S. HRG. 114–234 

BUSINESS MEETING 

MEETING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JUNE 24, 2015 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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S. HRG. 114–234 

BUSINESS MEETING 

MEETING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JUNE 24, 2015 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming 

SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

ROGER WICKER, Mississippi 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota 

DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts 

RYAN JACKSON, Majority Staff Director 

BETTINA POIRIER, Democratic Staff Director 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

JUNE 24, 2015 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma .................... 1 

Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California ........................ 4 

Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island ......... 301 

Sullivan, Hon. Dan, U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska ................................ 302 

Sanders, Hon. Bernard, U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont ....................... 302 

Markey, Hon. Edward J., U.S. Senator from the State of Massachusetts .......... 307 

Vitter, Hon. David, U.S. Senator from the State of Louisiana ............................ 307 

Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware ................... 308 

Sessions, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator from the State of Alabama ............................. 309 

Wicker, Hon. Roger, U.S. Senator from the State of Mississippi ........................ 309 

Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L., U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland ................ 310 

Gillibrand, Hon. Kirsten, U.S. Senator from the State of New York .................. 311 

Booker, Hon. Cory A., U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 314 

LEGISLATION 

Text of S. 1647, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the 

Economy Act ......................................................................................................... 8 

Text of the amendment offered by Senators Inhofe, Boxer, Vitter, and Carper 278 

Text of the amendment No. 1 offered by Senator Fischer .................................... 288 

Text of the amendment No. 1 offered by Senators Gillibrand and Merkley ....... 291 

Text of the amendment No. 2 offered by Senator Whitehouse ............................ 296 

Text of the amendment No. 2 offered by Senators Wicker and Booker .............. 300 

(1) 

BUSINESS MEETING 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS, Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:34 a.m. in room 406, 

Dirksen Senate Building, Hon. James M. Inhofe (chairman of the 

committee) presiding. 

Present: Senators Inhofe, Boxer, Vitter, Barrasso, Capito, Crapo, 

Boozman, Sessions, Wicker, Fischer, Rounds, Sullivan, Carper, 

Cardin, Sanders, Whitehouse, Merkley, Gillibrand, Booker, and 

Markey. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA 

Senator INHOFE. Our meeting will come to order. 

Welcome to today’s markup. It has been a long time, and we 

have talked about it. We have been down this road before, and now 

it is a reality today. 

As I have said many times, my top priority this year is to pass 

a fiscally responsible, long term highway bill. Ranking Member 

Boxer, Senator Vitter, Senator Carper and I have worked hard to 

put this together. I think they agree also. 

People ask questions. What are you trying to accomplish? We 

want a long term bill. We have gone through the agony of short 

term extensions, and we do not have to do that again. For the sake 

of America, we should not do that again. That is too expensive. 

Unfortunately, what used to be the best transportation system in 

the world is now deteriorating. Senator Boxer made some comments about her observations in China and some of the things that 

are going on. We are just not in the position we were at one time. 

American businesses rely on an efficient and reliable transportation network. More than 250 million vehicles traverse the highway system each year and businesses require a reliable transportation network to operate. However, every day, 20,000 miles of our 

highways slow below posted speed limits or experience stop-and-go 

conditions. This type of congestion has a huge negative impact on 

America’s businesses. 

The DRIVE Act has several key components that position America’s transportation system to support our growing economy. This 

bill defines the Federal role to prioritize projects that are most in 

the national interest. This bill creates a new freight program that 

gives American businesses increased access to energy production, 
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agriculture, mining and the ports where we trade with the rest of 

the world. 

In order to implement these reforms, we are cutting red tape to 

accelerate project delivery. This is something we have successfully 

done on two other occasions. 

We are carrying that forward again today. This is accomplished 

by improving collaboration, eliminating redundancies, and removing barriers that delay the process. We are making the NEPA process more efficient so projects can be delivered in a timely fashion. 

A solution is urgent, because today we quite literally sit at a 

crossroads. In order to repair deficient bridges, eliminate waste, 

and reduce congestion, Congress must act now and pass a longterm bill, the bill we have before us today. 

