Michael Arcuri

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 726 provides for consideration of H.R. 965, the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act. I want to recognize my colleague from Maryland, Mr. John Sarbanes, for his leadership on this issue. He has worked diligently in a bipartisan fashion to protect the Chesapeake Bay so that it remains a vibrant recreational and economic network. H.R. 965 will continue the important restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed by permanently authorizing the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. The Chesapeake Bay is our Nation's largest estuary. Many people often think of the bay as only part of Maryland and Virginia. But the bay's watershed covers 64,000 square miles in five States and the District of Columbia. In fact, the watershed's most northern point, or what we in upstate New York would call the starting point, extends into a significant portion of my congressional district in the village of Cooperstown. As a result of its size and location, the Chesapeake Bay has played an important role in our country's history, from early settlement and commerce, to military battles and transportation development, as well as recreational uses. It truly is worthy of preservation, both for its natural beauty and its impact on our Nation's culture and economy. The Chesapeake Bay Network is a comprehensive protection program for the bay. The programs authorized serve to identify, conserve, restore and interpret the natural, historical, cultural and recreational resources within the watershed. These programs also educate local communities on the significant sites in the region and how their community impacts the overall health of the bay. This law requires a full matching requirement for grants awarded by the National Park Service to State and local agencies and not-for-profit corporations and organizations for such projects. The resulting network is a system of over 150 parks, museums, historic communities, scenic roadways, water trails and water access points located within the vast Chesapeake Bay watershed. Each of these sites tells a piece of the vast Chesapeake story, while providing Federal support for the preservation and improvement of these sites to enhance both the historical and recreational user experience. The network is overseen by the National Park Service, but the Park Service only manages 10 of the network's sites. Other gateways are managed by local State and nongovernmental organizations. The Chesapeake Bay Network has always been a bipartisan program. The legislation that created it in 1998 passed the House on suspension by voice vote, was agreed to by unanimous consent in the Senate, and signed into law by President Clinton. In 2002, a clean 5-year reauthorization received similar unanimous support in Congress and was signed into law by President Bush. Last year, an identical bill, H.R. 5540, passed the House by an overwhelming bipartisan vote. H.R. 965 will permanently reauthorize this bipartisan program, which the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation, headed by the Department of the Interior, has called a success story. It's worth noting that the National Park Service has also recommended permanent reauthorization of the network. I encourage all my colleagues to vote for this rule and the underlying bill and to continue to support the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. This is a program that did not have a single Member of Congress oppose its creation or its subsequent reauthorization. The program has been heralded as a success by the Bush administration and was unanimously reauthorized during that administration. This rule provides for consideration of the legislation that would now permanently extend the authorization for this bipartisan program, a move endorsed by the National Park Service. We all agree that the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network is a good program that has had a positive impact on preservation and recreation within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but it's clear that some of us disagree on whether to make the reauthorization permanent, which is why we've made in order a substitute amendment that would reauthorize the program for 5 years to allow a full debate. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, we certainly can appreciate the passion on both sides of the aisle with respect to health care. This House has not debated a bill of this importance in many years. But one thing that we can't forget is that we need to continue to focus on transportation. We have before us right now a surface transportation authorization bill that must be reauthorized by the House of Representatives. We have bridges that are collapsing throughout the country. We have roads that are deteriorating. I hear my colleague from the other side of the aisle say, Where are the jobs? The jobs are out there now from the stimulus bill where money was given to the States, and they're repairing the roads, and they're fixing the bridges. We need to continue that. There is no better way to create jobs and no better way to keep our infrastructure the best in the world than to spend money through transportation. I strongly urge my colleagues to continue to work on reauthorization of the surface transportation bill.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 669 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition.

