never forget, back in Indiana, Keynesian economics and the Milton
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 2017, 70 percent of Hoosiers wanted bet- Friedman proponents that like to look
clerk will call the roll. ter infrastructure. We polled, and 70 at the money supply, no one in even
The bill clerk proceeded to call the percent didn’t want their taxes to go current liberal economists are buying
roll. up. Fiscal conservatives like me even into this idea of the modern monetary
Mr. BRAUN. Madam President, I ask got in trouble talking about paying for theory.
unanimous consent that the order for it, not borrowing the money, not push- That, to me, just does not make
the quorum call be rescinded. ing it down the road. At least there you sense. When I look at where we are at
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without can make the argument, you need a today talking about infrastructure—
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
objection, it is so ordered. dedicated stream of payment for some- which polls well because the American
H.R. 3684 thing that we most agree is essential. public knows we need it. But then
Mr. BRAUN. I was listening with in- When you drive that point home and when we dispense it in a way that is ir-
terest earlier to Senator DURBIN and when you took it through regular responsible in terms of how we pay for
Senator CARPER talking about not only order—listen to this—nearly 2 to 21⁄2 it, I couldn’t have been for that from
the bill in front of us—but I think months in a 3-month session, we ran it the get-go.
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6045
It was also inextricably linked to the Euro and European Union looked like ernment doing it. That is giving us a
$3.5 trillion of using a word like ‘‘infra- it was working, you had countries healthcare system that Warren Buffet
structure,’’ which we all know refers to within it—Italy, Greece, Spain, Por- cites as a tapeworm on our economy.
tangible, and now trying to do it on tugal—that showed that you couldn’t We need something better.
stuff that isn’t tangible. That is con- do it, and then it threatened the integ- But we should have a common inter-
sumption. rity of the EU itself. The Euro at that est there. Make it transparent so we
I think there are merits of discussing time was starting to become a reserve can shop for it like you do anything
childcare, the high cost of post-sec- currency. It impacted them as well. else, including a big-screen TV and gro-
ondary education, but we ought to do it They had to go through the hard medi- ceries. If you have transparency and
like we did back in Indiana, when we cine of getting back in line. you can compete in terms of how you
were talking about infrastructure. Run So when we get through with this ex- shop, that would work.
it through regular order, bring in ex- ercise, again, we are talking about If we did that with health insurance,
perts and stakeholders across the coun- something we need. But if we don’t with healthcare costs, we could start
try to buy into it. couch it in the discipline of having po- the process here, because Medicare,
Here, I see—and I used it just re- litical will, in doing it to where it is that our elderly depend on, goes broke
cently—if you try to be entrepreneurial going to be sustainable and not to in roughly 5 years; automatic benefit
through government, which is what I where it is going to put us even more cuts across the board. That is waiting
think is on display here, part of that in peril in terms of our Federal balance to solve something once you are in a
equation is, yes, you got to take a lit- sheet, it doesn’t end up well for our crisis.
tle risk, you got to get it out there. kids and grandkids. That is what wor- We ought to roll up our sleeves on it,
But no one would put this much at ries me. on Social Security. And we need to
stake and try to be entrepreneurial by And on two notes, we have got geo- quit turning discretionary spending,
borrowing the money. You would be al- political competition. Senator DURBIN which requires budgeting, into manda-
most certain to fail because in the real mentioned that as well. Even they have tory spending simply because we don’t
world—school board, local, State gov- shed communism. They have become want to go through the rigor that any
ernment, and especially in enterprise— almost expert state capitalists. They school board, State government, local
you have got other rigors that won’t have an authoritarian system. That government, or especially business
let you do that. will probably be their limitation in the would do to be successful in the long
And you cannot count on a Fed, like, long run. run.
since last year, has been accommo- If they ever liberalize their capital So I think we have got a bit of time
dating and basically printing money in markets or, God forbid, their political that we could do this, and maybe do it
the basement by buying a lot of this system, you can’t imagine the impact preemptively, or we can run this thing
debt and is committed to do it even on that would have on us and our cur- into the ditch. And for the people who
this, as well as the major piece that is rency. So they are playing the long love the Federal Government and want
going to drop here in a few days. game. They are savers and investors. to grow it as a growth business, who
So my concern is that maybe we, as And we have got to be careful, be- are political entrepreneurs, I would
Republicans, are a little slow-footed cause they have at least realized that think that side of the aisle would be es-
when it comes to engaging in real you can’t replace the productive econ- pecially concerned about its long-term
issues. I agree with Senator DURBIN omy with a centralized system, and health.
that we have been on this journey for a they are actually moving in that direc- And for those of us who always talk
long time. That doesn’t mean you dou- tion, sadly, with an authoritarian po- about it and then seem to be part of
ble down and triple down. Listen to litical system underlying it. the same old thing that occurs each
this. I got here 21⁄2 years ago, roughly One other place I will use as an ex- year, that is being a hypocrite, because
$21.9 trillion in debt. We are now ample: We should be looking at what is we have gotten here not with one party
roughly $28.6 trillion in debt, not in- driving our trillion-dollar deficit. He driving us; both have been in the vehi-
cluding what we are going to do here mentioned the Laffer curve. We were, cle that is ready to run us into the
on this hard infrastructure bill and the pre-COVID, at a point where I think ditch.
$3.5 trillion. All of it has merit for dis- was a sweet spot of where we needed to I yield the floor.
cussion, but if you spend money and be. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
consume it and borrow it without hav- Wages were rising in the most dif- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
ing the political will of doing what you ficult places. I, more than probably any PADILLA). The clerk will call the roll.
have to do in any other entity—pay for other Senator, since I am the freshest The senior assistant legislative clerk
it sustainably, it is not the foundation off the street of a Main Street enter- proceeded to call the roll.
for this place or any entity. prise—it was a little company that Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. President, I ask
I want to give you a little description grew into a national one over 37 unanimous consent that the order for
about what we do here currently. We years—basing it on having a conserv- the quorum call be rescinded.
spend $4.5 trillion a year. We take in ative balance sheet, not to ruin your The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
revenues of $3.5 trillion. That is a business by borrowing too much money objection, it is so ordered.
chronic trillion-dollar deficit. That is even when you have access to it. Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. President, it is
borrowing 23 cents roughly out of every And, here, I see that same thing hap- said that politics is the art of the pos-
dollar that you spend. And, again, it is pening here. We will be outrun by our sible, and I am afraid that, over time,
not for a tangible investment; it is for competitors who are long-term think- someone might argue that politics has
consumption. ers, who are investors, not spenders become the art of confusion.
Now, with what we are baselining and consumers. And if we wanted to There is so much confusion that goes
into the future, that is going to go up really right the ship, we ought to be on around issues of significance that in
to close to $1.5 trillion. And we ought tackling the high cost of healthcare. some cases, the media or the public has
to be looking at what is driving the We all agree, I think, that that is a a hard time quite getting to the bot-
current dysfunction and try to get this broken system. One side of the aisle tom of what is a fact and not a fact.
place back into a solid footing, rather wants to dump more government into Perhaps, in some cases, the confusion
than putting it in peril, where history it by making it a one-payer system. is purposely spread by politicians like
has shown it does not work out, every What we ought to do first is reform the me and by others. So I hope today to be
country that has tried it has not had it industry, like I did in my own company able to reduce some of the confusion
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
work out. with health insurance, with a few sim- for those who are paying attention to
The Europeans, who have fashioned a ple principles. Make it consumer-driv- this debate. I will begin by focusing on
system maybe a little bit erring on en to where every individual should be some things that I think we can pretty
that side, have never had an economy a healthcare consumer—not relying on much all agree on.
that grows much more than 2 percent. your insurance that pays for every- The first is that we as a nation need
And probably 4 or 5 years ago, when the thing from your employer or the gov- to invest in our infrastructure. Our
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S6046 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
highways are often in disrepair. In various weather events that have reduce the deficit? Let me tell you
many places, people spend way too long caused blackouts in various parts of something. That will never happen be-
getting to and from work. People in our country. Fortunately with regards cause our Democratic friends are plan-
business that are shipping goods from to power, in this legislation, we also ning on putting in place a $3.5 trillion
one place to another find that they get add some efforts to look at new tech- bill of their own which would surely
stuck in traffic for long periods of nologies—nuclear, hydrogen, battery grab all of that money and everything
time. That hurts our economy. It power, and so forth—as a way to reduce else that comes along.
makes it difficult for us to be competi- our dependence on oil and gas. So it is not going to go back into the
tive globally. I think we mostly can Permitting reform—I think we also accounts of the Federal Government to
agree with that. recognize that sometimes it takes way reduce the deficit and the debt; it is,
Bridges, as well—we have got our too long for projects to get underway, instead, going to be used on the spend-
structural engineers who say that lit- and that adds to cost and is frustrating ing spree that my colleagues across the
erally thousands of bridges across this to consumers as well. aisle are planning on carrying out
country are in disrepair. Some are in All these elements and more are ad- soon. I affectionately call that $3.5 tril-
such bad repair that trucks have to go dressed in this bipartisan infrastruc- lion spending spree the blue whale. It is
to long-distance routes to avoid those ture agreement that is before the Sen- very, very large—the largest. It is soft,
bridges that are so damaged. ate right now. That is what this bill is and it is blue. But ours is going to be
We need also to make an investment all about: addressing those infrastruc- used for real, hard infrastructure. Of
in our rail. For some time, I lived in ture needs. course, it is about one-seventh the size
the Northeast. People travel from Bos- I would note that this is not a par- of the blue whale, and I might call it
ton to New York and New York to tisan issue. It has not been. Every mod- the roadrunner by comparison.
Washington and so forth on Amtrak, ern President—well, I should say every Now, I recognize that there has been
and in many cases, it takes almost as President in the modern era has pro- some criticism of this bill, and it is not
long to get to those places on Amtrak posed an infrastructure package, the without faults. It was, after all, the
as it would to drive because the rail is need to improve our infrastructure. product of work by Republicans and
in such disrepair and because pas- President Trump, the last administra- Democrats. Ten of us were tasked by
sengers compete on that rail with tion, proposed a $1.5-trillion plan. our group of 22 to see if we could come
freight. So we need to upgrade our rail Now, the bipartisan proposal is $550 up with something, and to get Repub-
system. billion, about one-third of President licans and Democrats to agree to some-
Our transit is, in many cases, also in Trump’s proposal. Now, again, confu- thing together means that there are
disrepair. We use old technology for a sion sometimes reigns here because we some things we like better and some
lot of our railcars. Modern technology hear all sorts of numbers, but this is things my colleagues across the aisle
has the cars themselves that are pow- $550 billion above what we normally like better.
ered as opposed to being pulled by a spend. So if you add in what we nor- There are some things, if it were just
huge locomotive or engine. We can im- mally spend, that gets you to the high- up to Republicans, we wouldn’t have in
prove the technologies we are using. er number of about a trillion. People there, and my guess is there are some
We are just out of date there. talk about that, but that is a different things, if it were just up to Democrats,
I believe in buses. I think that we can matter. That is the normal run rate they wouldn’t have in there. But it
do a better job connecting commu- over the 5 years. If you add that to the was, after all, a meeting of people from
nities through transit systems like $550 billion, you get almost a trillion. both parties to find something that
buses that can change their routes as There is confusion also about how could actually get a bill done because,
commuting routes also change. many pages there are. The reality is, as the Presiding Officer knows, we have
I think we can agree that broadband yes, there are 2,700 pages in this bill, had several Presidents try to get a bill
ought to be available to all Americans, and I think the public says: How in the done, and it has never gotten across
whether in rural areas or in low-in- world could anyone possibly read some- the finish line. So this was an effort to
come areas. Kids need to be able to thing like that and keep up with it? say: Let’s break the logjam and get
connect to their school and get their Well, as the Presiding Officer knows, something actually accomplished so we
assignments and follow what is going about 2,000 pages of this were already can deal with the infrastructure chal-
on in the world through the media, passed by the various committees of ju- lenges that we virtually all agree
through the internet. People need to be risdiction. And some of the people who America faces.