Senator Boxer. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Inhofe follows:] 
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OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 

Senator BOXER. Mr. Chairman, this is what I call a really good 

day in this committee. I hope it starts a trend in the Senate. 

My Chairman, Senator Jim Inhofe, and I have negotiated, along 

with Senators Vitter and Carper, and, I have to say, every member 

on our side and every member on his side, a strong, 6-year surface 

transportation bill, which we are calling the DRIVE Act. 

This bill comes not a minute too soon, because we are 38 days 

away from the expiration of the current highway program extension. Shortly after that, the Highway Trust Fund, which funds 

highways and transit, will go broke. 

We have 61,300 structurally deficient bridges in the U.S., and 50 

percent of our roads are in less than good condition. That is unacceptable. Our transportation systems used to be the envy of the 

world, as my colleague pointed out, but now we lag behind. 

States and local governments rely on the Federal Government to 

fund parts of their surface transportation programs. Some States 

depend on Federal resources for 60, 70, 80, 90 and even 100 percent. Millions of American workers and thousands of businesses are 

relying on us to pass this transportation bill. I will go through the 

highlights for me. 

One is increased funding above current levels, which will begin 

to help us address the Nation’s massive backlog. Second is a national freight program, which will dedicate billions of dollars per 

year to improving goods movement. It costs businesses a fortune 

when they cannot move their goods in a timely way. 

Third is projects of national significance, which will target funds 

to the most deserving mega-projects in the country. Fourth is funding for transportation alternatives, to continue investing in active 

transportation projects that provide cost-effective transportation alternatives while also improving safety, protecting public health, 

and reducing congestion. 

Fifth is a program about which I care deeply, a robust TIFIA program that meets the current needs. I would remind colleagues that 

every dollar of TIFIA funding is matched by 30 or more dollars 

from private sector and government sources. 

Sixth is a new reform which was actually cheered by my colleagues when I explained it to them. I thank you, Mr. Chairman, 

for working so hard on this. This is a new reform that allows local 

sponsors to get funding for their local projects directly rather than 

having to go to the States and the State takes off an amount of 

money for administration. 

When we cooperate and really negotiate, everybody has to give 

up a little. During the negotiations of this bill, in order to get the 

things I just highlighted, there were things I had to agree to that 

were painful for me such as accelerating project delivery. 

However, I want to make it clear that the provisions I worked 

on with Senator Inhofe do not undermine current environmental 

health and safety laws. They just speed things up so that we can 

get the job done. 

I have been clear from the start that the Democratic conference 

would like to see an even more robust transportation bill given the 
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needs we have. President Obama has introduced his idea. I think 

he calls it the GROW Act. 

We will continue on our side to fight for a more robust bill. We 

believe it is incredible that we have been able to come together to 

get this bill done. We are proud of it, and we are proud of our staffs 

across the aisle. 

I do want to say to my Chairman, this was really a moment for 

us again. We came close to losing the whole thing over the weekend, but we never gave up, and we found the compromise we needed. 

I want to add something here that I think is important. Yesterday, by chance, I had the opportunity to talk to Speaker Boehner, 

who I just ran into in the hallway. He called me, and he wanted 

to talk about this transportation bill. 

Mr. Chairman and members, he told me he strongly supports a 

6-year bill and that he is going to work hard to get it there. When 

I told him of our bipartisan agreement, Mr. Chairman, he could not 

have been more pleased. 

This is really good to have the leaders in the House, I know the 

Democrats feel the same way, if we can all work together. 

Yesterday in the House, a TSCA bill passed 398 to 1, what an 

amazing, remarkable thing, to take a bill that was so controversial 

and get it to a place where it could have that kind of vote. I hope 

we can follow the lead on that. 

I thank you so very much. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Boxer follows:] 
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Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Boxer. 

As a reminder, I think we are all aware that in order to pass the 

legislation, we have to have a quorum of 11 but just 7 to approve 

amendments. Right now, we are at 13, nobody leave. 

We will begin considering the text circulated with the notice provided to all offices as usual. I will ask if members seek recognition 

on each amendment and allow each member to call up their own 

amendments. 

We can have committee counsel available, which they are available and seated now at the table to answer questions concerning 

the legislation and the amendments from the committee members. 

