Sam Graves

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Waltz).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Spano).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. The mace indicates we are in session. Are we in session or in the Committee of the Whole?

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), who is the ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, before we consider amendments to add to this already massive partisan wish list, I want remind members how we got here. Just over a week ago we marked up the majority's $500 billion my-way- or-the-highway bill in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. That was a partisan bill from the beginning, and aside from maybe a few Republican amendments, it remained a partisan bill, and absolutely partisan bill, coming out of markup. After our markup, the Speaker added in provisions under our committee's jurisdiction, some of which completely upended previous bipartisan legislation to fit their partisan agenda. Others are issues that we could have found bipartisan agreement on if the majority had even tried to work with us. And now we are about to consider yet another broad swath of provisions in a partisan amendment process that is cut short because the majority doesn't believe Members should be here when they conduct the American peoples' business. The majority believes it is acceptable to put together a massive bill that is going to turn our transportation system upside down, add $1.5 trillion in debt, add more items to it with an absurd partisan amendment process, and pass it all by proxy. All for an infrastructure bill that is not really an infrastructure bill at all, it is a climate bill that doesn't even attempt to include consensus solutions to these issues, but instead, bludgeons our transportation system, industries, and workers into submission. Republicans have been ready and willing partners throughout this process, but it takes willingness on both sides of the aisle to work toward that mutual goal. This bill doesn't offer any solutions, only more delays, more costs, and more partisanship that really doesn't help any of our communities or our economy. Mr. Speaker, for these and many other reasons, this is the first surface transportation bill, although this bill barely resembles one, but this is the first transportation bill in all my years of Congress that I am going to oppose, and I urge my colleagues and fellow Members to join me in rejecting this partisan messaging bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Aviation.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to express my disappointment at the partisan nature of the amendments in this package. For example, it includes an airdropped rail amendment that imposes unreasonable mandates on freight rail carrying waste by attempting to force an impractical, one-size- fits-all solution that would create more problems than it attempts to solve. It includes a significant change in the Economic Development Agency's revolving loan program and new requirements on public buildings that the committee never had a chance to consider under regular order. It also includes an amendment that requires the Department of Transportation to share protected security and business information on pipeline incidents with State and local governments, creating unintended safety and security risks. Mr. Speaker, this bill is full of partisan amendments meant to fulfill the Speaker's messaging agenda of unchecked spending and unserious, one-sided Green New Deal excesses. These provisions are going to create difficult, impractical, and unreasonable mandates on the rail and aviation industries at a time when we should be doing what we can to help them just survive. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to very much oppose this en bloc amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford), who is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. I continue to reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I wish I could say to my colleagues that we were putting our time to good use today, but we all know that we have an incredibly important obligation, and we have got a lot of work to do when it comes to infrastructure. We need to pass a long-term surface transportation bill to provide States and local communities the certainty to plan and execute highway, bridge, and transit projects across this country. If we don't do that, or if we pass short-term extensions, it throws their plans into chaos and it jeopardizes needed improvements. But that is exactly what we are going to do because the infrastructure bill in this entire process got highjacked by a partisan agenda that has more to do with pushing the Green New Deal than it does fixing our infrastructure. During all my time serving on the committee, Republicans and Democrats have always been able to work out their differences and find common ground to pass a surface transportation bill. We have always been able to do that. It is the most important legislative product that we produce on the committee, and members have always treated it as such. Time and again, that has been our committee's hallmark because that is the only road to actually getting something done for the good of our infrastructure, for transportation workers, and for the economy. But on this bill, that didn't happen. And I can assure you that wasn't my choice. This highjacked process began with a $500 billion my- way-or-the-highway bill developed exclusively by one party. At a time when entire industries, workforces, and our States still face incredible uncertainty over the COVID pandemic, our committee passed a partisan bill to completely upend the functions and programs of the transportation system. Then immediately after the committee approved the majority's bill along party lines just over a week ago, the Speaker took the bill and tripled the size with so many air-dropped provisions that the only thing that isn't included is the kitchen sink. But, please, don't quote me on that, Mr. Speaker, because as far as I know the kitchen sink could be funded in this, as well. Although we do know one green thing that is not in this bill, and that is the money to pay for it. This $1.5 trillion climate bill, camouflaged as an infrastructure bill, piles another mountain of debt onto the backs of future generations. This irresponsible bill very well might pass the House, but that is as far as it is going to go. The Senate is never going to take up this unserious, progressive wish list. The Speaker may earn praise of her most liberal Members for this bill, but she is failing the American people and wasting the House's time on an issue that we all know could garner bipartisan support. We could be getting something done to improve America's infrastructure and provide the stability and certainty that workers and stakeholders need right now, if only the Speaker of the majority hadn't unnecessarily chosen partisanship over partnership throughout this entire process. Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to oppose this rule.