able to use telehealth to get consults are most vocal in criticizing these 2,700 Now, criticism is expected, and I
with doctors. If we are going to have pages to read, they have had access to would note that criticism is also pretty
economic growth in depressed areas of those 2,000 pages, or portions of them, easy. Anytime you have a bill that is
our urban areas or in our rural parts of already because they are on the com- worked up by compromise between two
our country, we need to have busi- mittees that passed them. And, of sides, why, the side that looks at the
nesses know that they have access to course, in addition to the 2,000 pages, other side’s work is going to criticize
high-speed internet, or they simply there are other pages that have been it. I can point out all the things I don’t
won’t go there. written and are before committees to like about the bill. I won’t waste any-
Our water systems are in need of re- consider. one’s time doing that.
pair. We have some water systems that Something else I would note, and I do ask my colleagues: OK. If you
date back a hundred years, pipelines that is, in addition to not having raised don’t like this bill, what bill do you
back a hundred years. We are going to taxes to pay for this $550 billion infra- like instead? What would you do in-
have to upgrade some of these. We have structure program, this bill is paid for. stead? President Trump’s $1.5 trillion
lead pipes such as in Flint, MI. That The Congressional Budget Office has bill? How would you pay for that one?
disaster there can’t be repeated any- scored about one-half of it as being What would you spend that money on?
where else, and we have to do a better paid for under their rules. The other Because ours is one-third the size of
job making sure that we don’t have an half is also paid for by real dollars—not that proposal.
adjustment to the pH in the water such the way CBO scores it under their rules So one can stop and say: What would
that we have lead pipes beginning to but just as real. Sometimes, for in- you do instead?
leach. In some cases, we are going to stance, a pile of funding, a pile of cash, I know some people would say: Well,
need to remove and replace lead pipes. has been previously allocated and not nothing at all. We don’t want to spend
Wildfires are becoming a bigger and used, and so it goes back to the Treas- any money at all. No bill. Let’s not
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
bigger issue in the American West, and ury. The CBO says: Well, we can’t score spend a dollar on infrastructure.
we need to have a better program to that because it has already been appro- That is, I am afraid, not an option in
mitigate and prevent wildfires. priated once. I understand that, but it reality because we have two options.
Our power grid, in many cases, needs is real dollars. One is to accept the bipartisan work of
to be upgraded. It is vulnerable to You might say: Well, why don’t we our respective colleagues, and the
cyber attack. It is also vulnerable to just let it go back to the Treasury and other is just to say: Hey, because the
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6047
Democrats have the House and the I subscribe to what LINDSEY GRAHAM tion of bipartisan collaboration and
Senate and the White House, just let said. He said: I think we can make it regular order. Nearly 2,000 of the 2,700
them do it all by themselves without pretty clear to our voters that we love pages already passed out of committees
any Republican input at all. one and we hate the other. That is with bipartisan support and are await-
I am pleased that the President de- what my Republican colleagues would ing floor action. This includes the 1,200
cided not to take that course and that hopefully say. That is the way I feel. I page surface transportation reauthor-
Democratic leadership here in the Sen- love one; I hate the other. ization from EPW and the Commerce
ate has concluded as well that is not But I happen to feel that this is not Committee in advance of its September
the right course to take; that a bipar- so much a matter of confusion as a 30 expiration.
tisan approach was better. But let me matter of recognition of what is right In total, a combined 61 senators on 4
note that if the option were taken to for America because, by being for this committees put together the bills,
have a Democratic-only bill, my esti- bill even though there is a risk of some many of which have been sitting out
mate is that it would cost about $500 confusion, we do save about $500 billion there publicly for months, that form
billion more than our $550 billion bill; for the American people and reduce the the core of this bill today.
that it would expand union rights deficit over time by about $500 billion. Across the nation we have roads and
through Davis-Bacon, with prevailing We do restrict Davis-Bacon from being bridges in various states of decline and
wages on areas where they are not cur- expanded into areas where it is not disrepair, a rail system that is out of
rently existent; that there would be now. We do hold down some of the date, transit that is slow and in need of
more money going into things like transit spending and the Amtrak an upgrade, a lack of high-speed trans-
transit and Amtrak, more money for spending. We hold down administrative portation opportunities from one part
lead pipes, more money for administra- costs and the number of Federal em- of a city to another, and entire commu-
tive costs. ployees who are going to be hired for nities that are unable to access high-
We hold administrative costs down to these programs. speed broadband. If you look at other
3 percent of this bill. There were many So, in my opinion, we have to put nations, you can see that we have fall-
efforts to try to raise that as high as 10 aside sometimes the politics for what en behind when it comes to our infra-
percent. That would mean tens of thou- is absolutely right for America. I am structure and it is impacting our pro-
sands of new Federal Government em- sure some people are a little disturbed ductivity as a nation. China, for exam-
ployees. We held it down to 3 percent. when they see headlines that say: Oh, ple, invests; four times more than we
That, in my opinion, would change if it this bipartisan effort would look like a do because they recognize the impor-
were simply a partisan, one-party bill. win for Biden. Well, it is a win for Re- tance and strategic value of strong in-
We made some of these funding ef- publicans, and it is a win for Biden. It frastructure, and they aren’t slowing
forts into loan programs where States is a win for Democrats. It is a win for down.
or people who would take advantage of the Senate to say that we can work to- Several months ago, a bipartisan
the funding would ultimately pay them gether, that we have been able to over- group of Senators came together to
back. My guess is, if it were a bill that come partisan differences to do some- work on an infrastructure because we
did not have our input, some of those thing that is right for America. recognize that in order to compete
would be transferred into grants. Mr. President, I am convinced that with nations like China, we need to in-
Now, there is another criticism that this is a win for America. I support this vest in ourselves and address our na-
gets raised, and that is that this bipar- legislation. I am proud to have been tions hard infrastructure needs. Many
tisan agreement and the bill before us part of the effort to help draft it and people in my party believe by working
are just a gateway to the blue whale; negotiate it. I admire and respect my on this bipartisan product we have
that this is going to open the door to colleagues on both sides of the aisle handed a win to the Democrats, but
the $3.5 trillion plan that the President who have worked on this legislation. this bill is a win for America as a
has proposed. We calculated just the other day that whole.
I don’t really follow that one terribly we had had over 50 meetings amongst Yes, there are aspects of this bill
well, that argument, because obviously that group of individuals—just the ones that I would not have included if I had
if there is no agreement on this legisla- that I attended—over the last several written it on my own, and I am sure
tion, if it doesn’t pass or if the House months in preparation for this bill. It my Democratic colleagues would say
blows it up in some way, why, then this is not a slapped-together effort. It was the same thing, but that is the nature
effort, the hard infrastructure effort, carefully considered. It was drawn of compromise. And when the alter-
will just be added to the blue whale, to upon and built upon legislation already native is the Democrat’s writing and
the $3.5 trillion. That is going to get passed by committees, overwhelm- passing their own infrastructure bill
done anyway, and this would become ingly, time and time again, wherever that would go far beyond the bound-
part of that. we could. aries of traditional infrastructure, I be-
So there is going to be an effort to I certainly hope that the Senators lieve working together and making
pass a blue whale one way or the other. from both sides of the aisle will join to- compromises is more important than
I hope that doesn’t pass, by the way. gether in passing this legislation, send- playing political games and holding up
But this is not a gateway to anything ing it to the House; that the House will a product that is good for all Ameri-
but a gateway to better roads, better address it in a way that is consistent cans.
bridges, better water, better broadband with what we have agreed to and we There is a lot of misinformation
into rural communities, and a better can send it to the President and help about what is included in this infra-
economic vitality for our country. America finally get its infrastructure structure bill. Let me echo my col-
Now, I do admit that I do understand in order. leagues who have spoken today and re-
and appreciate the argument that is Thank you. iterate that this legislation includes
being made—one criticism that is America’s infrastructure is in des- only hard, physical infrastructure. It
being made against this bill by some in perate need of upgrades and expan- addresses roads, highways, and bridges,
my party, which is, by being in favor of sions. Twice now we have had bipar- broadband deployment, water infra-
this legislation for $550 billion, we are tisan votes to proceed to the Infra- structure and clean water funds, ports
going to confuse the voters, and they structure Investment and Jobs Act. and waterways, airport improvements,
are going to think that we are also all This is an historic piece of legislation and resiliency.
just part of this big blue whale thing; that will address decades of neglecting This is really going to help my home
that we are spending 550 and my col- our nation’s hard, physical infrastruc- State of Utah where we have 2,064
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
leagues across the aisle want to spend ture. miles of roads in poor condition. Com-
$3.5 trillion, and it is all just one big, Because it is a comprehensive piece mute times are up 7.2% in the State
massive spending mess, and it is going of legislation—a total of 2,700 pages— since 2011 and bad roads cost drivers an
to be hard for the voters to understand some claim that this was dropped out average of $709 per year in repair. This
the difference, and we are going to get of nowhere. That couldn’t be farther bipartisan legislation authorizes
blamed for the whole mess. from the truth. This bill is a culmina- roughly $2.7 billion in highway funding
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S6048 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
for Utah over five years to construct, try, it shows that the Senate works, mittees, building on that framework,
rebuild, and maintain its roads and preserves the filibuster, and gives hope adding some more infrastructure to the
highways. to future compromises on important already robust infrastructure package,
Beyond the transportation needs of pieces of legislation. with high priorities for Republicans,
Utah, this bill includes additional fund- I suggest the absence of a quorum. high priorities for Democrats, and, in
ing for wildfire mitigation and recov- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The many cases, high priorities for both. I
ery and $300 million to fund the out- clerk will call the roll. think that is the way a 50–50 Senate
standing Emergency Watershed Pro- The legislative clerk proceeded to should expect to work and, I think,
gram, $50 million for the Central Utah call the roll. does work.
Project Completion Act, $100 million Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, I ask I think one of the things that is most
for drought contingency plan funding, unanimous consent that the order for heartening to me that I have seen so
$1 billion for the FEMA Building Resil- the quorum call be rescinded. far is not even so much the work that
ient Infrastructure Communities pro- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. has been done, but the work that has
gram, $214 million to fully fund the BROWN). Without objection, it is so or- been acknowledged. I mean, when I
Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement, dered. look at the list of organizations that
and $1.7 billion for the construction Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, I want- support this—it is a list—I don’t
and improvement of Indian Health ed to get down here and spend a few know—that is 140, 150 organizations
Services sanitation facilities. It also minutes continuing the conversation long, and what I like about it is the di-
includes my Wildland Fire Mitigation about this infrastructure package that versity of the list.
and Management Commission Act is before us and that we will be voting I see, for example, that the Business
which establishes a commission to on soon or at least the next step of Roundtable supports it. Well, you
study and recommend fire prevention, that. know, those are the biggest companies
mitigation, management, and rehabili- I think, to start things off, I, first of in America. The U.S. Chamber of Com-
tation policies for forests and grass- all, want to express my great dis- merce, they represent a wide range of
lands. appointment that we have squandered businesses, but so does my local con-
Investing in our nation’s hard infra- not minutes, not hours, but now sev- venience store and the paving com-
structure is expensive. There are a lot eral days. For several days, we have pany; so does the AFL–CIO; so does the
of different numbers flying around been negotiating, evidently, on an Small Business Roundtable. I love the
right now but the Infrastructure In- ‘‘amendments package.’’ I am in my fact that the Farmers Union and the
vestment and Jobs Act is $550 billion in third year here and I still don’t under- Farm Bureau support this infrastruc-
new spending, not $1.2 trillion as some stand the way the Senate cannot do ture package. That tells you a little
have said. Together our group has de- things as opposed to do them. And I get something about how compromise and
veloped a plan that is comprised of fis- that every Senator has these incredible common ground is found not just by
cally responsible pay fors. We have al- powers and authorities and can ob- Senators; we are a reflection of the
ways said the CBO wouldn’t give us struct whatever they want, and I honor people who we work for.
credit for about of our pay fors includ- that. When the time is right, maybe I I love looking at the list of agri-
ing $173 billion in unused saving’s from will do the same; I don’t know. culture entities besides the Farmers
COVID–19 funds, $53 billion from cer- But I do think it is unfortunate that Union and the Farm Bureau—but the
tain States’ unused enhanced unem- we have what is really a pretty good commodity groups. Just about every
ployment insurance claims, $53 billion bill to start with, but now that we have one that is represented in North Da-
in economic growth resulting from a opened it up for the last week or so to kota, even the Beekeepers—North Da-
return on investment these infrastruc- the opportunity for the rest of our kota is No. 1 in honey production. The
ture projects will provide, among oth- Members—who weren’t on the commit- Beekeepers support this, as do, like I
ers. tees of jurisdiction, who heard a lot of said, pretty much every other com-
In the past couple of days, you may this and who are seeing a lot of this for modity group.
have also heard about a provision that the first time several days ago—to now I think one of the other things that
would supposedly allow the govern- improve upon it—and I say improve be- encourages me, as somebody who be-
ment track your driving through a ve- cause I am familiar with a number of lieves strongly in federalism, as some-
hicle mileage tax. This is the amendments, and they are really body who believes strongly in self-gov-
fearmongering and misinformation. good amendments, and they should be ernance as a reflection in Washington
There is no vehicle mileage tax in the passed. Some aren’t as good. I would of the people back home, is the fact
bipartisan infrastructure bill. What vote against them. Maybe we would that the Conference of State Legisla-
you are hearing about is a study to de- kill most of them. tures supports this. That is where the
termine how we can tax electric cars The point isn’t whether we pass them rubber meets the road in many cases.
the same way the rest of us pay a gas or kill them. The point is that we And if that is not close enough to
tax. It is not a tax but simply a re- should be voting on them—we should home, how about the Association of
search tool. be voting—and I know there are hun- Counties supports this legislation?