At the conclusion of the member statements and questions, we will 

vote on the amendments and proceed to a vote on S. 1647. 

To begin, the Ranking Member, Senator Vitter, Senator Carper 

and I have developed a list of amendments that can be agreed to. 

I would ask that the following amendments be adopted en bloc. 

Fischer No. 1 is modified. Gillibrand-Merkley No. 1 is modified. 

Whitehouse No. 2 is modified. Wicker-Booker No. 2 is modified. 

These amendments and modifications were stipulated last night, 

and there is no objection. 

Is there objection? 

Without objection, so ordered. 

[The referenced legislation follows:] 
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Senator INHOFE. We will now proceed to amendments. Does any 

Senator seek recognition concerning the bill or to offer amendments? 

Senator Whitehouse. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. First, let me thank you, Chairman, the 

Ranking Member and our two subcommittee Chairs and Ranking 

Members for the work you have done to bring us to this point. 

We have an increase, not as much as many of us would like to 

see, but an increase nevertheless. We have a long term bill which 

we fought very hard for and which we have tried to encourage our 

colleagues to adopt before. 

I appreciate very much my measure related to composite technologies has been included by agreement. Thank you for that. 

I would like to bring to everyone’s attention a piece that was left 

out. I will not call it for a vote here. I will continue to work to try 

to get it into the bill. 

We had a hearing in the Budget Committee just last week. There 

is a new CBO chief who has been selected by the Republican majority, who has very good Republican credentials. 

In his testimony, he volunteered that we needed to be prepared 

to address the climate change-related problem of storms and sea 

level rise on our coasts. This is the Republican CBO person volunteering that into his pre-filed testimony before the Budget Committee. 

I hope we can begin to take seriously what is happening along 

our coastlines. If you go to the tide gauge outside Naval Station 

Newport, it is up 10 inches. That means that coastal roads around 

this country face new and different threats than they did when 

they were built. 

I hope that those of us from coastal States can join together to 

try to seek a program that will help the particular threat that 

coastal roads and infrastructure face as sea levels rise and as the 

storms that batter them against our coasts increase in power. 

I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on that, 

but I will close where I began which is with my appreciation to the 

Chairman and the Ranking Member for pulling this together on 

what I think is a very important and consequential piece of legislation. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Whitehouse. 

Let me assure you that our debate will go on in the future on 

this issue. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. I have no doubt about that, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator INHOFE. Are there others wishing to be heard? 

Senator WICKER. Could I be heard on what Senator Whitehouse 

just said? 

Senator INHOFE. Senator Wicker. 

Senator WICKER. I think this is a very sensible approach. Certainly Senator Whitehouse and I have had spirited exchanges 

about the cause of certain things that are going on in the environment. 
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It seems to me that if you have a 10-inch rise in sea level and 

more water pounding against the roadway, the sensible thing to do 

is exactly what Senator Whitehouse said, make your roadway a little higher and compensate for that perhaps with a seawall or something like that. 

I think we are a lot more likely as humankind, Mr. Chairman, 

to be able to do that sort of thing than to think about taking action 

that can actually lower the level of sea level in that area. 

Thank you very much. It is something that Senator Whitehouse 

and I can agree on. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. I appreciate Senator Wicker’s comments. 

Senator INHOFE. Are there other Senators wishing to be heard? 

Senator Sullivan. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAN SULLIVAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA 

Senator SULLIVAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I just want to commend you, the Ranking Member and particularly the staffs on the hard work that has gone into this legislation. 

The one issue I think there will be, and we are starting to see 

it in this bill and some of the amendments that were agreed upon 

and bipartisan support for, is the whole issue of streamlining our 

permitting system at the Federal level, not cutting corners, but recognizing that in many ways, we have a Federal permitting system 

on infrastructure, in particular, that is broken. 

We have all heard the different stories of 8 years, on average, to 

permit a bridge. Nobody wants that. In the Commerce Committee, 

we talked about airport infrastructure. We had a witness, the manager of the Seattle Airport, who said it took 15 years to get Federal 

permitting done to expand a runway. 

I think what we need to focus on, and this legislation starts to 

focus on, is fixing a problem that the vast majority of Americans 

would agree that we cannot have a permitting system that takes 

years and sometimes over a decade to permit important infrastructure projects. 

