Barbara Boxer

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, let me just say to my friend, I am the chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. I am not the chair of the Judiciary Committee. I just want to say for the record, in defense of my committee members all, that we fixed this problem in this bill. We fixed the problem in the bill. Do I support the Justice Department going after the evildoers and putting them in jail? You bet I do. But--I hate to say it--in Environment and Public Works, that is not our role. I support what the Senator is trying to do here. So let's get that clear. On page 86, here it is fixed, in section 110. I want to make that clear, that our committee did the right thing and fixed this problem. My friend is right, there was a committee to look at the rules. But if all he is doing is looking at rules--and I know he is not--then what is the point? I want to look at what happened. My friend himself talked about fraud. The fact is, we better get to the bottom of this, and all this committee is going to do is look at rules. Frankly, I don't think it is doing much. I would much rather put people in jail. The proper way to do that is to call on the Justice Department to look at these crimes because, to me, it is the crimes that concern me. I think what they did, on the face of it, going in the dead of night, is certainly not allowed in our rules--at least my interpretation of the rules. That, to me, is not. I tell you right now, in our committee we are pretty tough on this. We are not allowing people to change things. Everything that is in this technical corrections bill--and that is why Senator DeMint praised us--is on the Web site for all to see. We believe in transparency. What this is about is getting to the bottom of allegations of serious crimes--bribery. Bribery. That is why I do believe at the end of the day let's keep politics out of this issue. I can tell you right now, the Senators who get on this committee are going to have the flashbulbs going off in their faces, they are going to make a big to-do about this, and they are not going to talk about rules, they are going to talk about crimes. The sad thing is, even if they got to the bottom of it, at the end of the day the committee cannot put anybody in jail. The Justice Department can. The speech and debate clause is really clear. I know my colleague in the chair is a very prominent attorney. If you look at section 6, article I, it clearly says: . . . for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. So our attorneys are saying the way this is set up, A, you have politics in it; B, you have a constitutional problem, probably; and C, it is a lot of hoopla, a lot of cameras, and at the end of the day we want to put people in jail. That is what we are talking about, really, at the end of the day. Looking at the Senator's own document on page 5, he says the committee shall share its findings, share its documents, share its information, and so on, with various groups. I just believe to be tough you have to get the Justice Department involved. When there is a knock on the door from the Justice Department, you will get to the bottom of this. That is what the Boxer amendment does. I hope people who really want to be tough will do the tough thing, not set up some committee that is going to give Senators and House Members a chance to make political points, and the public will look at us and say this is just a great big show, but really get to the bottom of it and get the Justice Department into this now. There are reports that they are looking at some issues, but there is nothing to say that they are looking at this particular problem. That is what I have to say. My friend is right to bring this up. I am glad. When the press said: What do you think? I said: Good for him for bringing this up. I am sorry we were not able to agree on the right approach, but I feel very good about the approach I have come up with here. I look forward to our colleagues voting on this at the appropriate time. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, if I might respond to my friend, No. 1, we do not cede a thing. We do not give up anything. As a matter of fact, we stay consistent with applicable standards and procedures, and this cannot be a fishing expedition. We say the Department of Justice shall review allegations of impropriety regarding item 462 in section 193(4)(C) of Public Law 109- 59, to ascertain if a violation of Federal criminal law has occurred. The question is, to me: Will the people or persons who did something wrong be punished? At the end of the day, that is what I am about. I am not about big committee hearings and special committees and the rest. Listen, I am not about that. I am about: We have a lot of work to do for the American people. My friend used words--``fraud,'' he said. He said ``fraud.'' He already used it. And in his own resolution he says: If they find that there was such fraud, which he already thinks there was--which, by the way, I think it was worse than that, but that is what I think from what I know. There needs to be proof here. I do not mean to leap ahead too far. He says he is going to refer it to the proper law enforcement. Why can't I say: Well, that is a bad precedent. I do not get it. The difference between what the Senator is doing and what I am doing is I am saying: It looks bad, as if there were a crime committed; we are not sure. Let's get right to the heart of it, and let's go after it. Here, what my friend is doing, he says: Before we tell them to look at it, we are going to have these hearings. By the way, in his own words, he is going to put the findings on the Internet, he is going to publish them. I have been around here long enough to know what a circus is. I have been involved in a lot of investigations on a lot of committees, and what I want is justice done. I do not want political theatre. I want justice done. I will tell you why. When justice is done and someone goes to jail--we have seen a few people from the other side walk off to jail--that sends the best possible message. I do not think it ought to be delayed by hearings. Sometimes what happens is, it holds up a Justice Department investigation when there are public hearings going on. I have been in that circumstance too. So I say, here we have two options. One sets up this elaborate committee, and the other one says: Let's get to the heart of this, go after these bad actors, put them in jail. I think that is the better way to go. I guess I have said it a hundred ways to Sunday. I would stand on those remarks. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schumer.) Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, the majority leader will be coming out shortly to let Members know what is happening. But I can tell everybody that this bill is being slow walked. This is a simple bill. This is a mini-economic stimulus bill. It would release $1 billion of highway trust fund moneys to build roads, to fix bridges, to run transit systems, and it got caught up in Presidential politics, investigations--everything you can think of--while the people wonder what we are doing. This bill, simple as it is, would create about 50,000 new jobs at a time when we know--it is worse than a middle-class squeeze. It is really a middle-class struggle that is going on, and people are worried. They are worried about their homes, they are worried about everything, and this bill will create jobs. So what we have is a classical slowdown, with Presidential politics being involved dealing with the gas tax that funds the highway trust fund. That is fine, but just let everybody know from where it is coming. The only amendments to this bill--the only amendments--come from the Republican side. I offered one as a side-by-side to Senator Coburn's, which I think is a good amendment. My amendment will not bring down this bill. Others will. Here is where we are. We have a simple bill. It passed a year ago in the House. It passed, I believe it was June of 2007, under the leadership of Senator Inhofe. Actually, it was under my leadership but with the work of Senator Inhofe, both of us working together, bipartisan, bicameral. I want to show you, Mr. President, who is strongly supporting this bill: the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials, that is departments of transportation officials of all 50 States; the American Highway Users Alliance, millions of highway users throughout the country; the American Public Transit Association, transit systems from across the country; the American Road and Transportation Builders Associations, more than 5,000 members of the transportation construction industry; Associated General Contractors, more than 32,000 contractors, service providers, and suppliers; the Council of University Transportation Centers, more than 30 university transportation centers from across the country; the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, companies producing more than 92 percent of crushed stone and 75 percent of sand and gravel used in the U.S. annually; the National Asphalt and Pavement Association, more than 1,100 companies that produce and pave with asphalt. These are real people who are willing, ready, and able to build and rebuild our infrastructure, to build and rebuild our transit systems. This bill is a no brainer. Instead, it is caught up in all of these negotiations right now. Whether we vote tonight or not, we are going to find out soon enough from Senator Reid. But, Mr. President, let me say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Senator Inhofe and I really wanted to get them a good bill. Senator Inhofe and I really wanted to get this work done quickly. We did all our homework. We put everybody's name on the Web site, so we complied with the new ethical rules. Senator DeMint said he was very pleased with the standard we set for transparency. These projects are ready to go. They are ready to go in Brooklyn, they are ready to go in Manhattan, they are ready to go in San Francisco, they are ready to go in Atlanta, and they are ready to go in Oklahoma. They are ready to go in every State of the Union. I say to all these good people who told us how much they want this bill to move: Please contact the Republican leadership and tell them to play Presidential politics another day with amendments that are not germane, with amendments that don't belong on this bill. Today pass this legislation. There is too much talk around here and not enough action. We passed a stimulus bill. We did it in a bipartisan way, but we all know there is more to be done. This little bill will create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in America, doing something that has to be done. But, no, we cannot finish it. We had one vote so far on an amendment by Senator DeMint. We defeated it, which was important because it was a killer amendment. It says to me people want this bill. This is the status. We are waiting for some type of agreement. This whole thing is being slow walked. We look forward to hearing from the majority leader as to whether there will be any more votes this evening. But as far as this Senator is concerned--I know I speak for Senator Inhofe--we want to get this bill done. But people are slow walking this bill. We are going to do our best to see if we can get this logjam stopped. But at this point, we have not been able to do it. Tens of thousands of jobs are in jeopardy, and 500 various transit projects already paid for are in jeopardy. What a shame we cannot go forward. What a shame we are in another slowdown by my friends from the other side of the aisle. It is very discouraging. Again, as the eternal optimist, I will return to this place tonight, if we can continue working, or tomorrow after we come in after we pay our respects to the Pope.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 16, 2008, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a nomination hearing.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, could the Chair tell me what the current state of the parliamentary situation is right now?