Finally, the last thing I want to ad- dreds of them, and that could take a Now, those are the guys who really
dress is the mischaracterization that long time, and absent an agreement, know about roads and bridges. They
our efforts are somehow linked to pav- we don’t have the time. Either way, we are the ones who are hearing from
ing the way for the Democrats $3.5 tril- ought to be voting on them. We ought their constituents on a regular basis.
lion dollar wish list. That bill was to be taking the time to vote on And when they aren’t hearing about it
going to happen with or without this amendments, and so I am disappointed from them, they are driving them
bill. The difference is, with our bill we aren’t. I am still hopeful that, in themselves, and they know where the
passed, they will be jamming through a these waning hours, maybe we could potholes are; they know where the
reckless tax and spending spree that get a couple of them. I just find it frus- crumbling bridges are; they know
includes a whole host of unpopular tax trating that we are sitting here, speak- where the roads need repair or where a
hikes and deficit spending. ing, instead of voting. good road might be built.
At the end of the day, this is a good That said, I want to, again, express And if that is not close enough to
bill on balance. It will be good for appreciation to the leadership of the home, how about the League of Cities?
Utah, and it is good for every commu- bipartisan group. Senator PORTMAN and Our mayors in our big cities and our
nity across the nation. It may not be Senator SINEMA have done incredible small towns support this legislation.
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
ideal, but we should not be letting the work, proving that the Senate can That tells you they are the ones who
perfect be the enemy of the good, and work, building on the framework that have their ear to the ground. And, of
it is better than what would have re- was passed by the Environment and course, our Governors—the National
sulted had the Democrats had written Public Works Committee and the Com- Governors Association supports this.
this bill alone. In addition to providing merce Committee; and some of the My point being that this isn’t some-
a much needed upgrade for the coun- work that is being done by other com- thing that came from on high. This is
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6049
not some sort of an ivory tower, you port; you need an adequate waterway; it is money on the demand side of our
know, contrived under the dome of the and then those soybeans go someplace economy.
U.S. Capitol. These are Senators, lead- else in the world to feed hungry people. The problem with that, of course, is
ers, who are a reflection of the people My favorite illustration, of course, is there is not a supply to support that
back home—the folks back home: the pasta. And the reason I like to brag demand. When you can’t shop, that is a
small business, large business, me- about pasta is not because there are a problem. When the supply chain of
dium-sized business, local government, lot of Italian foods and Italian res- manufactured goods is broken or you
county government, State government. taurants in North Dakota, but we are can’t get lumber from a neighboring
Even the Association of State De- the No. 1 producer of durum wheat. State or from Canada, that is a supply
partments of Agriculture supports it. And durum wheat is produced in these problem.
Our agriculture commissioners support massive fields in the Midwest—mostly But infrastructure, see, spends the
it. in North Dakota, a little bit in Mon- money on the supply side of the econ-
Why would an agriculture commis- tana, and some in Canada. With that omy. It pushes back against inflation
sioner care about infrastructure? Why durum wheat, again, the farmer takes by doing that.
would a commodity group care about it off the field and takes it by truck to How does it do that? Well, it does it
infrastructure? the grain elevator. But from there, it by all the ways I have talked about, ob-
I think it is pretty obvious. Infra- has to go to a mill where it is milled viously, opening up the supply chain.
structure is what moves our products into semolina flour, and the semolina Guess what. Infrastructure is—that is
to market. Oh, and by the way, in case flour is sent somewhere where it is the means of the supply in the chain.
you wonder if broadband is infrastruc- then made into pasta of all types. That is how you get inputs. It is how
ture—I know there are some people But the 750,000 people in North Da- you get finished products back out to
saying: That is not infrastructure; that kota can’t eat all the pasta that is the market. It is on this infrastruc-
is not hard infrastructure—you can’t made in the United States of America, ture. So it helps the supply chain side
do a transaction today without so that pasta has got to get to other for sure.
broadband. places. In some cases it is Manhattan, But it also puts people to work in a
You know, even if you order a load of Los Angeles, or it might be some coun- big way. Obviously, if you are moving
soybeans or you sell a load of soybeans, try overseas. Once again, pasta is light- commerce to market, that is people.
it is going to take a broadband internet weight. It can even go by hangar. Oh, That is people working. Whether it is
connection to do the transaction at that brings in the airports, which, by working on the train or on the rail-
some point. You know, you might the way, bring a lot of the tourism road, whether it is working on the
make a deal over the phone, and some- traffic to and from our great Nation. building of bridges and roads or build-
body will send you a check—I don’t The point is that the reason there are ing out the infrastructure, stringing
know—but your local elevator needs some 150, 200 organizations—large and the fiber optics and burying them
high-speed internet, and on and on it small and medium-sized—and the rea- under the ground and hooking them up
goes. son that the overwhelming people in to homes and businesses and institu-
I always like to use the illustration the United States of America support tions, or whether it is driving the
of food because I think food, which we this infrastructure package is because trucks or working at the factory, you
grow a lot of in North Dakota—and, by they know of the importance of it. are helping the supply side. And at the
the way, if we had to eat it all, it The other thing that I love about in- end of it, you have an asset. The great
would be impossible. If we had to just frastructure is that it pushes against thing about a 5-year spending package
use it all in the United States of Amer- inflation. We are experiencing real in- like this—a 5-year authorization pack-
ica, it would be impossible. We grow flation in this country, and some call it age—is you are building an asset that
food for the world—for the world. Hun- ‘‘transitory,’’ which, I guess, is a cooler is going to last well beyond the 5 years.
gry people all over the world need what word for temporary. I think inflation is Now, when you just give cash as a
is grown in places like North Dakota always temporary. Hopefully, it is al- stimulus, it may last a day, it may last
and Ohio and other parts of our great ways temporary. The question isn’t 6 months, and maybe it gets saved for
country. whether it is transitory, temporary, or a couple years. But we are talking
You know, we talk a lot about soy- permanent. The question is, When is it about a transportation infrastructure
beans. Remember, in the last couple of over? When is it going to be over? that lasts decades—decades.
years, we have heard a lot about the Well, one of the challenges—and, by That is why the Penn Wharton study
importance of soybeans and getting the way, rightfully, so—I mean, we shows that it actually pays for itself,
soybeans to market, getting them to spent a lot of money last year—lots of even if you didn’t have any pay-fors,
the Pacific Northwest. money to keep our economy afloat, and and we can talk about that in a little
Well, guess how that happens? not just so much to keep the economy bit.
The way it happens is the farmer afloat as much as to keep people afloat. Over the course of time, the economy
combines the soybeans after they have, We didn’t know what this crisis was actually pays back the government for
of course, been planted and nourished going to bring, this pandemic of ours. infrastructure. That is what pushes
and then harvested—the soybeans—and We didn’t know how long businesses against inflation. That is what helps
they get them to an elevator, a grain would be shut down. We didn’t know keep inflation down. That is what bal-
elevator, and it takes a truck to do how long the global businesses would ances the demand with the supply.
that. be shut down and global markets would And so there are lots of good reasons
By the way, the trucks that go out in be inaccessible. for us to do this.
the field now—these aren’t little pick- And so to keep people whole, we bor- I want to talk a little bit about the
up trucks. These aren’t even big grain rowed a lot of money. We printed lot of pay-fors because it has been so talked
trucks. These are big, big semi-trailer money. Our Federal Reserve, you about and, I think, in many cases
trucks, and they need good roads and know, provided a lot of liquidity into grossly misrepresented.
bridges. And they get those beans to the marketplace. That is all contrib- The pay-fors for the $550 billion new
the elevator, and the elevator markets uting to the demand side of our econ- spending are real. I know that every-
them, or in some cases they put them omy, the demand side. body waited with bated breath for the
in their own bins and wait for the price Well, when you have a lot of liquid- CBO to prove us wrong, and yet the
to go up and protect them. ity, a lot of cash again—call it stim- CBO proved exactly what we thought it
But at some point they get on a train ulus, call it safety net, whether it is would prove. It proved that where they
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
and they go to a place, like Seattle or the Paycheck Protection Program for can score—and, by the way, can I just
someplace in the Pacific Northwest, small businesses or direct payments to say these are word salads. Words like
and then they get on a ship from there. families or, you know, forgiveness of ‘‘score,’’ ‘‘pay-fors,’’ you know, ‘‘fili-
Well, you can’t get on a ship unless you loans or moratorium on evictions for buster,’’ these are word salads that if
have a railroad track that gets you to landlords and renters—whatever you you stopped 100 people at the mall in
the port—oh, and then you need the want to call it, it is a lot of money, and Fargo or Bismarck, 99 wouldn’t even
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S6050 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
know what you were talking about. other than probably the only thing Nevada and the Western States have
But this is what we are trapped with close would be India, and yet China has the tools they need to address the
here—these archaic processes. made it a strategic decision to over- drought and wildfires caused by the ex-
So, anyway, we will talk about new come the United States as an economic treme weather we are experiencing
spending pay-fors and what the Con- powerhouse, along with, by the way, a now. This package includes necessary
gressional Budget Office can score. very, very advanced and efficient mili- legislation to fund large-scale water-
They are confined to what they can tary. recycling projects that can clean mil-
score, and some of it makes sense. They don’t pay people to join the lions of gallons of wastewater a day to
They are accounting terms. They are military, they just make them join the keep water in Lake Mead for the Las
government accounting terms, and military. Their money goes a long Vegas Valley. This act also includes
they make sense. They identify a whole ways. And whatever technology they measures I wrote to help prevent
bunch of legitimate pay-fors, or at can’t discover or create, they steal. wildfires and to fund state-of-the-art
least what they call, you know, scores. This is not a small threat. fire-detection equipment. New tech-
But they also recognize that there And one of the advantages they have nologies can keep us one step ahead of
are a lot of things they can’t score that is that they have been investing at a disastrous fires, and we need this kind
actually do pay for this infrastruc- very fast and very aggressive rate in of forward thinking to protect our
ture—for example, the $53 billion from their infrastructure—all forms of infra- communities.
certain States that would come back as structure: highways, bridges, roads, I also ensured this bill would support
unused unemployment insurance bene- internet, water, ports. And, by the way, Nevada’s mining industry and create
fits. That is real money. They can’t they invest in a lot of other countries’ new union jobs. It does this by
‘‘score’’ it because, of course, it has al- infrastructure to both win them over strengthening the critical mineral and
ready been appropriated, and there is, and then to use it as leverage against battery supply chain that provides key
in theory—nowhere in reality; there is, other countries. components of cell phones and laptops,
in theory—that somehow that $53 bil- So there are lots of good reasons to electric vehicles, solar panels, and
lion might not be spent by the govern- support this bill as it becomes time to, more. We should be processing the min-
ment. I have never seen that happen, first of all, finalize, of course, the sub- erals we mine in Nevada right here in
but, you know, I suppose theoretically stitute, the amendment that makes up the United States, and this bill will
it could. But believe me, it is a pay-for. the bill, and then get on to final pas- help us do that in a responsible way
It is real money. So they don’t call it sage. while protecting the environment and
a score. They call it an estimate. I want to wrap up where I started, our public lands.