I think this legislation starts to address that. I think it is a very 

important bipartisan accomplishment. 

Thank you. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Sullivan. 

Senator Sanders. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BERNARD SANDERS, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT 

Senator SANDERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I just want to congratulate you, Senator Boxer and Senators 

Vitter and Carper, for your very hard work. 

I think, as you indicated, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Boxer, as 

well, it is an international embarrassment when in this great country we have an infrastructure which is crumbling. Who can defend 

that? 

Who believes that by not paying attention to it or turning our 

backs on it, that it is going to get better? It is not going to get better. It is an expensive proposition, and it is one that we have to 

invest in. 
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While this is an excellent start, I am strongly supportive of this 

legislation, but we should understand that according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the guys who know a lot about this, 

we have a long, long way to go beyond this legislation. 

Our job is to rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges, water systems, wastewater plants, our rail system, our levees and our dams. 

When we do that, as you have indicated, Mr. Chairman, we will 

make America more efficient, safer and more productive. 

At a time when real unemployment is close to 11 percent, we are 

going to create millions of decent paying jobs in areas where we 

really need work to be done. 

Again, I want to congratulate you, Senator Boxer and the Ranking Members, for their excellent work on this legislation. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Sanders follows:] 
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Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Sanders. 

Are there other Senators who want to be heard? 

Senator Markey. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Senator MARKEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to echo the praise of every other member thanking you, 

Senator Boxer, and Senators Carper and Vitter, for your excellent 

work, working together in partnership and bipartisan fashion. 

I would like to thank you for including the language which I suggested adding safety to the historic concept of access in terms of 

ensuring that highways are designed with the safety of bicyclists 

and pedestrians also in mind. 

I would like to also thank you for including language about transit-oriented development. I think this change toward how we view 

development, ensuring that there is up front financing available so 

that these core centers of development can have high anticipation 

of being able to build out around a transit location is very, very important. 

I would also say I have concerns about the change in Section 4(f) 

of the historic site protections. I am not going to make an amendment here today, but I do think many across the country are going 

to be concerned about this change in terms of the protection of historic sites. 

I am going to attempt to work with the committee between now 

and the floor to see if we cannot find a way of accommodating those 

historic protections. 

Again, congratulations, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Markey. 

Senator Vitter. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID VITTER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA 

Senator VITTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I just want to briefly thank you for your leadership, as well as 

Senator Boxer and Senator Carper. I really enjoyed working with 

all of you on this important bipartisan bill. 

I am glad it is called the DRIVE Act. We talked about a lot of 

important aspects of this issue, economic growth and safety, but it 

is also about relieving congestion, improving people’s daily lives, 

letting them spend more time with families. It is about all of those 

things. 

Certainly it is very important to Louisiana, as it is to all of your 

States. Our highway system is 40th in the Nation, our interstates 

are 48th in the Nation, our bridges rank 10th in the Nation on the 

bad end as the most deficient and New Orleans and Baton Rouge 

both rank in the top 25 areas for traffic congestion. 

This bill does key things to help with all of those things like bundling bridge projects together, making it a lot more efficient; a new 

freight program that will relieve congestion in New Orleans and 

Baton Rouge; prioritizing major projects like I–49 and LA–1; improving safety measures; creating certainty; and infrastructure investment in rural areas. 
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I look forward to passing this out of committee and passing it 

through the Congress, a full 6-year bill. There is no reason we cannot do this. There is no reason we cannot do it now if it is a priority. 

It is great to hear other leaders like Speaker Boehner saying it 

is a priority. We need to prove it is priority by passing this full 6- 

year bill. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Vitter. 

It is a priority. Let us keep in mind the Constitution is still out 

there. It states these are the two things we are supposed to be 

doing here, defending America and roads and bridges. 

Senator Carper. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE 

Senator CARPER. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. 

Again, my thanks to you, Senator Boxer and Senator Vitter. 

I also wanted to take a minute and thank our staffs. We have 

worked hard. You and Senator Boxer worked especially hard, but 

our staffs really knocked themselves out. I just want to say to everyone in the room who helped on this, maybe you have given us 

a lot of input, and we appreciate that. Thank you all. 

