John Mica

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. I just want to add to the colloquy, and pledge to the gentleman from California that I look forward to working with the Chair of the full committee to address the safety issues of the Santa Monica Airport that you have raised here before the House today. So you have our commitment on this side of the aisle. It is a safety issue, and we appreciate the gentleman bringing this matter before the House and we assure again our cooperation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I believe the gentleman from Minnesota has the right to close. He deserves more than 45 seconds. I would like to, at the appropriate time, yield him 45 additional seconds, which would give him 1\1/2\ minutes. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute at this time. Just in closing for my part, again I want to thank the chairmen of both the subcommittee and the full committee and our ranking member, Mr. Petri, for their work. And I said at the beginning, we have an obligation to move this process forward. Mr. Petri and I are committed to that. Now, we do disagree with some of the provisions that have been incorporated into this measure. We will cast our votes in opposition. But we are trying to move this forward. We have a responsibility. We have an aviation system that is approaching a meltdown. We have an increase in passengers, and we want the safest possible system. So in that spirit we are going to move forward, and I hope that we can improve the bill if we can get it to conference and if we can move forward. Mr. Chairman, with that pledge, I am pleased now to yield the balance of my time to Mr. Petri minus the 45 seconds I allotted to the other side.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, could I inquire about the remaining time on both sides?

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Thank you for yielding, Mr. Davis. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution in remembrance on the eve of September 11, the sixth anniversary of the attack on the United States. I am pleased that the committee on which I serve, the Government Reform Committee, and leadership of the House is remembering those who were lost as a result of that tragic attack on the United States. I wanted to come out tonight to also remember those that I knew and remember, just as every American who was alive on September 11, remembers where they were and who they knew and how they were affected. The morning of September 11 I was invited by Secretary Rumsfeld to have breakfast with him in the Pentagon. The topic of discussion, as you may recall, was a new administration working under an old budget, but we downsized the military, and the Secretary was concerned about the possibility of the United States coming under some other type of threat. How ironic. That morning we sat and discussed that subject in the Pentagon, the morning of September 11 and what would follow. I learned, just as the Secretary of Defense learned, of the attack just a few minutes, around 9 o'clock in the morning. The irony of that day is that being in the Pentagon, and I left shortly before the plane hit the Pentagon, that Barbara Olson, who served the Government Reform Committee, was on the plane that hit the Pentagon. I will never forget, and I am not one of these guys that is sort of sentimental, but I remember seeing Barbara at a reception. She had left the committee, but she pecked me on the cheek as she said goodbye. I will never forget that goodbye. That was the last time I saw Barbara. She was on the plane that hit the Pentagon. In the Pentagon was Terry Lynch. I was chief of staff for then- Senator Hawkins, and he worked with Senator Shelby from Alabama. I lost a good friend in Terry Lynch. Seven weeks before September 11, I was invited by a fellow by the name of Neil Levin, who was legislative director for Alfonse D'Amato, to come up. I had been named the chairman of Aviation. Neil Levin had been named director of the New York Port Authority. I spent time with Neil. We held a hearing with about 13 Members of Congress on Monday morning. We conducted a hearing in the World Trade Center hearing room. Afterwards Neil took me, my wife, and I think two or three other Members and their spouses that accompanied us for that occasion. In the Windows on the World restaurant, on the side, the New York Port Authority had a little reception in the dining room, and Neil hosted lunch for my wife and myself after that hearing. Neil and just about everyone who helped us with that hearing 7 weeks before happened to be in that same dining room the morning of September 11, and all of them were killed. I remember tonight Neil Levin, his family, his wife, those he left behind, and everyone who was with us as I left them in that room where they all died. The only one who survived was Bill Dakota, the airport director, who was at a conference in Montreal. So tonight has a meaning I wanted to leave on the Record of the House of Representatives. I remember each and every one of those individuals. I stood with my wife at Shanksville just a few weeks ago. I had not been there before. We remembered those great heroes. I might say in closing, those of Flight 93, the first responders, all those who helped in America's darkest hour, we saw our brightest and our shining heroes. With this resolution tonight, we remember all of them.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito).