There is another estimate: $67 billion however, and that is to just stress how I am so pleased that this bill will also
from proceeds from the C-band spec- disappointed I am that we haven’t been make historic investments in our stu-
trum auction. Now, the reason they voting on amendments. There are some dents. My bipartisan Renew America’s
can’t call it a pay-for, can’t score it, is really good ones out there. Schools Act will invest $100 million a
because that $67 billion has already In fact, the best ones I know of were year in environmentally friendly
come in. The auction was in February introduced by Republicans and Demo- school improvement projects, and I
of this year. So it is already in. crats together, equally. And we would worked to include additional support
Theoretically, it could maybe not be be wise, all of us, to just agree. Maybe for our students, from funding for elec-
spent. Therefore, it can’t be ‘‘scored.’’ it is not the top 10. Maybe it is not the tric school buses to programs that keep
But it is going to be real money. It is top 20 amendments, but even if it is the kids safe when they walk, bike, or ride
real money that exists that doesn’t re- top 4 or 5, you know, let’s recognize the bus to school.
quire taking it from anybody else—no that the bill can still be improved in This legislation also includes $65 bil-
tax increases, no new taxes, $67 bil- these final hours and get some folks lion in funding to expand broadband ac-
lion—and that is called ‘‘an estimate,’’ cess to Americans across the country,
down here.
not a ‘‘score.’’ Let’s get the 100 of us together and and I helped draft additional bipartisan
There is an analysis—I think a pretty make some decisions together while provisions to promote digital equity
conservative one, by the way—of $53 the hours are still in front of us, and and ensure the government is being
billion in economic growth. Remember transparent about how it is spending
improve this bill so we can get about
I talked about the Penn Wharton study this funding.
the business of debating it, getting us
The infrastructure bill will also se-
that showed over the decades that the to final passage, and sending it over to cure improvements for our public tran-
economy would literally pay for the en- the House of Representatives, where I sit systems and airports and allow us
tire investment. But that is not how we would implore, plead with the Speaker to produce and charge more electric ve-
do government, and I understand that, of the House, to take it up—take it up hicles. It will make our lives more sus-
and we shouldn’t. But even the CBO, in apart from this $3.5 to $5.5 trillion tax- tainable. It will bolster our economy
their analysis, concludes that $53 bil- and-spend wish list of the Democratic and uplift working families.
lion would come back. Now, they can’t socialists. Take it up and do something You know, I like to call Nevada the
score that. It is just an analysis, but it good for the country. Then we will get Innovation State. I know we have the
is real money. And, by the way, it is about the business of debating the next technology and creativity to deal with
very conservative. big package. the challenges of the 21st century. My
Now, I know there is a lot of political I yield the floor. State is full of innovators and inven-
rhetoric that flies back and forth in The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. tors, small business owners, and stu-
these word salads that, you know, Re- OSSOFF). The Senator from Nevada. dents, all of whom are eager to play a
publicans like to use and word salads Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President,
part in a sustainable and prosperous fu-
that Democrats like to use to talk I rise today in support of the Infra-
ture. This package will bring us closer
about the same things, and we tend to structure Investment and Jobs Act
to that goal.
talk to our people, if you will, to ra- that will make historic investments in I look forward to the positive
tionalize or convince or persuade, and Nevada, pending legislation we are changes this legislation will bring my
that is all good. That is all fine. But I working on right now. State, and that is why I am supporting
know this much for sure: I don’t think With this legislation, Senators from it.
there is a single American that thinks both sides of the aisle were able to I yield the floor.
we ought to fall behind our adversaries come together to negotiate policy that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
any further. will prepare us for a sustainable future. ator from Nevada.
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
We are under real economic chal- It will create good-paying jobs, and it Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President,
lenges, global economic challenges, by will strengthen the economy. This is I suggest the absence of a quorum.
our adversaries, not the least of which, an example of how Congress can work The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
of course, is China. China is fast be- to the benefit of all Americans. clerk will call the roll.
coming the No. 1 economy in the world. In the Infrastructure Investment and The legislative clerk proceeded to
They are by far the largest population, Jobs Act, I worked to make sure that call the roll.
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6051
Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I By the way, this amendment is NATIONAL SECURITY
ask unanimous consent that the order scored by CBO to bring in more than COUNSELORS.
for the quorum call be rescinded. $100 million, and it seems to me that is NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. COR- CENTER.
a pretty significant amount of money,
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT
TEZ MASTO). Without objection, it is so particularly when the infrastructure OVERSIGHT.
ordered. bill was scored by CBO to add $256 bil- PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS—AMENDMENTS lion to the debt. ENVIRONMENTAL
Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I This amendment provides long need- RESPONSIBILITY.
come to the floor to ask unanimous ed improvements to combat fraud per- WHISTLEBLOWERS OF
consent on two pieces of legislation. petrated against the Federal Govern- AMERICA.
The first one is a bipartisan amend- ment. I would like to thank my bipar- --
DEAR CHAIRMAN DURBIN AND SENATOR
ment that I have with Senator KLO- tisan group of friends who have sup-
GRASSLEY: Taxpayers Against Fraud, Na-
BUCHAR. It has been cleared on both ported this bill and this amendment tional Whistleblower Center, Project On
sides of the aisle. It does not cost any- with their cosponsorship. Government Oversight and Government Ac-
thing. It is noncontroversial, and I am Now, just to make clear, the only countability Project write you in support of
not aware of any opposition or con- business interests that have anything your legislation to strengthen the False
troversy about it. to worry about—and I am emphasizing Claims Act, the government’s primary fraud-
I filed this amendment as soon as we this because since this amendment was fighting law. Our organizations have been
were on the bill and have been asking offered, you would be surprised, all the advocating for whistleblowers and fraud-
business interests that have come out fighting for decades and view this legislation
for a vote ever since. I am happy to ac- as critical to the continued success of False
cept a voice vote. I do not understand in opposition to this provision. So the
Claims Act enforcement and the public-pri-
why that is not possible. only thing these business interests vate partnership.
This amendment is entitled ‘‘Assist- have to have anything to worry about The Department of Justice has stated that
ing Broadband Connectivity Act’’ that with this anti-fraud amendment are since the Act was revitalized in 1986 over $64
Senator KLOBUCHAR and I introduced the same ones that are already found billion have been recovered, with nearly 80%
last month. This amendment will make in a court of law to have defrauded the of the recoveries coming from whistle blower
changes to the rural broadband pro- taxpayers. initiated actions. Our experience shows that
Since I got the False Claims Act the indirect benefit of the FCA could be
gram at USDA so that areas aren’t worth an additional trillion dollars in deter-
automatically ineligible for Federal passed in 1986, it has brought in more
rence. As Congress and the Biden Adminis-
funding because a project previously than $65 billion of fraudulently taken tration are considering ways to move our
received State funding. In other words, tax dollars. country forward post-pandemic, we need to
if a project got State money, now they Madam President, I ask unanimous stand guard against those who seek to pilfer
can’t qualify for Federal money. This consent to have printed in the RECORD government programs.
change will ease the administrative the letters of support. By any measurement, the FCA has been a
There being no objection, the mate- remarkable success, we believe that legisla-
burden for those applying to provide tive changes you have put forward will
broadband in rural America. However, rial was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows: strengthen the Act against modern fraud
this won’t change the requirements for schemes. We are confident that the legisla-
Rural Utilities Service when they ad- JULY 22, 2021. tion you have introduced will encourage
minister these programs, such as over- Re Administrative False Claims Act of 2021. more whistleblowers to come forward to as-
build and coordination with other DEAR SENATOR GRASSLEY: The undersigned sist the government and result in the recov-
members of the Make It Safe Coalition ery of billions of additional stolen govern-
broadband entities.
(MISC) write to applaud introduction of the ment dollars.
This bill also provides more flexi- Administrative False Claims Act of 2021 We particularly encourage you to focus on
bility with funding and resources by al- (AFCA). The False Claims Act is America’s the following provisions which would most
lowing States to use funds received most effective anti-corruption law, but as a significantly benefit whistleblowers and the
from the Federal Government, such as practical matter it only has been relevant continued enforcement of the FCA:
COVID State funding, to be used for for the most outlandish cases of fraud in gov- (1.) Clarify the materiality standard. The
the matching fund provision that is re- ernment contracts. The AFCA bill would ex- current FCA ‘‘materiality’’ standard is easy
quired for most applications. This up- pand the scope of accountability to the full to understand-liability only results from
date will help rural America move for- scope of corruption. ‘‘material’’ violations. The FCA explicitly
The False Claims Act is a highly effective defines ‘‘material’’ to mean ‘‘a natural tend-
ward by providing more coordination and indispensable tool for combatting high ency to influence, or be capable of influ-
and funding availability for broadband dollar fraud against the government. In 1986, encing, the payment or receipt of money or
projects. This is not unusual for the Congress passed a ‘‘mini-False Claims Act’’ property’’ by the United States. Congress
Rural Utilities Service. They currently called the Program Fraud Civil Remedies added this statutory definition in 2009 to
allow CDBG and State revolving loan Act (PFCRA) to provide civil remedies for clarify that liability attaches when the gov-
funds for water and wastewater to be false claims of $150,000 or less. However, it ernment could have rejected the fraudsters’
used for matching purposes. has been underutilized and ineffective. The claims for payment.
AFCA allows the Attorney General to dele- Nonetheless, this clear-cut standard was
This amendment will help our States
gate review authority, which will help with arguably undermined in a 2016 Supreme
and providers connect all the pieces the backlog of PFCRA cases and enable the Court decision, Universal Health Services,
from both the State and Federal level Department of Justice to take swifter ac- Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S.
to help get some of these expensive and tion. Furthermore, the bill allows agencies Ct. 1989 (2016). In this case, the Supreme
urgent rural broadband projects com- and inspectors general to recoup the costs of Court provided numerous factors that a
pleted. investigating and prosecuting false claims court could consider for when determining
This amendment has been cleared by and statements by utilizing the funds recov- whether fraud was ‘‘material’’ to the govern-
the Senate Agriculture Committee. ered from AFCA actions. Finally, increasing ment’s decision to pay a claim. On one such
There is no reason it should not get a the payments ceiling of the PFCRA in the factor, the Court wrote: ‘‘[I]f the Govern-
Administrative False Claims Act to $1 mil- ment pays a particular claim in full despite
vote. I am not aware of any opposition. lion will allow more false claims to be ac- its actual knowledge that certain require-
The second amendment is also—the tionable. ments were violated, that is very strong evi-
second bill is also a bipartisan bill by The AFCA consists entirely of non- dence that those requirements are not mate-
Grassley and Leahy. My amendment controversial provisions reflecting best prac- rial.’’
provides anti-fraud provisions to the tices that will be applied where they are Although the government’s prior knowl-
infrastructure package. needed to fix the blockades that have edge was described as merely being ‘‘strong
This amendment combines two of my sedated the PFCRA. The undersigned organi- evidence’’ that a false claim was not mate-
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
bills, the False Claims Amendments zations urge all Members of Congress to sup- rial, some courts and many companies have
port this amendment. made the government knowledge factor dis-
Act and the Administrative False
Sincerely, positive, stating that there must be proof
Claims Act, both of which are bipar- EMPOWER OVERSIGHT. that the government actually refused to pay
tisan and have garnered support from GOVERNMENT the claim. This logic leaves no room for the
both the good-government and inspec- ACCOUNTABILITY government to pay a claim in an emergency
tors general communities. PROJECT. situation and later bring an FCA case.