We are trying to impart a sense of urgency. God knows we need 

to. The pastor at our church sometimes likes to say he would rather see a sermon than hear one. Today, we are sort of hearing the 

sermon but we need, as a collective body, to actually show the people a sermon on being able to get things done. 

One of our favorite colleagues, Lamar Alexander, whom I affectionately call LA, and I talked about our days as Governors. He 

talked about transportation and tells this story. He used to say 

when he was Governor, would not say let us raise this tax or raise 

that tax in order to pay for something. He would say, here is my 

vision for what Tennessee could be if we were to do this or that 

in terms of transportation, bring the auto industry to expand this 

business or that business, that was the vision. 

The people would say, that is a great vision, we love that vision, 

but how are we going to pay for it. He would say, first, let us agree 

on the vision, and then we go to work and figure out how to pay 

for it. 

Today, I think we are presenting a very appealing, attractive and 

encouraging vision. The next challenge is to figure out how to pay 

for it. I know we all have different ideas of how to do that. 

One of the ideas I think I talked to just about everyone on this 

committee, everyone on the Finance Committee and a lot of people 

on the Ways and Means Committee, and said what is your idea of 

how to pay for this stuff. There were a lot of ideas, some good, 

some very good. One of the ideas I consistently heard was there 

has to be a way to fix the bill to fix roads, highways, bridges, and 

transit systems in a more cost effective way. There has to be a way 

to do that. 

I just want to commend, especially the folks, the leaders on our 

committee, who really tried to find more cost effective ways. Time 
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is money, and we sought to find ways to save some time and hopefully to save some money. 

I will close with this. Another one of my pastors back in Wilmington, Delaware, likes to say, it is not so important how high we 

jump in church that counts, it is what we do when our feet hit the 

ground. 

We are in church today and we are jumping up high. The important thing is what we do when we hit the ground in the Finance 

Committee, the Ways and Means Committee and those other 

places. Hopefully, we will do the Lord’s work and the peoples’ work 

at that time. 

God bless you all. Amen. Church is over. 

Senator INHOFE. Those were great observations. I agree with 

that. Let us keep in mind though we have a couple other committees that have a lesser role but a similar role. Our job is exactly 

what we are doing today. That is why we should be focused on 

what we are focused on. I think we will get it done. 

Are there others who want to be heard? 

Senator Sessions. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF SESSIONS, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA 

Senator SESSIONS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

You and Senator Boxer have done an excellent job. I know the 

commitment you both have to improving our highway program and 

our infrastructure. 

Senator Carper, I remember in our church, speaking of churches, 

Mr. L.W. Brown would lay out this great vision, and the treasurer, 

Mr. George Harster, would say, how are we going to pay for it? I 

think you made a very important point. 

The way I look at the numbers at first glance, it appears, Mr. 

Chairman, this is a very frugal budget. We talk about numbers 

that do not increase a lot over the next 6 years. We do have a plan 

that would add $2 billion for the freight transportation system but 

when you think about it, that is a 5 percent increase in a $40 billion to $50 billion budget. Then there is some cost of living that we 

may see in there. 

I just saw Senator Hatch in the hallway as I walked over. I said, 

are you going to find our money? He said, yes. Maybe we can relax. 

I do think we need to watch and be responsible because every 

committee, whether you have the National Institutes of Health, the 

Defense Department, Education, you want more money for your 

goal, and we all do. If we will stay responsible in our spending and 

get legitimate pay-fors, I believe we can shift some money to priorities. I do believe our infrastructure is a priority. 

Thank you for your leadership. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you. 

Are there other Senators who wish to be heard? 

Senator Wicker. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI 

Senator WICKER. Senator Carper, when I first joined the First 

Baptist Church in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1982, at the end of the 
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service, we would all join hands and sing, There’s a Sweet, Sweet 

Spirit in This Place. Maybe we can adjourn by doing that. 

I do want to thank the leadership for working with Senator 

Booker and me on several initiatives and for accepting some of our 

proposals. I talked to Senator Booker at breakfast this morning, 

and I know he has conflicts today. I had hoped I could save this 

one matter until he got here. 