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield to me for a question?

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very hopeful that our Republican friends had a good meeting about this SAFETEA-LU technical corrections bill and that they decided to work with us to get this job done. This, as we say, is definitely not rocket science. It is a bill that is going to correct some mistakes we made in this enormous highway transportation bill that was passed several years ago. It is going to make very important corrections so the Department of Transportation can proceed to investigate the status of our highways, our bridges, and our transit systems. The bottom line is, as we get ready for our next highway bill--and, Mr. President, you are such a key player on our committee. You know this as well as I do. We see bridges collapsing. We need to know the extent of the problems we are facing. Because of a problem in the bill, the account that we need to fund these investigations and studies is oversubscribed, which is a fancy way of saying we need to figure out another way to complete our work. That is taken care of in this bill. We need colleagues to help us. We are not adding one dime to the spending on transportation systems and highways. All we are doing is making technical corrections to make sure some of the projects that have been stymied--let's say because the environmental report came in and said we can't do alternative 1, we have to do alternative 2, and alternative 2 was not authorized--will be allowed to move forward. I did a press conference today with both management and labor of the building trades. The construction workers are hurting out there. We know we are in a recession. This is a mini-economic stimulus bill. We are not suggesting it is a cure-all by any means. It is a small bill, but it will unleash $1 billion across this great Nation of ours. When you unleash $1 billion of spending, what it means is tens of thousands of workers will get jobs. They are doing important projects--fixing bridges, fixing roads, building transit systems--all the good work that makes our Nation work. I am here. It is about 2:20 in the afternoon. We have been on the floor of the Senate since early Monday. Frankly, this bill could have been done in an hour or two. We are very willing to take the few amendments there are and work with the authors of those amendments. We may have to have just an up-or-down vote because, frankly, we are not going to entertain anything that changes the law. This is just a technical corrections bill. But if there are things we can do to accommodate our colleagues, we are happy to do them. When I say ``we,'' I not only mean the Democratic members of the committee but the Republican members of the committee. Senator Inhofe has been working very closely with me, and we feel very good about our work together. We managed to get our WRDA bill through, the Water Resources Development Act, in 7 months after it languished 7 years. We can do it on this too. On that we had to override the President's veto. The President sent us a little note that he doesn't love this bill; there is one thing he doesn't like. The fact is, the one thing he doesn't like was signed off on by Republicans and Democrats on the Banking Committee. It has to do with how we prioritize transit projects. The desire of the committee to put this in the bill is a reiteration of SAFETEA-LU. It really doesn't change anything, it just stresses it. The President does not like it, but I am hopeful he is not going to veto. He didn't say he is going to veto. He just said he didn't appreciate the guidance we are giving him. We don't believe it is a veto threat. We believe we can get this to his desk. Think about how good we will feel to know that people who are hurting can get jobs right now--that is really what it is about right now--and, frankly, companies that are hurting can get contracts. Again, this is a no brainer, for want of a better term. This is something we should do. We should do it quickly. I stand by ready, willing, and able to get this work done. I do not see anyone else on the Senate floor wishing to speak. Mr. President, I will be back when I have to be back. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BOXER. I thank my friend for that, because this bill before us is a job producer. There is tremendous support for it. I wanted to make sure my friend was aware--because I have to ask him a question--of the support we have. The thing is, when you unleash a billion dollars for 500 projects, which have been tied up for technical reasons, it is going to create jobs. I ask my friend if he was aware of the broad support we have. I will read the list of organizations supporting this technical corrections bill, which will free up some 500 highway projects: American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials, which is the departments of transportation for all 50 States; American Highway Users Alliance; American Public Transit Association, which is the transit systems; American Road and Transportation Builders Association, which is more than 5,000 members of the transportation construction industry; Associated General