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S6052 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
For instance, the government might make tives and championing these much-needed across the country. My amendment
the decision to continue paying Medicare improvements to the FCA. These amend- would provide some much needed
payments to a dishonest hospital that is the ments would not only encourage more whis- transparency for taxpayers by showing
only available healthcare facility for a rural tleblowers to step forward, but they will
population. Under the wayward reading of deter future fraudsters from targeting vul-
what projects are being funded with
the Supreme Court’s Escobar decision, such nerable government programs. their tax dollars and the actual costs
corrupt entities could use the government’s Please feel free to contact us with any associated with them.
payment decision to shield itself from FCA questions or comments. We would be eager In practice, my amendment requires
enforcement and drain government funds to meet and further discuss how your efforts nothing more than a single sentence
with impunity. will improve anti-fraud efforts. Please con- disclosing the dollar amount paid by
The proposed FCA amendments restore the tact Jeb White to schedule a meeting. taxpayers and what that amount rep-
Act by granting a heightened presumption of Sincerely,
resents of the overall percentage of the
materiality to all instances when the gov- TAXPAYERS AGAINST
ernment could have demanded repayment or FRAUD project’s budget. The only reason to
payment from the defendant. The defendant NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER oppose this commonsense transparency
can then only overcome this highly deferen- CENTER is if there is something to hide.
tial presumption by meeting a strict ‘‘clear PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT I urge the consideration of my
and convincing evidence’’ standard. OVERSIGHT GOVERNMENT amendment and ask that my col-
If a company accused of defrauding the ACCOUNTABILITY leagues vote yes.
government actually admits to submitting PROJECT. Again, I ask unanimous consent that
false claims, but then argues that the false Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I the request be further modified to in-
information is not material, it is only fair clude my amendment, Ernst No. 2639.
for that company to be required to prove
ask unanimous consent that the fol-
lowing amendments be called up to the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the
that false information has no tendency to
impact the government’s payment decision. substitute and reported by number: Senator so modify his request?
This high burden correctly rests with the de- Grassley 2435, that is Grassley-Leahy; Mr. GRASSLEY. I will accept that
fendant. and Grassley 2500, Grassley-Klobuchar. modification, but I want to add, in
(2.) Clarify when the government may dis- So I want to emphasize, both of these fact, I think every Senator ought to
miss whistleblower cases. The FCA permits are bipartisan pieces of legislation. get a vote. We have wasted all day
the government to dismiss whistleblower, or The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Thursday, Saturday, and now through
so-called ‘‘qui tam,’’ actions if the whistle- Sunday. That is enough time to vote
blower ‘‘has been notified by the Govern-
objection?
The Senator from Alabama. on a multitude of amendments, and we
ment of the filing of the motion and the
court has provided the person with an oppor- Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, re- just sat around those 3 days accom-
tunity for a hearing on the motion.’’ 31 USC serving the right to object, I would ask plishing nothing.
3730(c)(2)(A). unanimous consent now that the Sen- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
Recognizing that whistleblower-initiated ator modify his request to include my an objection to the request, as modi-
actions have recovered the bulk of FCA re- amendment No. 2535, and I will speak fied?
coveries over the last I 00 years, the govern- to that briefly. The Senator from Arizona is recog-
ment has been reluctant to dismiss these ac- The underlying bill includes billions nized.
tions. In fact, prior to 2018, the government Ms. SINEMA. Madam President, re-
of dollars for all manner of infrastruc-
had dismissed less than 50 cases in the 155–
ture investments in the United States. serving the right to object, I first
year history of the Act.
Then, in January 2018, the Justice Depart- However, it fails to address critical in- would like to associate myself with the
ment released the so-called ‘‘Granston frastructure needs to support our na- comments just uttered by the senior
Memo,’’ which outlined the Department’s tional defense. This amendment that I Senator from Iowa. I think many of us
focus on dismissing whistleblower-initiated am bringing forth would rectify that. are frustrated that we have been sit-
FCA actions. Since then, over 50 whistle- I believe that we cannot, in America, ting around together for quite some
blower actions have been silenced through continue to spend hand-over-fist on do- time without moving forward. But, as I
arbitrary dismissals, in less than four years. remarked earlier today, the U.S. Sen-
When challenged, the Justice Department
mestic priorities—a lot of them are im-
has argued that it has ‘‘unfettered discre- portant—without investing dime one in ate is a body that requires the unani-
tion’’ to dismiss these cases, notwith- our national defense infrastructure. mous consent of every single Senator,
standing the statutory requirement that the This would rectify that, and I would and each Senator has the right to with-
court provide the whistleblower with a ask that it include my amendment in hold his objection or consent to any
‘‘hearing.’’ this. process moving forward.
By dismissing whistleblowers and their The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Over the last day and a half, we have
fraud concerns without any oversight, the seen a lack of willingness to collabo-
Justice Department is discouraging individ-
an objection to the modification?
The Senator from Iowa is recognized. rate, to come together to find unani-
uals from even stepping forward. The
Amendments provide a level of assurances Ms. ERNST. Madam President, re- mous consent to move forward on both
for would-be whistleblowers, clarifying when serving the right to object, I would ask the consideration of a number of
a whistleblower-initiated action may be dis- unanimous consent that the request be amendments, including those offered
missed by the court. further modified to include my amend- today, and a time agreement. It is not
With our country spending trillions of dol- ment No. 2639, and my amendment is because there weren’t many people who
lars in pandemic spending and infrastructure very simple. It requires a public price were willing to do so. In fact, most of
improvements, now is not the time to silence the Members of this body were inter-
whistleblowers with backroom dismissals.
tag to be put on projects funded with
We applaud these leading anti-fraud Sen- taxpayer dollars by the Department of ested in finding such an agreement.
ators for providing a level of certainty and Energy and the Department of Trans- But it is the right of each and every
protection to America’s courageous whistle- portation. It allows taxpayers to see Senator and the privilege of each and
blowers. exactly how their dollars are being every Senator to withhold that consent
(3.) Clarify that the FCA provides anti-re- spent, whether it is on an airport, a if he so chooses, and that is the situa-
taliation protection to former employees. bridge, or any other project. tion we find ourselves in today.
The current FCA is arguably silent on Congress has renewed the provision— So, Madam President and others, I
whether individuals receive protection from would recommend that just in 1 hour,
employers who blackball or otherwise retali-
referred to as the Stevens Amend-
ate post-employment. The proposed amend- ment—annually for more than 30 years we will see this postcloture time ex-
ment removes any uncertainty by explicitly for some Federal Agencies, including pire, and we will move forward under
extending the protections found in 31 USC the Departments of Health and Human regular order to finish consideration of
3730(h). Services, Education, and Labor. It was this broad bipartisan piece of legisla-
For too long, whistleblowers have faced re- most recently approved by Congress tion. And I do want to take a moment
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
taliation from former employers. The and signed into law as part of both the to commend my colleagues on both
amendments put the world on notice that sides of the aisle, the 22 Democrats and
Consolidated Appropriations Act of
blackballing whistleblowers will no longer be
tolerated. We applaud your long-standing 2021 and the National Defense Author- Republicans who worked together over
commitment to protecting whistleblowers. ization Act of 2021. the last several months with their col-
On behalf of whistleblowers, we thank you The infrastructure bill we are now leagues on both sides of aisle to con-
both for your leadership on anti-fraud initia- considering will finance many projects sider a historic 22 amendments to this
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6053
legislation to ensure that a broad and mated $100 million for airport upgrades of the past and make sure these
bipartisan discussion was held, and I and repairs. broadband dollars are spent efficiently,
look forward to a swift and positive Our ports and rail systems also stand effectively, and with the benefit of
resolution by passing this legislation. to benefit. This bill authorizes $2.25 bil- stakeholder comment.
With that, I object. lion for U.S. ports; $5 billion for rail I was pleased that my colleagues in-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- through the Consolidated Rail Infra- cluded language to prohibit the Federal
tion is heard. structure and Safety Improvements— Government from setting broadband
The Senator from Mississippi. or CRISI—Program; and $3 billion to rates. This would have been an unwel-
H.R. 3684 provide safety features for grade cross- come intrusion into the private mar-
Mr. WICKER. Madam President, I ings, something that is desperately ket, and the inclusion of this clarifying
rise this afternoon to announce my needed across this country. language was absolutely critical.
support for this bipartisan infrastruc- This bill will also clear away obsta- The internet in this country has been
ture legislation. Coming to this deci- cles for major construction projects by able to meet the demands of the
sion has not been easy or straight- streamlining the Federal permitting COVID–19 pandemic in large part be-
forward. process. The Army Corps of Engineers cause of our light-touch regulatory
As the minority leader said recently, will get $9.5 billion, meaning Mis- framework, which has encouraged more
I am quite confident that out of 100 sissippi will have new funding opportu- broadband buildout. This stands in
U.S. Senators, there are 100 of us who nities for flood control projects, which stark contrast to our European friends,
believe this bill is imperfect. I want to are badly needed. who suffered severe slowdowns because
associate myself with that statement. And high-need communities will be of their burdensome internet rules.
The bill we are now debating is far first in line for those projects, thanks One pivotal moment of this debate on
from perfect. If I were the only one to an amendment I sponsored with the this subject involved a colloquy that I
with a pen, I would have made many senior Senators from Delaware and shared last week with the senior Sen-
changes. But at the end of the day, I Oklahoma. This should benefit urban ator from New Hampshire, Senator
believe this package will do a great areas, like the Pearl River Basin, as SHAHEEN, the chief negotiator for this
service for the United States of Amer- well as rural areas throughout Mis- title. Senator SHAHEEN confirmed on
ica and a great service for my home sissippi and throughout our Nation, the Senate floor that preventing regu-
State of Mississippi. which have faced the constant threat lation of internet rates was the express
Republicans and Democrats agree of flooding for far too long. intent of the language in the
that roads, bridges, broadband, ports, In another positive provision of this broadband title. Without this specific
and rail are the building blocks of a bill, the Senate adopted my amend- language in the legislation and the as-
healthy economy. This bill makes his- ment authorizing the Minority Busi- surance made during that colloquy, I
toric downpayments on those core pri- ness Development Agency—MBDA—for would not have been able to support
orities. the first time ever. It had never been this bill on final passage.
I am pleased that this bill incor- authorized. This will send new business Now, some have expressed concern
porates all of the Surface Transpor- resources to rural areas and a boost of about the cost of this bill. Offsets have
tation Investment Act of 2021, which support to historically Black colleges been provided, and the negotiators pro-
Senator CANTWELL and I cosponsored, and universities, which are economic
and which passed out of the Commerce vided pay-fors for every expenditure;
anchors in their communities. but, admittedly, the Congressional
Committee by a vote of 25 to 3, with And I would add the good news we
the support of 14 Democrats and 11 Re- Budget Office did not agree with all the
got just last month: Mississippi will
publicans. The provisions of that bill pay-fors.
soon be home to a new MBDA center.
ensure that Mississippi will get a fair I also want to mention rural Republicans, for decades, have advo-
shake in the competitive grant pro- broadband, which will see a tremen- cated more use of dynamic scoring, and
grams included in this bill, which total dous boost because of this legislation. I wish the CBO had used dynamic scor-
more than $20 billion. This bill lines up $65 billion to be spent ing in this instance. It is unfortunate
This bill has a number of other vi- on broadband deployment, taking us that the CBO refuses to acknowledge
tally important provisions that will one giant step toward closing the dig- that economic growth will result in
benefit Mississippi. It provides my ital divide. higher revenues.
State a lump sum of $3.3 billion for Based on the Federal formula, Mis- It should be clear to us all that the
roads and highways, as well as $225 mil- sissippi will receive a minimum of $100 investments in this legislation will
lion to replace and repair bridges. We million from these funds. That is on generate a stronger economy and larg-
will also be able to compete for funding top of the $495 million Mississippi was er sums of revenue. Experts have pre-
from another $12.5 billion in bridge recently awarded through the Rural dicted these investments will make it
grants. Digital Opportunity Fund—or RDOF— less costly for businesses to operate
Mississippi has nearly 6,000 miles of auctions, and the $275 million of COVID and will lead to greater productivity.
highway in poor condition, and over a relief funds that we are spending on For example, the widely used Penn
thousand bridges are also in poor con- broadband infrastructure in Mis- Wharton Budget Model has projected
dition in our State. Commute times in sissippi. this bill will increase hourly wages by
Mississippi are up 5.6 percent over the No Senator has been a stronger advo- .1 percent and reduce government debt
last decade. According to the American cate than I have on broadband build- by .9 percent. You heard that right.