Wicker-Booker Amendment No. 1, which I will not offer, perhaps 

he and I will be able to push this through in a vote on the floor. 

Here is what it deals with. Again, I stress I will not offer this 

amendment. 

This Congress used to earmark a small portion of our road 

money for local concerns. This was much appreciated by the local 

officials who cannot afford the roads and streets in their own communities. That was controversial, and it was felt by many members 

of the public that this added to the cost of the bill, so we have 

abandoned the process of earmarking funds for local concerns. 

Wicker-Booker Amendment No. 1 would set aside 10 percent of 

the money allocated to the States and allow local governments to 

compete in a process set up by the State for those local projects, 

giving the mayors, the county commissioners, and boards of supervisors who come to see us at least some hope they would have a 

chance to compete for a small portion of the funding that will flow 

to the States through this Act. 

To me, it has been something I think local officials have been 

very excited about, very hopeful about, and I am sure there will be 

some disappointment that it is not in the committee’s mark. 

I will reiterate, we are not going to offer it at this point, but it 

is, to me, a worthy suggestion and a worthy project not to increase 

one penny of the spending in this bill, but to set aside a small portion to give local counties and municipalities some hope they will 

be able to meet the infrastructure needs of their constituents. 

Thank you again. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Wicker. 

Senator Cardin. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND 

Senator CARDIN. Mr. Chairman, let me join the others in congratulating you and Senator Boxer for reaching this bipartisan 

agreement on a 6-year reauthorization of our Surface Transportation Program. 

I have been saying for months, I think most of us have, that we 

needed a 6-year reauthorization. I congratulate you for reaching, 

with Senator Boxer, I think a fair compromise, one that I will 

strongly support. It provides the type of certainty that is needed 

and provides for a modest increase in our transportation funds 

which I think we need to get done, and it is bipartisan. 

I want to thank you for the manner in which you have handled 

the transportation alternative programs. Senator Cochran and I 

have worked on this for a long time, and I appreciate the fact that 

you are not only including this program that has been included in 

past authorizations but have provided a modest increase in funds 

and greater local roles. 
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The local governments will have an even greater say as to how 

their transportation alternative programs should be structured in 

their own communities because they know best. They are the ones 

who know how they can best handle the problems of their own 

communities. 

I thank you for doing that. I look forward to supporting the bill. 

I intended to offer an amendment in regards to transportation alternative programs, but I am not going to offer that amendment. 

I will later, when we get to the amendment process reiterate the 

point that, as Senator Sanders said, I would hope we could do 

more. To me, this is an important bill to get done. Do not get me 

wrong, but I would hope that we could get additional revenue, 

which is not this committee, and have a more robust transportation 

commitment at the Federal level. 

I think the Chairman and Ranking Member would both agree if 

the funds are available, we would like to do more. I will give a 

blueprint where I think we could do that as far as authorization, 

if the funds were available. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Cardin. 

Are there other Senators wishing to seek recognition? 

Senator Gillibrand. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Senator GILLIBRAND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam 

Ranking Member. 

I am very grateful for this bill. I would like to speak on an 

amendment I sponsored with Senator Merkley. 

Our amendment reduces highway maintenance costs for States 

by directing the Secretary of Transportation to use existing authorities, programs and funding to encourage and facilitate the use 

of pollinator-friendly vegetation in highway rights-of-way. 

This is an issue typically discussed in the Agriculture Committee 

because obviously we need our pollinators to have fruits and vegetables. There have been some real challenges to them most recently 

with Colony Collapse Disorder. 

This country is actually facing a pollinator crisis. This past year, 

beekeepers reported colony losses at over 40 percent. This is economically devastating for commercial beekeepers, but these losses 

concern us all. 

In the U.S., the value of insect pollination to agriculture is estimated at $16 billion annually. More than 30 percent of the food 

produced in America requires insect pollination. This includes apples from New York, plums from Idaho, almonds from California, 

grains and seeds from South Dakota, grapes from Oregon and 

many others. 

The economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and 

increased production costs, has been estimated at $5.7 billion per 

year, a staggering sum that affects our States. 