Contractors, which is more than 32,000 contractors, service providers, and suppliers; Council of University Transportation Centers, which is more than 30 university transportation centers from across the country; National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, the companies producing more than 92 percent of crushed stone and 75 percent of the sand and gravel used in the United States annually; National Asphalt and Pavement Association, which is more than 1,100 companies that produce and pave with asphalt. The point is, when we do this work, in many ways we are creating a bit of a stimulus. These are the companies and the workers who are suffering right now because of the economic downturn. Before my friend leaves, I wanted to thank him and also ask him if he was aware of the strong support for this bill.

Mrs. BOXER. I want to ask something else. The Senator is not on the committee of jurisdiction, but I know he is interested to hear this. We correct a real problem in this bill. The organization that does the evaluation of our Nation's bridges, highways, and all of our byways, has run out of funds. The funds they had have been oversubscribed. What we do, without adding any new funds, is enable them to get funding and to continue their work, as we get ready for the next highway bill, which is coming to us next year. I wanted to make sure my friend was aware that, as we get ready for the new highway bill, we need to know the condition of our highways. We have seen collapsing bridges. That is another reason it is so important. I am very hopeful that by this evening we are going to see some relenting. I have been on the floor since Monday morning. I don't mind that, but it is wasting time, truth be known. We can have a few amendments and we can wrap this up. My colleagues can go back home and say we have done something. I want to specifically know if my colleague was aware of this particular account that funds the investigation of the state of our infrastructure--that they have run out of money, and that we fix that in this bill?

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am sitting here and listening to Senator Klobuchar, and I am so proud of her work on the committee that I am fortunate enough to chair, the Environment and Public Works Committee. This committee is so interesting because we do everything from global warming legislation, protecting endangered species, to rebuilding the infrastructure of our Nation on the public works side. It is kind of an interesting divide, because when it comes to rebuilding the infrastructure, we have more bipartisan support right now than for protecting the environment; where Senator Warner, on global warming, has frankly been our hero on the other side of the aisle, joining with us. But on the infrastructure, Senator Inhofe and I have worked very closely together, and with the help of members of the committee, such as Senator Klobuchar, we are making progress. Before the good Senator leaves the floor, I wanted to make sure she was aware of something in this bill that is so crucial and is very much apropos to her reminding us about the bridge collapse in Minnesota. We fix an oversight in SAFETEA-LU that resulted in a particular account being oversubscribed. That account was the surface transportation research development and deployment account. Now, what does that do? It is a very fancy name. Basically, that particular account funds research into the status of our infrastructure. It takes a look at our infrastructure, and it tells us what we need to do to keep up. Do we need to reinforce our bridges, for example. That is one of the aspects they look at. The appraisal of our highways. How do we fund transit? What is the physical condition of our roads? How do they operate? What is their performance level? It is so crucial that we have the information. My colleague from Minnesota wrote the carbon registry bill that is part of our global warming bill because she knows that before you can solve global warming, you need to know how much carbon and other greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere. We can't write a new bill in 2009 unless we know the status of our roads, our freeways, our bridges, and our highways. So that is why this bill is so important. We have been here for 2 full days now. I have been ready, willing, and able to take any and all amendments. We have said the bill is closed. We are not adding anything new because we want to keep this bill the exact same cost as the SAFETEA-LU bill. We are not adding anything. We are, in essence, making technical corrections to make sure we don't stymie a billion dollars' worth of projects, which is going to create tens of thousands of new jobs, and we are going to free up the frozen level of this research because they can't research anymore. They can't do any more research on the state of our infrastructure. We want to unfreeze that. So here we are for 2 days, standing on our feet begging our Republican friends not to filibuster this bill. What is the point? Everybody wants this bill, except maybe one Senator who doesn't like one provision in it. We had the vote to proceed. I think it was 93 to 1. So