Society of Civil Engineers, Mississippi out. Reliable, high-speed broadband is The Penn Wharton Model says this bill
drivers, on average, are paying an critical to ensuring rural States are will reduce government debt, a pre-
extra $820 per year in extra vehicle re- competitive for the next generation, diction not to be taken lightly.
pairs and operating costs. and this bill will help us get there. Michael Strain of the American En-
No one disputes that my State and It is no secret that I have registered terprise Institute, a respected conserv-
other States are in desperate need of my concerns about the way this bill ative think tank, has said these invest-
significant new funding for roads and waives some of the normal processes ments in hard infrastructure will ease
bridges, and this legislation does that. that make for good Federal rule- the pressure on inflation rather than
The historic investments in this bill making. As written, this bill makes it contributing to inflation.
mean that Mississippians can have an so that the NTIA can choose not to re- In other words, this investment in in-
easier time dropping off their children ceive public comment on its broadband frastructure will result in tremendous
at school and shorter commutes to buildout plans; and it short-circuits economic growth—growth that some of
work. First responders will also be able the judicial review section of the Ad- our budgetary bean counters are not
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
to reach those in need much more ministrative Procedure Act, giving willing to account for.
quickly, potentially saving lives. stakeholders a much smaller voice in Now, it is important to make this
Separately, Mississippi will receive the overall buildout process. point emphatically: This legislation in-
$223 million for public transit, $283 mil- I hope the NTIA will take care to volving hard infrastructure, which I
lion for water projects, and an esti- avoid the wasteful and costly mistakes support, stands in sharp contrast to the
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S6054 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
Democrats’ forthcoming bill, which Can we afford to pass on this oppor- In no small part because of his work
will certainly not gain even one Repub- tunity? in East Palo Alto, Mr. Davis was
lican vote, and which the 50 Democrats We cannot afford to pass this oppor- tapped by President Obama to serve as
in the Senate and a slim majority in tunity up. Executive Director of President
the House hope to pass with only Dem- I will be voting yes on this legisla- Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century
ocrat votes. tion. Policing. President Obama also se-
They say their bill will be infrastruc- Thank you. lected Mr. Davis to head the Justice
ture part two, but a momentary glance I yield the floor. Department’s Office of Community Ori-
of what they are proposing should dis- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ented Policing Services, known as the
pel any notion that their bill counts as PADILLA). The Senator from Illinois. COPS Office.
real infrastructure. UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—EXECUTIVE As the COPS Office Director, he dis-
I will say it clearly and for the CALENDAR bursed hundreds of millions of dollars
record: My Democratic colleagues are Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, since in grant money, enabling State and
teeing up for next week a reckless tax- the beginning of our history, U.S. Mar- local police departments to retain and
and-spending spree that our country shals have protected our Federal judi- hire thousands of police officers. In
does not need and cannot afford. The cial process and defended the integrity other words, he was in charge of fund-
Democrats’ reckless budget bill will of our Constitution. Today, the Mar- ing police across the United States.
amount to a staggering $3.5 trillion. It shals Service oversees thousands of As a police officer with nearly three
threatens the successful Trump tax deputy marshals and investigators decades of experience, and as the hus-
cuts. It includes crushing tax hikes on across America, who guard Federal of- band of a 31-year veteran of the police
job creators; hundreds of billions in ficials and witnesses, track down fugi- force who was the first Black woman to
wasteful giveaways to green corpora- tives, and transport Federal prisoners. serve as a permanent police chief in
tions; and a slew of spending that They are an invaluable part of our law California, Mr. Davis has a deep and
would heat up inflation, jeopardize our enforcement system. abiding respect for the men and women
recovery, and drive our Nation deeper This afternoon, the Senate has an op- of law enforcement.
into debt. portunity to confirm a proven, trusted Understanding the risks that officers
Democrats are even considering an law enforcement professional to lead face every day, he said: ‘‘There is no
amnesty measure—in the midst of the the U.S. Marshals Service, Ronald greater or more noble profession than
worst border crisis in recent memory— Davis. policing.’’
without giving a thought to improving In June, the Judiciary Committee ap- And he has been emphatic that police
border security, which would count as proved Mr. Davis’s nomination on a bi- officers deserve our highest praise for
real infrastructure. But that is next partisan basis. Three Republican mem- keeping neighborhoods safe, families
week’s bill, not this one. bers of the committee, including Rank- secure, and dangerous criminals behind
This bill, the bipartisan bill that I ing Member CHUCK GRASSLEY OF IOWA, bars.
am supporting tonight, is the real in- JOINED EVERY DEMOCRAT TO SUPPORT Mr. Davis also has the backs of mem-
frastructure deal that America needs. HIS NOMINATION AS DIRECTOR OF THE bers of law enforcement. He earned
As the Senate moves forward with MARSHALS SERVICE. their respect and trust. Numerous law
this important debate, and as I con- With Mr. Davis’s experience in the enforcement organizations are asking
sider the infrastructure needs of my military, the Justice Department, and the Senate to move—and move quick-
own State of Mississippi, it is instruc- as a police officer on the beat, he is an ly—to confirm his nomination as Di-
tive for me to recall the history of in- outstanding nominee. But despite his rector of the U.S. Marshals Service.
frastructure programs I have person- bipartisan committee vote, decades of Listen to this group of law enforce-
ally seen at the State level. law enforcement experience, and the ment professionals that has supported
In 1968, my father was a first-term support he enjoys from virtually every him: the Hispanic American Police
State senator from Pontotoc, Union, major law enforcement organization in Command Officers Association; the
and Benton Counties in north Mis- America, some of my Republican col- Federal Law Enforcement Officers As-
sissippi. One of his major goals that leagues are blocking him from being sociation; the International Associa-
year was the passage of a comprehen- confirmed by unanimous consent. tion of Chiefs of Police; the National
sive four-lane highway program. That Unanimous consent is the expedited Black Police Association; the National
was 1968. The legislature met from Jan- process that the Senate has used to Organization of Black Law Enforce-
uary until September of that year, confirm every other Director of the ment Executives; the Police Executive
with vote after vote on the highway Marshals Service for as long as this po- Research Forum; the Major Cities
bill, before finally adjourning in frus- sition has been subject to Senate con- Chiefs Association; the Major County
tration with the hope of trying again firmation. We have always confirmed Sheriffs of America; the National Asso-
next year. Sadly, the next year came the Marshals Service Director by unan- ciation of Women Law Enforcement
and went, as did others, with no mean- imous consent because the position is Executives; the National Sheriffs’ As-
ingful highway legislation. so important and, up until now, has sociation; and, yes, the Fraternal Order
It was not until 1987—a full 19 years been considered to be above partisan of Police.
later, when I myself was a candidate politics. Notably, these organizations didn’t
for the State senate—that a major I hope my Republican colleagues will just support him; they support his im-
four-lane highway bill was finally en- reconsider their position. At a time mediate confirmation and urge us to
acted, and only then by the tiniest of when our Federal judges and court offi- move quickly.
margins in a vote to override a guber- cials face a growing number of threats, Consider this letter from the Fra-
natorial veto. the Marshals Service needs Mr. Davis’s ternal Order of Police sent on August 3.
If you ask almost anyone involved in experience and leadership now, and the It says: ‘‘At this time in our history,
economic development efforts during American public deserves his steady the U.S. Marshals Service needs the
the decades that followed, and even hand at the helm. leadership we’re confident that Mr.
today, they will tell you that the 1987 Let me briefly speak to Mr. Davis’s Davis can provide. No doubt he under-
four-lane highway bill was one of Mis- qualifications and the support he en- stands first-hand the issues facing
sissippi’s most significant pieces of leg- joys from law enforcement. women and men in law enforcement,
islation for job creation. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, and we believe President Biden has
For this smalltown boy from Mis- Mr. Davis joined the Oakland, CA, Po- made an excellent decision to have him
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
sissippi, this is just as pivotal a mo- lice Department, serving for 20 years in lead the Marshals Service.’’
ment. For my State’s economy, today uniform, ultimately attaining the rank I couldn’t agree more. There is sim-
is such a moment. of captain. He then went on to serve as ply no basis for delaying this bipar-
When will it come again? chief of the East Palo Alto Police De- tisan choice out of the Senate Judici-
Maybe next year, maybe the next ad- partment, implementing crucial initia- ary Committee any moment further. If
ministration, maybe 19 years. tives that curbed gang violence. my Republican colleagues really want
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6055
to stand up for law and order and fund- and has been for months. What this has widely abused—is a serious threat to
ing the police, they can start by con- to do with the person to lead the U.S. the health, safety, and welfare of the
firming a nominee who has devoted his Marshals Service, I cannot imagine. American people.
entire career to doing just that. That But I don’t have to imagine the im- I simply want to make sure that
nominee is Ronald Davis. portance of filling this position quick- American companies are not complicit
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- ly. It was over 10 years ago when a in selling precursor chemicals that
sent that the Senate proceed to execu- judge—a woman that I helped to win produce this poison, that is then im-
tive session to consider the Davis nom- appointment in the Federal district ported into the United States and has
ination, Calendar No. 174; that the court in the Northern District of Illi- taken so many American lives.
nomination be confirmed, the motion nois—learned tragically that a disgrun- This is, as I said, no reflection on the
to reconsider be considered made and tled client at somebody’s firm went to nominee himself. But as the distin-
laid upon the table with no intervening her home, killing her mother and her guished Senator from Illinois knows,
action or debate, that the President be husband, in Chicago. It was a tragedy, Senators have very few tools, very lit-
immediately notified of the Senate’s an unspeakable tragedy. tle leverage to actually get the execu-
action, and the Senate then resume Because of that terrible event, we tive branch to do what they are obli-
legislative session. turned to the U.S. Marshals Service gated to do, which is simply to respond
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there and said: You have a special obligation to our inquiries and our letters. That is
an objection? to protect the men and women who a simple matter.
The Senator from Texas. serve in our judiciary. We are counting This does not implicate the safety
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, reserv- on you to make certain that they are and security of the Federal judiciary,
ing the right to object, I voted for Mr. safe at work and they are safe at home. as the Senator knows. This is an ad-
Davis’s nomination in the Judiciary And it is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year re- ministrative position, and we all sup-
Committee and I support it. But I sponsibility that the Marshals Service port the safety and security of all of
think the chairman of the Judiciary has. our judicial officials.
Committee, my friend from Illinois, Sadly, that wasn’t the last of the So this could be satisfied very quick-
could help me try to resolve a problem tragedies involving judges. It was just ly and, literally, within the next hour
that I have primarily with the chief a few years ago when a judge in New if the chairman of the Judiciary Com-
law enforcement officer of the United Jersey lost her son. Another person, a mittee would simply pick up the phone,
States; that is, the Attorney General. demented person, went to her home call the Attorney General, and ask him
The Attorney General simply will not and killed him. to answer his mail.
answer his mail. So when we are talking about filling The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
Let me explain. Back in March, I this position, it is more than whether ator from Illinois.
wrote a letter to the Attorney General the Attorney General has sent a timely Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, first, let
urging him to conduct an investigation response to a letter; it is a matter of me say that this issue about this cor-
of a chemical company named Avantor life and death—and now, more than poration—I believe the Senator said it
and their role in the opioid epidemic ever, because we are in transition and was known as Avantor—it was a cor-
that is sweeping America and the plan- many of the marshals are in a lame- poration which was once under the con-
et. duck status or moved on to other posi- trol of Vanita Gupta’s father. She had
In 2020, 93,000 Americans died of drug tions, and you need someone to head up no—no—active role whatsoever in the
overdoses, with 69,000-plus of those the U.S. Marshals Service during this administration of this corporation. She
from opioids, including heroin. Avantor period when we do our work here in was a shareholder as the daughter of
is a leading producer of a chemical pre- Congress to approve the new U.S. Mar- the chairman of the board, her only
cursor known as acetic anhydride, a shals across the United States. connection. It was a stock portfolio.
key chemical used to convert opium to It is hard for me to imagine that we That was it. That is the reason why
heroin. Avantor’s product has been would risk the lives of judges, court these suspicions and charges went no-
used extensively by drug cartels and personnel, and their families, along where. There is just no connection be-
transnational criminal organizations with many others, by leaving this crit- tween Vanita Gupta and this company.
with the apparent knowledge of ical law enforcement agency unfilled. It was my understanding at the time
Avantor officials, who have taken inad- No one questions this man’s quali- that this company had discontinued its
equate measures to prevent the diver- fications. He is a humble man who has business in Mexico and had already
sion of this chemical, particularly in an amazing story, an incredible story. done that long before her hearing. That
Mexico. He is asking to serve this Nation again was a matter of public record.