The potential causes of the declining bee population are still 

being debated, parasites, pesticides, farming practices. However, it 

is known that habitat loss is a main contributing factor. Pollinators 

need places to forage, to eat in areas rich with pollen and not treated with pesticides. In the U.S., there are 17 million acres of rights- 
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of-way next to highways that, if managed properly, could provide 

this much needed area for forage. 

Finally and importantly, Mr. Chairman, this amendment saves 

money for States. At least 20 State DOTs, including West Virginia, 

Mississippi, Idaho, Arkansas, and Nebraska currently utilize or invest in native and pollinator-friendly roadside plantings. 

Pollinator-friendly vegetation management requires less frequent 

mowing, offers lower maintenance costs and better control of 

invasive species, all without affecting road safety. One study found 

that the cost savings from reduced mowing would save 25 percent 

in roadside maintenance. 

This amendment is a simple fix to address a major problem. It 

saves money and is an easy step to save the pollinators that are 

necessary for agriculture in our States. I hope all my colleagues 

support it. 

On another issue, I would like to speak on an amendment but 

withdraw it, Gillibrand Amendment No. 2. 

This amendment would give States the flexibility to use funding 

they receive through the National Highway Performance Program 

for bridge projects that are not on the national highway system. 

The Federal Government funded the construction of bridges on 

the Federal-Aid Highway System. We have a responsibility to ensure they are properly maintained. States and local governments 

simply do not have the funds necessary to adequately repair and 

reconstruct all of the Federal-aid bridges not on the National Highway System and desperately need our help. 

In New York, one in three bridges is in need of repairs. It would 

cost $1.8 billion to repair or replace all of them. This is not a story 

unique to my State. States and localities across this country lack 

adequate funding for bridge maintenance. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, one out of every nine bridges in the 

United States is rated structurally deficient, meaning that it is in 

need of repair. 

While I appreciate the set aside in the Surface Transportation 

Program for the non-NHS bridges that was included in the bill, the 

set-aside does not fully solve the problem if we only limit funding 

to 15 percent of existing STP allocations. 

By giving States like New York, which have a large number of 

Federal-aid highway bridges that are not on the National Highway 

System with the flexibility this amendment provides, States can 

better prioritize and fund the bridge projects with the most need, 

regardless of their designation on or off the National Highway System. 

I will not offer the amendment here in committee, but I will offer 

it on the floor. I hope people will look at it, see how it affects their 

States and whether they can support it. 

My other amendments, Amendment Nos. 3 and 4, I will not offer 

today. However, I will state briefly it is very important for my 

State that we continue to work with local governments to develop 

comprehensive safety policies similar to what New York has done 

with the Vision Zero Program to reduce traffic fatalities. 

Additionally, we should also be working to find innovative ways 

to accelerate project delivery for cities like New York that have the 
313 

capacity to work directly with the Federal Government to carry out 

transportation projects. 

I am very grateful for the work of this whole committee. I think 

the bill is very strong, and I look forward to it moving to the floor. 

Senator INHOFE. I would remind Senator Gillibrand that we did 

have your Amendment No. 1 as a part of the Manager’s Amendment which has now been adopted. 

Senator GILLIBRAND. Thank you all. 

Senator INHOFE. Are there others? I do not want to start losing 

people. 

Senator BOXER. Thirty seconds? 

Senator INHOFE. Thirty seconds. 

Senator BOXER. Thirty seconds. 

I just want to say how happy I am right now after hearing from 

everyone and how rare these moments are. I believe in marking 

good things. I look at Senator Sessions because I was nervous 

about his response, but what he said was absolutely true. We have 

done this to meet the need. 

Yes, there will be struggles over how to pay. Dwight Eisenhower 

said it very well, ‘‘We cannot be a secure Nation if we cannot have 

an infrastructure that works.’’ I remember, I was a little girl when 

he did an experiment where he tried to get a convoy from the East 

Coast to the West Coast. It was disastrous, and that is what made 

him realize this one Nation under God has to have a good infrastructure system. 

In closing, I would say this. We have to be a team across party 

lines. With all of our concerns, we like to do things a little different, let us just work together because I have also spoken with 

Mitch McConnell’s staff, and they were very encouraging. 