Mr. MICA. Might I inquire again about the time remaining?

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. First, on the issue of capacity expansion process, studies have shown that improving traffic flow at more than 200 identified bottlenecks would reduce carbon emissions by as much as 77 percent. That's that single lane. On the bridge in Massachusetts, the Democrats were all in favor of taking down a 100-year old bridge and replacing it. We are replacing that bridge. That new bridge will be in place. Now they found out that the old bridge will block the liquified natural gas tankers from going up. They wanted that bridge removed. That bridge is still going to be there and blocking their natural gas from getting to where it needs to go. Unbelievable.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, actually I'm pleased to be here on a Saturday because we should be here on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and through the entire week to address the issue of energy independence for this Nation. People who drive up to the gas pump want some relief from high energy costs. People who get their bill at home and are struggling to pay that high power bill are being challenged, people on fixed incomes, and also, the country's being held hostage now importing so much fossil fuel. And this is all supposed to be about climate change. We all want to preserve and protect the climate. We had a little piece of this in the T&I Committee. But actually we could make a big impact, because if you look at the emissions into the atmosphere that are causing global warming and some of the problems, power generation is one of the biggest generators of that pollution and degradation of our environment. And then transportation, all you've got to do is look at the cars and trucks and the use of energy and then polluting our environment and adding to the warming of the climate. But unfortunately, in our committee markup, Republicans tried to add some real energy policy changes to this bill, and they didn't accept them, the Democrats didn't accept them. For example, Congresswoman Thelma Drake from Virginia, she had an excellent amendment to lift some of the limitation on congestion mitigation and air quality funds to allow the CMAQ money, this type of money the Federal Government allows, to be used for capacity expansion projects. The Democrats claim that this legislation is about climate change, and really, the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions, as I said, is traffic and, actually, congestion. Addressing the problem of congestion, if we'd done that, we would really be doing much more for a solution to reduce emissions and improve our air quality. That was turned down by the other side. I could give you a lot of statistics, and I'll include them in the Record of what it would do. So the Democrats rejected this effort. Let's look at another Republican recommendation. Sam Graves, an outstanding representative from Missouri and one of the ranking members, offered an amendment in committee, and it was included in the Republican alternative, to streamline the pipeline permitting process to allow just for repairs, and it was rejected. This is getting some of the fossil fuel on a temporary basis to where it needs to go and also for gas and other substances that make us less dependent on the fossil fuels that cause pollution. And finally, the Republicans offered an alternative that the Democrats refused to make in order that identify deepwater ports that we can use for L&G facilities to bring in liquefied natural gas on an expedited basis when it's in the national interest. So, again, we become less reliant on the types of fossil fuels that pollute and cause global warming. So we attempted to work with the other side for real solutions that we could have put in in addressing the problems that transportation contributes again to global warming and these bad emissions in our atmosphere were rejected. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to another outstanding Member of the Minnesota delegation, Mr. Kline.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the newest Member of the Minnesota delegation, a rising star in Congress, and the people of Minnesota are very fortunate to have her here at this time (Mrs. Bachmann).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3311 and join the gentleman from Minnesota whose State and area has been hit by this terrible, horrible tragedy that's taken lives. And on our side of the aisle, when we do have a national tragedy of this nature, we do try to pull together in a bipartisan manner to address the needs of people who have suffered this type of, again, horrible disaster. I know that the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) has taken a leadership role today in approving this money; and I'm pleased, as the Republican leader, to also come forward and lend our support for this authorization. Now, many people have asked me what we're doing here today. And we are authorizing $250 million for repair and reconstruction of the I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River. Now that's authorization and Federal authorization. It is not funding, and there must be appropriations. I might say that we're doing that because the authorization fund, the Highway Emergency Relief Fund, unfortunately, we had $100 million and it's depleted. Not only is that $100 million depleted but also the reserve and additional money that was put in in the supplemental is depleted. So that's why we're doing this for our friends and colleagues and those who have suffered