Alarmingly, Associate Attorney Gen- in a capacity, when it comes to secu- Secondly, when members of the Judi-
eral Vanita Gupta holds millions of rity and safety, that is really one of ciary Committee on both sides of the
dollars in Avantor stock, and her fa- the most important in our government. aisle said they wanted quicker re-
ther sits on the board of that company, I am sorry that the Senator feels this sponses to the letters sent to the De-
raising serious ethical issues. way. I wish he would reconsider and partment of Justice than they received
As I said, I simply want the Attorney just reflect for a moment on the impor- under the Trump administration, I said
General to answer my letter. I sent a tance of this position. that was a perfectly legitimate re-
letter to him asking about the inves- I yield the floor. quest, and I invited the members of the
tigative status of Avantor and its in- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- committee to join me in a conference
volvement in the facilitation of heroin ator from Texas. call with the Attorney General to dis-
production, but have yet to receive a Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the dis- cuss it. Several did. I am not sure
response more than 4 months later. tinguished Senator from Illinois, the whether the Senator from Texas was
In light of the serious issues that I chairman of the Judiciary Committee, part of it or not. But the message to
have raised in this letter and the lack could resolve this issue in the next the Department of Justice was, provide
of a response from the Justice Depart- hour; and I would lift my hold if he a timely response to all inquiries. The
ment, I placed a hold on this nominee would simply ask the Attorney General Attorney General gave us his personal
and will not lift my hold until I receive of the United States to answer my let- assurance that he would do that.
a sufficient response. ter, which I sent 4 months ago, which I know this letter is very important
So I object. we have received no response to. to the Senator from Texas, but I think
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- Drug overdoses have taken the lives that the safety of our judges is even
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
tion is heard. of 93,000-plus Americans in the last more important.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am dis- year alone. Most of those drugs come So let’s press on if you wish for a
appointed. At this point, this is an across the southern border from Mex- reply to this letter as soon as possible.
issue involving Vanita Gupta, who was ico, including heroin, which is an But today, let’s do the right thing and
approved by the Senate and now is opioid, which together with prescrip- put the person in charge who keeps
serving in the Department of Justice tion drugs—which we know have been safe the judges and their families all
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S6056 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
across the United States from terrible The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Everyone knows last year the dif-
things that have happened to them in objection, it is so ordered. ficulties of COVID–19 and what hap-
the past. The Senator from Arizona. pened and the extraordinary measures
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- AMENDMENT NO. 2633 WITHDRAWN that were taken to be able to offset the
ator from Texas. Ms. SINEMA. Mr. President, I ask economic damage that was significant.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I have unanimous consent to withdraw Carper CBO, as of July 21 of this year, esti-
to respond. amendment No. 2633. mates the Federal deficit for 2021 will
For the Senator from Illinois to say The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there be $3 trillion, much of that based on
that Vanita Gupta has no relationship an objection? what was done last year during an
with Avantor, the company that has Without objection, it is so ordered. emergency time period. It is 13.5 per-
been selling this precursor drug into The amendment (No. 2633) was with- cent GDP. That deficit, in 2021, will be
Mexico that is used to manufacture drawn. the second largest since World War II,
heroin—it is true, she is not part of the Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I rise to since 1945.
board of directors or the administra- ask unanimous consent that the fol- Now, this year, in the year that we
tion or the leadership of that corpora- lowing materials in support of section are finally working our way out of
tion, but she literally owns or did own 40209 of the bipartisan infrastructure COVID–19, though still taking it seri-
tens of millions of dollars of stock in framework, the Advanced Energy Man- ously—this year, there is $2 trillion in
Avantor. We do not yet know whether ufacturing and Recycling Grant Pro- additional spending in March of this
she has kept her promise to sell that gram, be entered into the RECORD. year. There is a $1 trillion infrastruc-
Avantor stock. She said she would dur- These sources, which include con- ture plan that is in front of us now and
ing her confirmation hearing, and we gressional testimony, disparity studies, a $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend bill that,
are investigating to see whether she and other evidence, shed further light apparently, we start in 2 days.
actually followed through and kept on the longstanding barriers and dis- Listen, I have been told over and over
that promise. parities faced by minority-owned small again throughout the course of this de-
But for one of the chief law enforce- business entities in the manufacturing bate that the infrastructure package
ment officers of the United States to sector that have lingering effects would be paid for, and then, later, I was
own tens of millions of dollars’ worth today. According to one study, while told, well, mostly paid for, and then
of stock in a company that arguably minority-owned businesses play a sig- CBO came out a couple of days ago and
violated U.S. law by selling chemical nificant role in U.S. industry, they are said a quarter trillion dollars of it is
precursors into Mexico that are used to underrepresented in the U.S. manufac- not paid for—a quarter trillion dollars
make heroin that has killed so many turing industry and represent only 12.8 according to CBO’s estimates.
Americans through drug overdoses is a percent of all manufacturing firms. To make matters worse, part of the
serious matter. I would not raise this And in testimony from a July 9, 2020, rest of it that CBO does estimate is
issue if I did not feel that it was so se- hearing before the House Financial still areas where I would look at and
rious. Again, I think the solution is Services Subcommittee on Diversity go: That is pretty shaky estimation—
very simple. But the suggestion that and Inclusion, multiple witnesses for instance, the unused unemployment
Ms. Gupta has no relationship with spoke to the ongoing barriers that mi- benefits from earlier this year. That is
Avantor is simply not true unless she nority-owned businesses face in access- an area that I look at and I think, OK,
has, unbeknownst to us at this point, ing capital during the pandemic. These if you are taking unemployment bene-
disgorged the tens of millions of dol- sources further highlight the impor- fits that were borrowed with debt
lars of stock that she owns in that tance of and need for the Advanced En- money, then not spending them, and
company. ergy Manufacturing and Recycling then, later, going back and grabbing
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Grant Program. them and saying now we are spending
ator from Illinois. There being no objection, the mate- them, and they are ‘‘paid for,’’ that
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I believe rial was ordered to be printed in the would be the equivalent of me taking
I made it clear that her father was the RECORD, as follows: out a $20,000 car loan but, yet, buying
chairman of the board of the company Congressional Hearing, Access Denied: only a $15,000 car—so using the extra
Challenges for Women- and Minority-Owned $5,000 to buy cat food and donuts after
and she was a stockholder, not in the Businesses and Accessing Capital and Finan-
management of the company. So what- that and say it was paid for. It is not
cial Services During the Pandemic (July
ever choices they made to sell what- 2020) (testimony focused on pandemic capital
paid for. The extra $5,000 would go to
ever chemicals anywhere in the world access issues). debt reduction. In this case, it is $53
was not her personal decision. The MEP National Network TM Connects billion, not $5,000. That area is total
I just find it very difficult for a per- with Minority Owned Manufacturers NIST debt spending as well. Though CBO
son who has already been appointed to (Nov. 19, 2019) (noting that ‘‘while minority may score it, it is really not there.
owned businesses play a big role in U.S. in- One of my favorite areas of scoring in
the job, Vanita Gupta—and that hap-
dustry, they are underrepresented in the U.S. this I find fascinating in the course of
pened months ago—for us to be holding manufacturing industry . . . [and] represent
up this critically important position this conversation. This bill mandates
only 12.8% of all U.S. manufacturing firms’’).
over a letter that wasn’t answered. I MBDA Report, Contracting Barriers and
the sale of over 87 million barrels of oil
hope we can satisfy the Senator from Factors Affecting Minority Business Enter- from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Texas and anyone else who is object- prises: A Review of Existing Disparity Stud- Almost the identical amount is as-
ing. It is important to put Mr. Davis on ies (December 2016) (comprehensive lit- sumed to be collected from the sale of
the job. erature review of 100 disparity studies indi- 87 million barrels of oil to be able to
cating barriers minority businesses face pay for the electric car charging sta-
I yield the floor.
across sectors and geographies). tions. So, literally, this bill sells oil to
I suggest the absence of a quorum. NERA Economic Consulting study, The
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The then pay for the electric car charging
State of Minority- and Women-Owned Busi-
clerk will call the roll. ness Enterprise in Construction: Evidence
stations. This bill also delays to get a
The legislative clerk proceeded to from Houston (April 2012) (noting access to score for this—it delays a Medicare
call the roll. capital as a key challenge for MBE’s, p.6). Part D regulation that had already
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask MBDA-commissioned study, Disparities in been delayed already.
unanimous consent that the order for Capital Access between Minority and Non- My concern is this: We are not pay-
the quorum call be rescinded. Minority-Owned Businesses: The Troubling ing attention to the most basic ele-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there Reality of Capital Limitations Faced by ment. This is a quarter trillion dollars
an objection? MBEs (January 2010). unpaid for, according to CBO, and
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Without objection, it is so ordered. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- many other areas are pretty shaky
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask ator from Oklahoma. pay-fors in this.
unanimous consent that myself, Sen- AMENDMENT NO. 2137 My simple suggestion is this: Let’s do
ator SINEMA, and Senator CARPER be Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I infrastructure, but let’s do the infra-
allowed to finish our remarks before want to set some context of where we structure we can afford. If we can’t af-
the vote begins. are financially at this point. ford an extra quarter trillion of this
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August 8, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6057
trillion-dollar bill, then let’s back it up Three-fifths of Senators duly chosen for Federal-aid highways, highway safety
to $750 billion. That should be pretty and sworn having voted in the affirma- programs, and transit programs, and for
straightforward. If we can’t pay for tive, the motion is agreed to. other purposes.
Charles E. Schumer, Thomas R. Carper,
that extra amount, we shouldn’t do VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2131
John Hickenlooper, Jon Tester, Rich-
that extra amount. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ard J. Durbin, Joe Manchin III, Jeanne
POINT OF ORDER question is on agreeing to amendment Shaheen, Kyrsten Sinema, Angus S.
So, saying that, Mr. President, in the No. 2131. King, Jr., Mark Kelly, Chris Van Hol-
pending measure, Senate amendment The amendment (No. 2131) was agreed len, Tammy Baldwin, Margaret Wood
to. Hassan, Benjamin L. Cardin, Sheldon
No. 2137 to H.R. 3684 contains a matter
Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, Chris-
within the jurisdiction of the Com- VOTE ON AMENDMENT NO. 2137, AS AMENDED
topher A. Coons, Mark R. Warner, Pat-
mittee on the Budget that was not re- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The rick J. Leahy.
ported or discharged from the Com- question now occurs on agreeing to The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan-
mittee on the Budget. Therefore, I amendment No. 2137, as amended. imous consent, the mandatory quorum
raise a point of order against division Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I ask
call has been waived.
J, title IX, section 905 of the amend- for the yeas and nays. The question is, Is it the sense of the
ment, pursuant to section 306 of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a Senate that debate on Calendar No. 100,
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. sufficient second? H.R. 3684, a bill to authorize funds for
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- There is a sufficient second.
Federal-aid highways, highway safety
ator from Arizona. The clerk will call the roll.
programs, and transit programs, and
VOTE ON MOTION TO WAIVE The senior assistant legislative clerk
for other purposes, shall be brought to
called the roll.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. President, pursu- a close?
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
ant to section 904 of the Congressional The yeas and nays are mandatory
are necessarily absent: the Senator
Budget Act of 1974, I move to waive all under the rule.
from Wyoming (Mr. BARRASSO), the The clerk will call the roll.
applicable sections of that act and any
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. GRA- The legislative clerk called the roll.
other applicable budget points of order
HAM), and the Senator from South Da- Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
for purposes of the pending amend-
kota (Mr. ROUNDS). are necessarily absent: the Senator
ment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The result was announced—yeas 69, from South Carolina (Mr. GRAHAM), the
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
nays 28, as follows: Senator from South Dakota (Mr.
sufficient second?
[Rollcall Vote No. 312 Leg.] ROUNDS), and the Senator from Wyo-
There appears to be a sufficient sec-
YEAS—69 ming (Mr. BARRASSO).
ond.