If we have Mitch McConnell encouraged, if we have John 

Boehner encouraged, we have proven we can do this. Let us be the 

strongest, united voice we can be to get this done. We have 36 days 

before the Trust Fund goes bust. This is a great day. 

Senator BOOKER. Mr. Chairman, I know how much you really 

want to hear my prepared remarks. 

Senator INHOFE. I can put them in the record. 

Senator BOOKER. I am going to deny you that and just put them 

in the record as requested. I am sorry to disappoint my fellow Senators. 

I do want to just give some gratitude to Senator Wicker who has 

been a strong partner with me in working to advance some critical 

issues. 

Thank you, sir. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Booker follows:] 
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315 
316 
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Senator INHOFE. He made that statement before he talked about 

yours. 

Seeing no further members wanting to seek recognition or offer 

amendments, I am going to move to accept the underlying text. 

Senator CARDIN. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to offer an amendment. 

I did not know we were past that stage. I am going to offer and 

withdraw, but I did not realize that was going to be precluded. I 

will only take 30 seconds or maybe 60 seconds. 

I wanted to call up Amendment No. 3, and I will withdraw it. 

This is the Grow America Act which would increase the 6-year authorization to $478 billion consistent with the President’s budget. 

I do that respectful of the strong support for the underlying bill. 

I will withdraw the amendment. 

I serve not only on this committee but the Senate Finance Committee. I am going to be part of the process to find the revenue necessary. I know there is a bipartisan group that believes we can find 

additional revenue. 

We think through international tax reform, there is an opportunity for some permanent and one-time only revenues and that infrastructure is critically important to this country. If we are going 

to be able to be globally competitive, able to deal with the safety 

challenges we have in our communities, able to deal with the 

growth needs and able to get places without the extreme congestion 

that exists today, able to do all those issues, we need a program 

that is able to meet those needs. 

I think the Grow America Act would do that. I would encourage 

us to keep an open mind if we can get the additional revenues for 

a more robust plan than is currently being submitted for approval 

here. 

With that, Mr. Chairman, I would ask consent to withdraw the 

amendment. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Senator Cardin. 

I move to accept S. 1647, as amended and report the legislation 

favorably to the Senate. Is there a second? 

Senator BOXER. Second. 

Senator INHOFE. There is a second. The Clerk will call the roll. 

The CLERK. Mr. Barrasso. 

Senator BARRASSO. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Booker. 

Senator BOOKER. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Boozman. 

Senator INHOFE. Aye by proxy. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Boxer. 

Senator BOXER. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Capito. 

Senator CAPITO. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Cardin. 

Senator CARDIN. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Carper. 

Senator BOXER. Aye by proxy. 

The CLERK. Mr. Crapo. 

Senator INHOFE. Aye by proxy. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Fischer. 

Senator FISCHER. Aye. 
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The CLERK. Mrs. Gillibrand. 

Senator GILLIBRAND. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Markey. 

Senator MARKEY. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Merkley. 

Senator BOXER. Aye by proxy. 

The CLERK. Mr. Rounds. 

Senator ROUNDS. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Sanders. 

Senator SANDERS. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Sessions. 

Senator SESSIONS. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Sullivan. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Vitter. 

Senator INHOFE. Aye by proxy. 

The CLERK. Mr. Whitehouse. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Wicker. 

Senator WICKER. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Chairman. 

Senator INHOFE. Aye. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Boozman votes aye. 

Senator INHOFE. Senator Boozman votes aye in person. 

The CLERK. Mr. Chairman, the yeas are 20, and the nays are 0. 

Senator INHOFE. The bill passes. 

I want to thank everyone for a good turnout this morning. I appreciate you. 

I want to get one more motion in here. I ask unanimous consent 

that staff have the authority to make technical and conforming 

changes to the measure approved today. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Mr. Chairman, I did not want to hold anyone while the vote was pending, but I do want to also particularly 

thank everyone for their support for what had been known as the 

Projects of National Regional Significance. It is now known as the 

AMP Project for big things because there are a lot of big projects 

that need to be done. I think this will allow that to happen. It is 

a very significant piece of the bill. I thank all of our leaders for 

making sure that was included. 

Senator INHOFE. We have no more. We are adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:14 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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