Max Baucus

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay that motion on the table. Amendment No. 1962 To Amendment No. 1676 (Purpose: To provide additional uses for the payment by AmTrak to non- AmTrak States)

Mr. BAUCUS. It has been cleared.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1961 To Amendment No. 1676 (Purpose: To provide that a State with respect to which certain conditions are met shall be eligible for the funds made available to carry out the high density transportation program that remain after each State that meets the primary eligibility criteria for the program has received the minimum amount of funds)

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, on this side I do accept this amendment. Frankly, this is another one of those that just makes the bill more fair. And it is a good idea.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, this amendment has been cleared on this side.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1959 to Amendment No. 1676

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, as the Senator from Virginia stated, the Senator from New York has been the leader in maglev. It is really incredible that this Nation is so far behind other countries. We are going to have it eventually in this country. It is too bad we did not have it earlier. This helps in that process. It is not additional money, but it does help the maglev program, and I accept the amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1838 to Amendment No. 1676 (Purpose: To improve the magnetic levitation transportation technology deployment program)

Mr. BAUCUS. This is a red-tape buster. It is a good amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, this amendment has been cleared on this side.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1958 to Amendment No. 1676

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, the Senator is correct; this is acceptable. Frankly, I think it is important to point out that there is, in some cases, an increase of fuel tax evasion. This amendment allows States to use a portion of their surface transportation funds to combat fuel tax evasion. So we are adding a new eligibility to surface transportation accounts. I mention that also in part because the whole point of this underlying bill is to give States more flexibility compared with the current law, and this provision, in fact, will add even more flexibility than that contained in the underlying bill.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the amendment offered by the Senator from Kansas has been cleared. The bad news is we have not yet checked with Commerce to make sure the amendment offered by the Senator from Michigan is cleared. We have not yet heard from the Commerce Committee, the committee of jurisdiction. So I suggest to the manager of the bill, and to the proponent of the amendment, if he could withhold and have his set aside, we could take up the Brownback amendment and agree to it. I expect Senator Hollings and his staff will clear the Senator's amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I do commend the Senator for his patience. I say to the Senator, we have again sent an urgent plea over to Senator Bumpers' office to make sure his staff comes over immediately. We made the request 10 or 12 minutes ago. Just 1 minute ago, I renewed the request to have the staff come over. The fact is, the more we talk about this and commend the Senator, the more likely we are going to kill two birds with one stone. If people realize what the Senator is doing, by that time maybe the staff will be over here to get this thing cleared. I do not see them yet. I don't see any problems, but I must honor the request by the Senator from Arkansas that we wait until his staff looks at the exact language.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, it is my understanding this amendment has been worked out. I thank the Senator for his cooperation. I regret I must say that when we informed Senator Bumpers, who is the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the committee that has jurisdiction over this amendment, we were informed by his staff that he wanted to come over and look at exact language and make sure it was the same language that was agreed to. I do not expect that to, A, take long or, B, to be a problem. In fact, they told us they were on their way over about 10 minutes ago. We cannot clear it pending that resolution. I suggest to the chairman, perhaps if we lay this amendment aside, we can take up another amendment. But I expect it to be cleared very quickly.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I am glad to yield to the Senator from New York.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I commend the Senator from Michigan. This amendment, which is very beneficial to States, and particularly local governments, frankly, is an extension of the provision in the National Highway System bill. When this is agreed to--and I think it will be--States, and particularly local governments, will be able to use land, or gravel, or building materials as ``in kind'' contributions for their State's match instead of cash. They can use other assets to meet that requirement. This will be particularly helpful for local communities that want to build bike paths, or some other similar use of State highway funds, which is provided for in law. If the local community comes up with the gravel, and the work efforts, that will be the match that will allow the Federal funds to then be used for either enhancement, like a bike path, or some other project allowed under the underlying bill. So I commend the Senator. This is an extension. It goes beyond what is currently allowed in the National Highway System legislation. I very much thank the Senator for bringing this to the Senate's attention and for building upon an idea which I think makes sense in the first place.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, it is also acceptable to this side. This enables Michigan to continue to collect a toll that it is not collecting. It basically continues to make the payments status quo. It is a good amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, this is a freeze on the expansion of future triples. States that currently have triples can maintain them. I think that is a fair balance. A lot of us have problems with triples, basically the problems enunciated by the sponsor of this amendment. To repeal the current use of trailers, I think, would be unfair. I urge Senators to agree to this amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay it on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I want to thank the very able distinguished Senator from Michigan. I say to the Senator, I appreciate his tenacity. It is always good to see a Senator who fights doggedly for his State, who works very hard to make sure that his State is not taken advantage of. In fact, I say to the Senate, and to the residents of Michigan, the very able Senator from Michigan adds new meaning to ``fighting like a pit bull.'' Every day, there is Senator Levin, making sure, ``Hey, what about Michigan?'' What about donor States and so forth? I am very appreciative of the very hard work of the Senator. It has helped make this a more balanced bill.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, this is a balancing amendment to make the bill fair to all regions of the country. When the committee took up the bill in the first place--actually there were several major bills--it was intended to represent different parts of the country. We in the committee melded these bills together. One is a donor States bill; one is a New England States, Eastern States, bill; one is a Western States bill. Because of the leadership of the chairman, Senator Chafee, as well as the composition of the committee, which is balanced, we came up with a very balanced bill. Now, balance is in the eyes of the beholder. When we finished, there were some States that felt that although treated fairly, they perhaps could have been treated more fairly. The effect of this bill is to make sure that all parts of the country are treated evenly, fairly. The effect of this amendment will help accomplish that. It will also help speed passage of this bill. It is my hope, and even expectation, that we can finish this bill today with the passage of this amendment, because the remaining business before the Senate is various amendments, matters that, as important as they are, are not as much of a consequence as this amendment, which is the one that has been worked out in the last couple, 3 days--actually last week, with the chairman and others and interested Senators. So I urge that this amendment be agreed to. It is going to speed passage of the bill and can get some highways built.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.