Mr. ARCURI. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, this point of order is not about anything other than delaying the passage of this very important bill. And I would say to my friend from Arizona, that he, himself, has probably received more amendments from the Rules Committee than the rest of Congress put together. So he certainly has had an opportunity to offer many amendments with respect to different earmarks that he feels should be removed from the bill. So I would submit that this point of order is really about delaying the passage of what is a critically important bill, and that is the transportation appropriation bill, a bill that talks about things like funding roads so that we have safe highways for our families to travel on, things like high-speed rail so we can bring people and goods from point A to point B as quickly as possible. That's what we're here to discuss today. That's why the passage, the consideration of this rule and the passage of this rule, is so important, so we may consider this critically important bill. I hope my colleagues will vote ``yes'' so we can consider this legislation on its merits and not stop it by virtue of a procedural motion. Those who oppose the bill can vote against the final passage. We must consider this rule, and we must pass this legislation today. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. I yield back the balance of my time, and urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz- Balart). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. ARCURI. I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. ARCURI. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today as a member of the Rules Committee and also as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in strong support of H.R. 3288, the Fiscal Year 2010 Transportation HUD Appropriations Act. H. Res. 669 provides for consideration of H.R. 3288 under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate controlled by the Committee on Appropriations. The rule makes in order a total of 23 amendments, each of which is debatable for 10 minutes. The rule also provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Madam Speaker, housing and transportation are two areas that must be priorities for Congress, especially when the economy slows, because we get a double return on our investment. As we have seen with the recovery bill, investment in infrastructure not only generates economic recovery by putting people back to work, but those construction jobs strengthen our transportation system and improve our housing stock. We not only put people to work, but we also get something in the long run. We get better roads. We get safer transportation. We get better housing. That is critically important. Some of the members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would have liked to have seen a greater percentage of the funding in the Recovery Act go towards infrastructure spending and, indeed, we have seen that of all the funding included in that bill the transportation funding has resulted in saving and creating jobs faster than even we expected. The Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill continues this investment and our commitment to utilize all of the tools available to continue this economic recovery that has already begun to take hold. Included in H.R. 3288 is $41.1 billion to improve and repair our Nation's aging highway infrastructure. The bill includes more than $10 billion for Federal Transit Administration, which will help transit agencies meet increased public demand for mass transit. This not only provides more transportation options to Americans during tough economic times, it also decreases traffic congestion, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This bill adds another $4 billion to develop and construct a national system of high-speed rail, building on the commitment we began with the recovery bill. This is the first major investment in transportation since the 1960s. High-speed rail moves more people at a lower cost, at a faster speed and with less impact on the environment than does road transportation. We have developed the most advanced highway and aviation systems in the world over the last 60 years, but in comparison to the train system in other nations such as Germany, France and even China, they have clearly exceeded what we have done here in America. Speaking from the experience of my own delegation, the Members that represent upstate New York, we are committed to work in a bipartisan effort to make high-speed rail a reality across upstate New York. We have done so because we realize the numerous benefits that this improvement in our transportation system will have as a result of high- speed rail, not only for upstate New York, but for the Nation as a whole. Just as we saw over a century ago with the construction of the Erie Canal, streamlining the movement of people and goods along the corridor between the eastern seaboard and Chicago, the freight gateway to the west coast, will benefit the cities at both ends and also the cities across the country through which the line will run. Madam Speaker, this is just a sampling of the important programs and initiatives that the Transportation-HUD Appropriations Act will fund in fiscal year 2010. I urge all my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado, one of the new distinguished members of the Rules Committee, Mr. Polis.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, before I recognize my colleague from New York, I would just like to make a point, and that is, throughout history, we have seen vision on the part of people, and it's that vision that brought Columbus to the New World. It's that vision that built the Panama Canal. It's the vision that built the Erie Canal. It's the vision in the Eisenhower Highway System. It's the vision that brings us and moves us forward. This bill contains that vision. It has money in it for high-speed rail. That, I would submit, is our vision for the future. That's the kind of vision that people sent us here to Congress to continue, and it's that kind of vision that this bill contains. With that, Madam Speaker, I would yield 3 minutes to one of the leaders in transportation in this country, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to another gentleman from New York, one of the freshmen here, Mr. Massa.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. ARCURI. We have no additional speakers.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I will continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. We are at the present time reviewing that option, and we are looking at it, but I would like, if I may, in the meantime, to make one more point about this bill.

Mr. ARCURI. I thank my friend for his comments. Madam Speaker, this is somewhat of a technical change that we are contemplating, but I would say this: I think what one side or what one person views as rushing a piece of legislation the other side can very well argue is necessary and that we need to do it. One of the things that I hear from constituents at home is, you know, Congress needs to put aside the partisan bickering and move forward with the people's business. I would submit that that is exactly what we are trying to do. There is nothing more important, obviously, for Congress to do than to ensure that the funding to run the government is available. Now, obviously, both sides of the aisle have dramatic differences on how that funding should occur. I would submit to my friend from Florida--and I mean that, my good friend and colleague from the Rules Committee--that we have a distinct difference in terms of what a ``timetable'' is. We believe that we are here to ensure that we do the people's business and that it is done and that we do the funding in appropriations bills in a timely fashion. So we are working on that, and we are considering the amendment, and we will have an answer on that very shortly.

Mr. ARCURI. I will gladly yield to my friend from Texas.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. With respect to the question, I do take exception to your characterization of it.

Mr. ARCURI. We are not ready.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, first off, may I inquire as to the amount of time left on both sides?

Mr. ARCURI. Thank you. Madam Speaker, I would like to speak just for a couple of more minutes again about the underlying importance of passing this rule and the underlying bill. I think there is nothing more important than transportation and infrastructure for government to ensure exists. When you look back at the history of this great institution, the first standing committee was, in fact, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, although then not called by that very name, but it was critically important. The framers saw the importance of having an infrastructure, of having the ability to render our ports navigable and of having functional roads. At that time, of course, rail and airlines were not even imagined, but as we transformed our Nation, it became a critical part of our infrastructure. So it is my belief that this rule and the underlying bill are critically important. Madam Speaker, at this time, I would like to lay out on the record the amendment that we may be offering. The amendment to the rule is, actually, rather minor. The amendment will strike from the rule a provision that is no longer necessary. There was some concern that the final version of the GPO print might not have the same page and line numbers as the ordered reported version. That did not occur, so the language in the rule to preserve the Members' rights to fix their amendments is no longer needed. As I indicated earlier, it is clear that this proposed amendment-- again, we have not offered it yet--is really of a technical nature to allow for a correction in the rule that was passed yesterday out of the Rules Committee. With that, Madam Speaker, I would reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. May I reclaim my time?