everyone wants this bill. This bill doesn't add any new spending, it unleashes a billion dollars of important projects. That is why we have extraordinary support--and I don't have the chart here--from all our construction trades people, the management side, the labor union side, the worker side. We have it all. We have the heads of all the transit agencies across the country. They all want this bill. It is very impressive. Oh, good, we have it back. I will show it one more time, because when you hear who is backing us--and they are not backing us quietly, they are on the phones, they are calling Members and saying: Let this bill go. When my kids were young, they would call something a no-brainer. That is what this bill is, a no-brainer. This bill makes eminent sense. Here is the list: The American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials--from all 50 States--support us; the American Highway Users Alliance--millions of highway users; the American Public Transit Association--transit systems from across the country; American Road and Transportation Builders--that is more than 5,000 members of the transportation construction industry; Associated General Contractors--that is 32,000 contractors; Council of University Transportation Centers--more than 30 university transportation centers from across the country; The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association--these are the companies that produce more than 92 percent of crushed stone and 75 percent of sand and gravel used in the United States annually; and the National Asphalt and Pavement Association-- more than 1,100 companies. These are the folks who are suffering right now. These are the folks who have gotten caught in this recession we are in. These are the folks who are calling Senators and saying: Please, let this bill go. Senator Boxer supports it, Senator Inhofe supports it, Senator Klobuchar supports it, Senator Baucus supports it, Senator Isakson supports it. I could list members from our committee--almost all. As I said, we had a vote of 93 to 1 to proceed to this bill. Calling all Republican friends: Please, please, please, relent. Please, let's get going. People are counting on you. They need the work. They need the jobs. Our country needs the infrastructure built. This doesn't cost a penny more. These are funds that are sitting in the trust fund.

Mrs. BOXER. Yes, I will be glad to yield to my colleague.

Mrs. BOXER. The House passed it 1 year ago, and we passed it in the committee in June 2007. This is not something that--this has been around. We have been asking Senator Reid. He wanted to bring it up, but it is getting caught up in other matters. It has been a long time.

Mrs. BOXER. I am happy to do it, I say to my friend, and I am glad she asked me when we passed this bill out of committee--June 2007. June 2008 is fast upon us. The House also passed it a year ago. This is a long time in coming. You are so right, we all talk about the need to make sure there are good jobs for people. This is a ministimulus package right here. There are 500 important projects that will move forward. This means real jobs, real jobs in the U.S. of A. When you are building a road here, you are building a road here. This is important. It is unusual to see all of these folks team up together. We had a press conference this morning, management and labor together saying: Please, here is an opportunity. There is nothing negative to say about this bill, as far as I am concerned. You may have one or two projects you wouldn't vote for, but the fact is they have come from the Members of Congress who know their districts and know their States. I was very glad Senator DeMint called and said he was pleased with the way we did our disclosure under the new ethics rule, that our committee had set the standard. I was very happy to hear from him about that. He said we did it right, we made it public. Everybody signed on to whatever project they requested--very open, very transparent, very necessary. This is a very necessary bill. I guess I am talking to colleagues who may be in their offices and I am saying, especially to my Republican friends, come join us. Let's do something good for the people. This is very important for your States. You have the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials--that's the department of transportation for all 50 States-- calling on us to act. There is no reason to hold this up. We are wasting precious minutes. We are wasting precious hours. We are wasting precious days. We have a lot of other work to get done. My goodness, I don't understand filibustering this bill which, again, is within the budget. It doesn't add a penny more than we were supposed to spend. I am a little perplexed as to why we are sitting here at 10 to 6 at night and we can't get anybody to come here to offer an amendment. But I am ever hopeful, because it is my nature, that people will realize, as they go back to their offices and see their phone messages from all these people, that this is real. This is real. We need to get it done. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. I will be back as soon as I have some news to share with colleagues.

Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield, my leader yield to me for a question?

Mrs. BOXER. I was pleased to see this dialog back and forth. Because, frankly, I have been wondering, as chairman of the Environment Committee, what was going on. We have a very straightforward bill on the floor. I didn't understand. We have a few amendments. We are very happy to deal with them. We have every group in the country, every construction group, management, labor, everyone, we have every State asking us to do this bill. I didn't understand, frankly, why we were waiting around. I wonder, I ask my leader--and I would be delighted to hear from the Republican leader as well, given this colloquy you had back and forth--and I know the Senator from Nevada as well as anyone here. When he gives his word like this and says: I am going to do everything I can, listen, I think that is as good as it gets around here. I am hopeful, and I would ask my leader to tell me and the Republican leader as well, Senator Inhofe is here, I am here, we are very anxious to move our bill forward, 500 transportation projects, not one penny of added spending; it will unleash a billion dollars' worth of jobs, I am wondering whether you could let us know tonight what are the chances that we are going to be able to move forward.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very hopeful we can move this bill. When my kids were a little younger, they used to say: Mom, it is a no- brainer. This is a no-brainer. This is something we need to do. We passed a very important bill several years ago that funds our highways and our transit. As often happens--because the years pass and the studies take place and you find there were errors in such a big bill that encompasses so many programs--there were certain very important transportation projects, highway projects that got stymied because of a technical problem. We also had one account that was oversubscribed and we need to make some fixes there because that particular account funds research into the state of our bridges, our highways, our transit systems, and we all know with bridges collapsing in America today, we can't short ourselves on the funding. We need to find out exactly what is the state of our fiscal infrastructure. In a great economy, you can't move people and you can't move goods without a transportation infrastructure. That means roads that are not falling apart, bridges that are not falling apart, transit systems that work. Especially in this time of more awareness of being efficient, energy efficient, all of this works together as we look at global warming and the best ways to combat that. This is a very simple bill. Why are we standing here without actually voting on a few amendments that we know some of my Republican friends have? It is because there is a move by some Republican Senators to slow us down, slow down our work. My colleagues heard about it previous to my taking the floor today. Several colleagues talked about the unprecedented number of filibusters. But I have to say on the bright side, this is a bill that Senator Inhofe and I have worked very closely on. We agree on it. It is bipartisan in nature. There are a couple of colleagues who don't like a couple of things in here. We will deal with that. We will deal with it, but let's get moving. It seems a shame to have the Presiding Officer sitting in the chair in front of an empty Chamber while the time clicks away and we can't get anything done on a technical corrections bill. I might say everyone is quite aware that we are in an economic slowdown. I look at this bill as a little bit of a ministimulus package, because it will unleash about $1 billion for very important projects already approved. It will unleash those funds. For every billion dollars, tens of thousands of new jobs are created in the construction industry. We have a very long list of people supporting us on this bill. Again, I call on my friends and colleagues on the other side of the aisle who for some reason are holding up this bill: Please. We are willing to have votes on your objections in the form of an amendment. We are willing to work with you. We want to get this bill done. The American people need this bill done. There is no reason to get it caught up in other political arguments and questions. I hope I can come out here in short order with the news that my Republican friends have decided to let us go to the amendment process so we can move forward and complete our work on this bill. At this point I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very pleased we are on this bill. Senator Inhofe and I haven't wasted the time. We have been talking with our colleagues. I think for the interest of all Members, at this point we don't expect any votes tonight, but we certainly do hope in every way possible that we will start disposing of the amendments in the morning. We will be here about 10:30. We urge our colleagues to come down and offer their amendments. We will debate them, we will have our votes on them, and we will get something done for the American people. I yield the floor at this time. I see my ranking member and I am delighted he is here.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I thank my ranking member. He and I, when we are on the same page, have had very good results. I think our colleagues trust that when we can come together on something, it has gone through all the hoops and all the ``I's'' have been dotted and the ``T's'' have been crossed. I want to assure colleagues that on this particular piece of legislation, we have worked closely together, as have Senators Dodd and Shelby over at Banking, as have Senators Inouye and Stevens. This is one of those moments which doesn't come that often around here--not often enough for me--where we do have a lot of us working together across party lines, across committee jurisdictions.

