John Mica

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. MICA. I thought this motion to recommit was to accept the Senate position. So we're getting it to conference. Didn't I pass a motion to go to conference? So now what? You're asking me to just, okay, surrender, it's all over?

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Larry Godwin, a wonderful friend of nearly four decades. Larry lost his most recent battle with cancer on Thursday, April 12, 2012. With his passing, his family lost someone they loved, our community lost a leader and our country lost a true patriot. It was my good fortune to have met Larry when we were active in the Winter Park Jaycees and in other community activities nearly 40 years ago. When you met Larry Godwin, you knew you were talking to someone with purpose, determination and principle. Successful in real estate, he also made his mark in politics and never paused in his commitment to good government. As a successful entrepreneur, he was part of that special formula that allowed Larry and our nation to be successful and great. During one of his early visits to Washington for cancer treatment, I still remember his determination to fight on and survive that most dreaded and cruel disease. I will remember his faith, his love of family and that impish grin that, if you knew Larry, was never to be forgotten. So today, along with, I know, dozens of former Winter Park Jaycee buddies, we all salute and say a fond farewell to a special friend. Mr. Speaker, today, April 19, 2012, in honor of Larry Godwin's memory, service to our nation and final services, I have asked the Architect of the Capitol to fly an American Flag over the U.S. Capitol Building. Finally, to his family and especially his son Robbie, I extend my very deepest sympathy. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and memory of Larry Godwin.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I claim time in opposition.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska, who's the leader and one of the authors of the Keystone provisions of this legislation, Mr. Terry.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4348.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman and Members of the House, today we bring up the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012. This is the second part of an extension that we passed previously. Just before the Congress recessed and went into the Easter work period and holiday, the House did pass a 90-day extension, and that extension expires on June 30, 2012. The extension before us today is an additional 90-day extension. The purpose of this extension is so that we can hopefully bring about resolution and conference legislation to complete our transportation bill. Now, the previous extension was the ninth extension, and the Democrats--the other side of the aisle--were forced to pass a sixth extension, so I'm hoping that this will be our last extension and that it will also provide us a vehicle to conclude this important work that so many jobs across this country are relying on. The building of our Nation's infrastructure is tied to this work and to the completion of this important task. This is a fairly clean extension. There are a couple of provisions in here, I think, that will provide increased energy for the country; and if anyone has not felt the pain at the pump, all they need to do is go to a local gas station. I saw today that the lowest-cost gas in a local station not a couple blocks from here was $4.45 a gallon. This particularly hurts the working men and women of America and those on fixed or limited incomes. I think the provision that we have here is an excellent provision, and I'll talk a little bit more about this. This again is a vehicle that can deliver us to the completion of the important work. This extension has levels of funding that are consistent with the transportation appropriations bill which was signed by the President in November. Then we'll consider, I believe, three amendments that have been made in order by the Rules Committee. Let me talk about them again very briefly. First, the Keystone pipeline provision. This administration is still meandering not only on transportation legislation but also on energy legislation, and it has not found its way, unfortunately, for the American people. But this bill can provide us reliable sources of energy. We're talking about a pipeline and a source from a good ally and neighbor in the North American continent. We're not talking about relying on Venezuela, the Middle East, or Nigeria, where we get a lot of our supplies for energy today. So it can provide again some stability, some reduction in price for the consumer, particularly when they're so hard hit at this time. We will have more to talk about with it. In regard to the Keystone pipeline, this pipeline has been studied to death. This administration, for over 3 years, has delayed approval. The President has approved a small part in one section of the country--or at least he says he would. You can't build a pipeline that can actually deliver energy at a lower cost in reliable fuel in a piecemeal fashion. The Keystone pipeline has been studied for about 3\1/2\ years now, while they built the entire Alaska pipeline in that period of time. So the time for studying, for delay, and for not acting on reducing energy costs and increasing supply has ended. Additionally, we have a couple of other provisions in here which I'm supportive of. One is the RESTORE Act, which creates the Gulf Restoration Trust Fund, and that provides for a fair and equitable manner for division of the penalties collected by those responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I think that that is a provision that can also help a lot of our Gulf States that were hard hit and impacted by that disaster. Finally, I think another amendment that I think is very laudatory is one by Mr. Ribble that has been made in order, and that carries, from H.R. 7, a lot of the streamlining provisions that we think are so important to getting projects done. President Obama promised us infrastructure when they sold a $787 billion so-called stimulus package. Mr. Oberstar and I came back here. At the time, they were looking at a $250 to $300 billion stimulus bill, of which 50 percent would be, in fact, infrastructure. As it turned out, it was 6 or 7 percent. That's some $63 billion. Last October, there was still 35 percent of the $63 billion for infrastructure stuck in the Treasury in Washington, D.C., 2\1/2\ years after we passed the stimulus. So you can pass all the transportation bills you want, and if you can't deliver the project and cut the red tape and paperwork that Washington thrives on, then you can't get anything done. That provision is so important in moving transportation legislation forward that can make a difference in getting projects done. In the hearings that we did across the country, starting in Mr. Rahall's district--the Democrat leader of the committee--in Beckley, West Virginia, we heard at every single hearing all the way to the west coast when we did a bipartisan, unprecedented bicameral with Senator Boxer hearing on that coast, every single hearing, almost without question, most of the witnesses all said that we needed to speed up the projects. ``Shovel ready'' has become a national joke, and we've got to end that sad joke that doesn't allow us to go forward. I think the Ribble amendment will do that. With that, I think we have a vehicle that we can get to conference and work in a bipartisan and bicameral manner to get the job done. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, April 17, 2012. Hon. John Mica, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastrcture, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Mica, I am writing concerning H.R. 4348, the ``Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II,'' which is scheduled for floor consideration this week. As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Code. Subtitle D of Title I of this bill amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by extending the current Highway Trust Fund expenditure authority and the associated Federal excise taxes to September 30, 2012. However, in order to expedite this legislation for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action on this bill. This is being done with the understanding that it does not in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees or its jurisdictional prerogatives on this or similar legislation. I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 4348, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration. Sincerely, Dave Camp, Chairman.