The clerk will call the roll. Baldwin Gillibrand Peters The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 68,
Bennet Grassley Portman nays 29, as follows:
The bill clerk called the roll. Blumenthal Hassan Reed
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators Blunt Heinrich Risch [Rollcall Vote No. 313 Leg.]
are necessarily absent: the Senator Booker Hickenlooper Romney YEAS—68
Brown Hirono Rosen
from Wyoming (Mr. BARRASSO), the Burr Hoeven Sanders
Baldwin Gillibrand Portman
Bennet Hassan Reed
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. GRA- Cantwell Kaine Schatz Blumenthal Heinrich Risch
HAM), and the Senator from South Da- Capito Kelly Schumer Blunt Hickenlooper Romney
Cardin King Shaheen
kota (Mr. ROUNDS). Carper Klobuchar Sinema
Booker Hirono Rosen
The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 64, Brown Hoeven Sanders
Casey Leahy Smith Burr Kaine
nays 33, as follows: Cassidy Luján Stabenow Schatz
Cantwell Kelly Schumer
Collins Manchin Sullivan
[Rollcall Vote No. 311 Leg.] Coons Markey Tester
Capito King
Shaheen
Cardin Klobuchar
YEAS—64 Cornyn McConnell Tillis Carper Leahy
Sinema
Cortez Masto Menendez Van Hollen Smith
Baldwin Hassan Reed Casey Luján
Bennet Heinrich Cramer Merkley Warner Cassidy Manchin Stabenow
Risch
Blumenthal Hickenlooper Crapo Murkowski Warnock Collins Markey Sullivan
Romney
Blunt Hirono Duckworth Murphy Warren Coons McConnell Tester
Rosen Durbin
Booker Kaine Murray Whitehouse Cornyn Menendez Tillis
Sanders Feinstein Ossoff Wicker
Brown Kelly Cortez Masto Merkley Van Hollen
Schatz Fischer Padilla Wyden
Burr King Cramer Murkowski Warner
Schumer
Cantwell Klobuchar Crapo Murphy Warnock
Shaheen NAYS—28
Capito Leahy Duckworth Murray Warren
Sinema Blackburn Inhofe Sasse
Cardin Luján Durbin Ossoff Whitehouse
Smith Boozman Johnson Scott (FL)
Carper Manchin Feinstein Padilla Wicker
Casey Stabenow Braun Kennedy Scott (SC)
Markey Fischer Peters Wyden
Cassidy McConnell Tester Cotton Lankford Shelby
Collins Menendez Tillis Cruz Lee Thune NAYS—29
Coons Merkley Van Hollen Daines Lummis Toomey Blackburn Hyde-Smith Rubio
Cortez Masto Murkowski Warner Ernst Marshall Tuberville Boozman Inhofe Sasse
Cramer Murphy Warnock Hagerty Moran Young Braun Johnson Scott (FL)
Crapo Murray Warren Hawley Paul Cotton Kennedy Scott (SC)
Duckworth Ossoff Whitehouse Hyde-Smith Rubio Cruz Lankford Shelby
Durbin Padilla Wicker NOT VOTING—3 Daines Lee Thune
Feinstein Peters Wyden Ernst Lummis Toomey
Gillibrand Portman Barrasso Graham Rounds Grassley Marshall Tuberville
The amendment (No. 2137), in the na- Hagerty Moran
NAYS—33 Young
Hawley Paul
Blackburn Hawley Paul ture of a substitute, as amended, was
Boozman Hoeven Rubio agreed to. NOT VOTING—3
Braun Hyde-Smith Sasse CLOTURE MOTION Barrasso Graham Rounds
Cornyn Inhofe Scott (FL)
Cotton Johnson Scott (SC) The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. VAN
Cruz Kennedy Shelby to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the HOLLEN). On this vote, the yeas are 68,
Daines Lankford Sullivan Senate the pending cloture motion, the nays are 29.
Ernst Lee Thune Three-fifths of the Senators duly cho-
Fischer Lummis Toomey
which the clerk will state.
Grassley Marshall Tuberville The senior assistant legislative clerk sen and sworn having voted in the af-
Hagerty Moran Young read as follows: firmative, the motion is agreed to.
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NOT VOTING—3 CLOTURE MOTION The motion was agreed to.
We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
Barrasso Graham Rounds
ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the jority leader is recognized.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MUR- Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has
PHY). On this vote the yeas are 64, the move to bring to a close debate on Calendar been a long day, but we have plowed
nays are 33. No. 100, H.R. 3684, a bill to authorize funds through as I have intended, and the
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S6058 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 8, 2021
cloture motion on the final bill has Massachusetts (Mr. MARKEY), the Sen- SIDY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr.
passed by a very handsome, over- ator from Kansas (Mr. MARSHALL), the TESTER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. WARNER,
whelming vote. Senator from New Jersey (Mr. MENEN- and Mr. ROMNEY)) to the bill H.R. 3684,
And now we will continue to move DEZ), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. to authorize funds for Federal-aid high-
forward on the infrastructure bill. The MERKLEY), the Senator from Kansas ways, highway safety programs, and
substitute amendment, which is the (Mr. MORAN), the Senator from Alaska transit programs, and for other pur-
text of the bipartisan bill, has been (Ms. MURKOWSKI), the Senator from poses; which was ordered to lie on the
agreed to, and cloture has been invoked Connecticut (Mr. MURPHY), the Senator table; as follows:
on the underlying bill. from Washington (Mrs. MURRAY), the On page 202, strike line 5 and insert the fol-
We will move forward. Amendments Senator from Georgia (Mr. OSSOFF), lowing:
are no longer in order, and we will the Senator from California (Mr. (2) in subsection (l)—
move forward to wrap this up as expe- PADILLA), the Senator from Michigan (A) by striking paragraph (2);
ditiously as possible and then move on (Mr. PETERS), the Senator from Rhode (B) by striking the subsection designation
to the budget resolution with reconcili- and all that follows through ‘‘In deter-
Island (Mr. REED), the Senator from
mining’’ in paragraph (1) in the matter pre-
ation instructions. Utah (Mr. ROMNEY), the Senator from ceding subparagraph (A) and inserting the
The two-track process is moving Nevada (Ms. ROSEN), the Senator from following:
along. It has been a process that has South Dakota (Mr. ROUNDS), the Sen- ‘‘(l) ACCOMMODATING UTILITY FACILITIES IN
been a very good process. It has taken ator from Florida (Mr. RUBIO), the Sen- THE RIGHT-OF-WAY.—
a while, but it is going to be worth it, ator from Vermont (Mr. SANDERS), the ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
as, hopefully, we will have both bills Senator from Hawaii (Mr. SCHATZ), the ‘‘(A) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘Indian land’
very, very soon—the bipartisan infra- Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. means—
structure bill and the budget resolu- ‘‘(i) land located within the boundaries of—
SHAHEEN), the Senator from Arizona
tion with reconciliation instructions. ‘‘(I) an Indian reservation, pueblo, or
(Ms. SINEMA), the Senator from Min- rancheria; or
f nesota (Ms. SMITH), the Senator from ‘‘(II) a former reservation within Okla-
MORNING BUSINESS Michigan (Ms. STABENOW), the Senator homa; and
from Alaska (Mr. SULLIVAN), the Sen- ‘‘(ii) land not located within the bound-
--- ator from Montana (Mr. TESTER), the aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or
ADDITIONAL COSPONSORS Senator from South Dakota (Mr. rancheria—
THUNE), the Senator from Alabama ‘‘(I) the title to which is held in trust by
S. 2578 the United States for the benefit of an Indian
At the request of Mr. BROWN, the (Mr. TUBERVILLE), the Senator from
Tribe or an individual Indian;
name of the Senator from California Maryland (Mr. VAN HOLLEN), the Sen- ‘‘(II) the title to which is held by an Indian
(Mr. PADILLA) was added as a cosponsor ator from Virginia (Mr. WARNER), the Tribe or an individual Indian, subject to re-
of S. 2578, a bill to extend the morato- Senator from Georgia (Mr. WARNOCK), striction against alienation under laws of
rium on residential evictions, and for the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. the United States; or
WARREN), the Senator from Rhode Is- ‘‘(III) the title to which is held by a de-
other purposes. pendent Indian community.
land (Mr. WHITEHOUSE), the Senator
S. 2647 ‘‘(B) RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘right-of-
from Mississippi (Mr. WICKER), the Sen-
At the request of Mrs. GILLIBRAND, way’ means any real property, or interest
ator from Oregon (Mr. WYDEN), and the
the names of the Senator from Wis- therein, acquired, dedicated, or reserved for
Senator from Indiana (Mr. YOUNG) were the construction, operation, and mainte-
consin (Ms. BALDWIN), the Senator
added as cosponsors of S. 2647, a bill to nance of a highway.
from Wyoming (Mr. BARRASSO), the
award a Congressional gold medal to ‘‘(C) UTILITY FACILITY.—
Senator from Colorado (Mr. BENNET),
the 369th Infantry Regiment, com- ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘utility facil-
the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. ity’ means any privately, publicly, or coop-
monly known as the ‘‘Harlem
BLUMENTHAL), the Senator from Mis- eratively owned line, facility, or system for
Hellfighters’’, in recognition of their
souri (Mr. BLUNT), the Senator from producing, transmitting, or distributing
bravery and outstanding service during
New Jersey (Mr. BOOKER), the Senator communications, power, electricity, light,
World War I.
from West Virginia (Mrs. CAPITO), the heat, gas, water, steam, waste, storm water
Senator from Maryland (Mr. CARDIN), f not connected with highway drainage, or any
the Senator from Delaware (Mr. CAR- AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED AND other similar commodity, including any fire
or police signal system or street lighting
PER), the Senator from Pennsylvania PROPOSED
system, that directly or indirectly serves the
(Mr. CASEY), the Senator from Dela- SA 2652. Mr. OSSOFF (for himself and Mr. public.
ware (Mr. COONS), the Senator from Ne- WHITEHOUSE) submitted an amendment in- ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘utility facil-
vada (Ms. CORTEZ MASTO), the Senator tended to be proposed to amendment SA 2137 ity’ includes—
from North Dakota (Mr. CRAMER), the proposed by Mr. SCHUMER (for Ms. SINEMA ‘‘(I) a renewable energy generation facil-
Senator from Montana (Mr. DAINES), (for herself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. ity;
the Senator from Illinois (Ms. CASSIDY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. ‘‘(II) electrical transmission and distribu-
DUCKWORTH), the Senator from Illinois TESTER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. WARNER, and tion infrastructure; and
Mr. ROMNEY)) to the bill H.R. 3684, to author- ‘‘(III) broadband infrastructure and con-
(Mr. DURBIN), the Senator from Iowa
ize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway duit.
(Ms. ERNST), the Senator from Cali- safety programs, and transit programs, and ‘‘(2) ACCOMMODATION.—In determining’’;
fornia (Mrs. FEINSTEIN), the Senator for other purposes; which was ordered to lie and
from Nebraska (Mrs. FISCHER), the Sen- on the table. (C) by adding at the end the following:
ator from Iowa (Mr. GRASSLEY), the SA 2653. Mr. MARSHALL submitted an ‘‘(3) STATE APPROVAL.—A State, on behalf
Senator from Tennessee (Mr. amendment intended to be proposed to of the Secretary, may approve accommo-
HAGERTY), the Senator from New amendment SA 2137 proposed by Mr. SCHU- dating a utility facility described in para-
MER (for Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. graph (1)(C)(ii) within a right-of-way on a
Hampshire (Ms. HASSAN), the Senator
PORTMAN, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mrs. Federal-aid highway.
from New Mexico (Mr. HEINRICH), the
SHAHEEN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. TESTER, Ms. MUR- ‘‘(4) EXCLUSION.—Paragraph (3) shall not
Senator from Colorado (Mr. KOWSKI, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. ROMNEY)) to apply to a utility facility on Indian land.
HICKENLOOPER), the Senator from Ha- the bill H.R. 3684, supra; which was ordered ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in
waii (Ms. HIRONO), the Senator from to lie on the table. this subsection shall be construed to alter or
Oklahoma (Mr. INHOFE), the Senator f affect—
from Virginia (Mr. KAINE), the Senator ‘‘(A) the regulatory classification of
from Arizona (Mr. KELLY), the Senator TEXT OF AMENDMENTS broadband services or facilities under the
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from Maine (Mr. KING), the Senator SA 2652. Mr. OSSOFF (for himself Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et
seq.); or
from Minnesota (Ms. KLOBUCHAR), the and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) submitted an
‘‘(B) any prohibition on commercial activ-
Senator from Vermont (Mr. LEAHY), amendment intended to be proposed to ity under section 111(a).’’;
the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. amendment SA 2137 proposed by Mr. (3) in subsection (o)—
LUJÁN), the Senator from West Vir- SCHUMER (for Ms. SINEMA (for herself, On page 202, line 23, strike ‘‘(3)’’ and insert
ginia (Mr. MANCHIN), the Senator from Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. CAS- ‘‘(4)’’.
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