Mrs. BOXER. Yes.

Mrs. BOXER. That means I would have how much time now?

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am glad you are in the chair. As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, you have been very involved in everything we have done so far and we will do in the future, in terms of rebuilding the infrastructure of this Nation, building a transit infrastructure, and some of the other things that we do. I am very pleased the majority leader has called for a motion to proceed to H.R. 1195, the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008. On August 10, 2005, President Bush signed into law the SAFETEA-LU Act, which authorized our Nation's highways, transit, and highway safety programs through the end of 2009. We all know a country cannot be great if it does not have the physical infrastructure to move people and to move goods and to be efficient. The funding provided in SAFETEA-LU is currently being used on highway and transit projects that clearly increase our economic productivity, create thousands and thousands of new jobs, and improve America's quality of life. It has been several years since SAFETEA-LU was signed into law, and we on the committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and on the Banking Committee and on the Commerce Committee, have worked across party lines to identify the technical corrections that need to be made. These include updating of project descriptions, adjustments to some of the legislative language, and in some cases where projects could not move forward Members have said we have other projects that are ready to move forward. That is why this bill is so important. If we do not do this bill, we are simply going to languish until the next highway bill in a couple of years, and we are going to waste time. We do not have time to waste. The issues need to be addressed to ensure that various programs authorized in SAFETEA-LU are being carried out according to congressional intent and are not bogged down in unintended consequences. In an effort to address the issues identified since the passage of SAFETEA-LU, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 1195 in March of 2007 by a voice vote. The legislation was subsequently amended and approved by voice vote in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in June of 2007. That is the committee I chair, and my ranking member, Senator Inhofe, and I have worked very closely on this and other infrastructure matters. My remarks today are on the Technical Corrections Act of 2008, which has been filed as an amendment in the nature of a complete substitute to H.R. 1195. This amendment mirrors the earlier technical corrections legislation approved by the Senate and House committees but has been updated for the fiscal year, and it addresses additional issues which have been discovered since H.R. 1195 was first approved by the House and considered by our committee. I truly believe this is a straightforward, noncontroversial bill that corrects technical issues, confirms congressional intent, and moves us forward. It is foolish for us to ignore this bill or to try to stop this bill because it doesn't cost an additional penny. The funding comes through the highway trust fund, and that funding is there. If we do not make these technical corrections, a lot of projects simply will be stalled. At a time when our economy is in trouble, we should be moving ahead. Senator Inhofe and I have worked very closely with the bipartisan leadership of the House Committee on Transportation Infrastructure to craft this legislation that we bring to the floor as a substitute. We have also worked closely with Chairman Dodd and Ranking Member Shelby of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and Chairman Inouye and Ranking Member Stevens of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation because we wanted to ensure that corrections to SAFETEA-LU that fell within their jurisdiction were all included in this legislation. I say to my friends who may be listening to this debate, this is truly a bipartisan bill. It is more than a bipartisan bill, it involves three different committees and all of us want to see this move ahead. Again, the legislation does not increase overall spending by the Federal Government. It works within the confines of the existing SAFETEA-LU authorization. Changes which restore funding left out of SAFETEA-LU are paid for through the use of existing funds. If anybody says to colleagues we are spending more, we are not. We are simply making it possible for us to fulfill our promises we made to the American people several years ago when we told them we were funding a highway and transit bill. Project changes are usually made because of State and local authorities who have told us that changes are necessary. This legislation emanates