Mr. MICA. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. MICA. And I would tell the gentleman--am I on the gentleman's time, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the chair of the Highway Subcommittee, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton).

Mr. MICA. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. MICA. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, at this time, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished Representative, the former chair of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Mr. Burton from Indiana.

Mr. MICA. I yield the gentleman 15 additional seconds.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes. Let me just say I heard repeated here some things about what the Secretary said, and he did not have favorable comments about H.R. 7. So we've tried to bring something forward that would bring us to passing a bill and get people to work and get this resolved. And then today the Secretary said that the Congress would not pass a multiyear bill, instead of saying he'd work with us and be a leader to do that. Then the Secretary went on to say, look what they've loaded it up with--speaking about this bill today--Keystone, coal ash, none of it has anything to do with transportation. Well, first of all, I guess it's difficult for the Secretary to understand that energy costs and the pain at the pump are killing the consumer and impacting dramatically the American people. Keystone does have something to do with that. I guess if you have a chauffeur pick you up in the morning and you're not pumping the gas yourself and taking the money out of your pocket, you wouldn't understand the relevance of Keystone. And then coal ash, which was just referred to here by the gentleman, it makes our surface more durable and we save money----

Mr. MICA. I will not yield, and I don't like being interrupted, especially when I have a good point.

Mr. MICA. Coal ash, to continue, although being interrupted, makes the surface more durable. It's important that we get value when we're putting money into roads and pavement. So it's a very important provision that saves costs and gets us more for our money. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I'm pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Griffin).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), one of the leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee and helper on this legislation.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute at this time. I know there's a lot of disappointment on the other side of the aisle because this extension and this ability to get the bill done contains no earmarks, no tax increases, and no programs of bigger government, so I know they're disappointed in that regard. The other thing, too, that folks should remember is we've done everything we can in a bipartisan way to move this process forward. I remember working with Mr. Oberstar, the former chairman, when the current Secretary and the President came in and said they weren't going to do a 6-year bill when they had all the votes, huge majorities, and they could have put people to work and gotten this done. Instead, they gave us six extensions. So here we are trying to get the job done. As the Cable Guy says, and my son reminds me, Dad, we're gonna git-r- done. And we're going to get her done one way or the other. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), one of the leaders for responsible government.

Mr. MICA. I'm ready to close.

Mr. MICA. Okay. Then I would tell the gentleman that I plan to respond in not taking his time, but in taking my time to the request from the distinguished ranking member from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), and I will have an answer in response to his specific question dealing with whether or not I would sign the letter asking for an expeditious approval and consideration of appointment of conferees and going to conference in an expedited manner.

Mr. MICA. Might I inquire as to what time is remaining?