in many ways from the people back home. Let me give an idea of one of the issues that is very important in this legislation. It will fix an oversight in SAFETEA-LU that resulted in the Surface Transportation Research, Development and Deployment Account being oversubscribed. This means funding is not available for the Federal Highway Administration to conduct its legacy research programs and research activities. This legislation corrects the issue by removing the Future Strategic Highway Research Program from the Surface Transportation Research Development and Deployment Account and, instead, funds it through funds already allocated for core highway programs. This will free up about $50 million per year, enough funding to finance the remaining programs and projects in the Surface Transportation Research Development and Deployment Account and will allow DOT, the Department of Transportation, to continue its important legacy research programs and activities, including the biennial Conditions and Performance Report. What is the Conditions and Performance Report? It is a report that provides an appraisal of highway, bridge, and transit finance, the physical condition of roads and bridges and their operational performance, and estimates of future investment requirements. That will provide crucial information on the current conditions and future needs of our national transportation system as we develop the next transit and highway safety bill. We will need this information. It will be crucial to setting priorities in the next highway bill. Remember, we have seen bridges in our Nation collapsing. We have seen bad problems in our infrastructure. We need to make sure we have a very fair appraisal of the condition of our roads, the condition of our bridges, what it is going to cost to fix them before we go into our next funding cycle, our full funding cycle which will occur in 2009. The legislation also fixes and modifies descriptions for highway and transit projects that were included in SAFETEA-LU but have not yet been completed. Without the changes included in this legislation, many of these projects are stuck at a red light. Until that light turns green, the benefits to the transportation system will not be realized. This technical corrections legislation provides a green light that could unleash up to $1 billion into the economy. Remember, this is not new spending. This is freeing up the dollars we already voted to spend on transportation projects, transit projects, highway projects. This is funding that has already been provided through SAFETEA-LU. It is not new money, but if we do not act, simply speaking, $1 billion of important highway and transportation programs will simply not be spent. Given the current slowdown in our economy, we can't afford to let these funds remain unused due to technical matters. Just last month, President Bush acknowledged that we must respond decisively to the economic downturn we are going through. Investing in infrastructure is one of the best ways to stimulate our economy. Infrastructure investments provide immediate economic stimulus through job creation and long-term economic benefits through reduced transportation costs. In the past, the Department of Transportation has told us that for every $1 billion in Federal spending on transportation infrastructure, 47,500 jobs are created. It may be that the number is slightly smaller now due to inflation, but in any event we know it is tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. The benefits of infrastructure investment stay in America. Infrastructure investment creates American jobs and helps American businesses that produce most of the construction materials and equipment used in our Nation. Finally, I would like to point out again--again--that this legislation will not increase spending. I have to say that over and over again, and it complies with earmark disclosure requirements of rule XLIV even though it only addresses changes to previously authorized projects. I thank Senator DeMint for giving me a call this morning and saying that he was very pleased with the way our committee handled this disclosure. I was very pleased with that call, and I thank him for it. I urge my colleagues to support the technical corrections that have been included in this legislation so we can make the final changes needed to complete SAFETEA-LU and then turn our Nation to the next highway transit and highway safety authorization bill to be completed in the next Congress. What I want to do is have put into the Record, if I might, Mr. President, without objection, a very important letter that comes from some very important constituents of all of ours. I am going to show who sent this letter. I ask unanimous consent to have the letter printed in the Record.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.