this loss in Minnesota. It's my hope that this bridge will be built in rapid order and replaced; and I know that the good custodians in Minnesota, with their Transportation Department, will work to see that happen. But let me say that the Minnesota bridge is only, unfortunately, the tip of the iceberg in an aging infrastructure and transportation system that we have in this country. We have, out of almost 600,000 bridges, about 80,000 bridges that are structurally deficient. Twenty-seven percent of our bridges are structurally deficient or obsolete, according to one of the most recent studies; and the infrastructure, not just in bridges but in highways, in ports, in airports, in rail, is inadequate and it's outdated. I proposed as a solution recently a national strategic transportation plan. The American Council of Civil Engineers has estimated this will take $1.7 trillion. We need a national plan to restore our infrastructure from sea to shining sea, where we have congestion, where we have bridges falling into our rivers and where we have inadequate infrastructure on which to conduct the business of this country or just get around our congested communities. So we need a bigger plan, and then we need a way to finance that plan, and I look forward to working with all of the Members in trying to develop that plan and with this administration and the next administration. So finally, as I close with my initial thoughts, I want to say that our prayers go out to the people of Minnesota, especially the families of those affected by this tragedy. And I pledge from our side of the aisle again to work with every Member in Congress and with the folks in Minnesota to bring things back to regular order there. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the Republican subcommittee leader on the Highways Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to probably one of the most capable and compassionate Members of the House I know and the senior Republican of the Minnesota delegation, the gentleman, Mr. Ramstad.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished former Chair of the T&I Committee and the senior Republican on the T&I Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young). (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 3 minutes to one of the most distinguished and senior Members, not only in Congress, but the senior member of the Florida delegation, former chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Young, my friend.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I will yield myself the balance of our time. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, Mr. Oberstar, I thank you for paying attention to the important responsibility you have, not only as Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee but as a good steward for the people of your State in a time of need. And, you know, it's amazing what we can do in this House. It's absolutely incredible. Mr. Young has been here for many years, and I have always looked up to him as one of our leaders. We started some years ago, senior to me, but I followed his career and what he has been able to do on a bipartisan basis. And when we do have an emergency, whether it's 9/11 or whether it's a bridge that collapses in Minnesota, it's amazing what this House of Representatives can do when it comes together in a bipartisan fashion. That tragedy just occurred a matter of hours ago, and here we are, in our system, working together, helping those people. We're not going to solve this all by the Federal Government; and, as I said, this is only an authorization. But people are in need, and we came together, as this body is designed to do. But, as I said, the bridge is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Our Nation's infrastructure is collapsing. Our Nation's infrastructure is obsolete. We have got to come together. We came together, Mr. Oberstar and I, with a Water Resources bill that hadn't been passed in 7 years, but we brought it here, it is now pending final approval, to build the Nation's dams and infrastructure, also important. And we see that if you don't pay now, you will pay later. So we can do this. We can make the investment to build the infrastructure that makes our economy grow, that makes this a great country and allows free enterprise to give us the great life that we've had in this wonderful country. So I look forward, Mr. Oberstar, to finalizing this with you and helping the people in this time of need and also in taking on a leadership position as we make the investment in our country that is so necessary in our infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, today as I entered the grounds of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and approached the Warrior Transition Brigade Headquarters, I saw the name ``Vaccaro Hall.'' This morning the United States Army dedicated Vaccaro Hall in honor of my constituent, Corporal Angelo J. Vaccaro, from Deltona who lost his life performing heroic actions in Afghanistan. It was my honor to personally congratulate Corporal Vaccaro's wife, mother and father on the well deserved recognition of Corporal Angelo Vaccaro's heroic actions. The late Corporal Vaccaro, his wife and parents have been part of the Seventh Congressional District in Central Florida. His distinguished service to our country as a medic in the United States Army earned Corporal Vaccaro the honor of being the first member of the Armed Services to receive two Silver Star medals during the Global War on Terror. Corporal Vaccaro was the loving husband of Dana and the youngest son of Nelson and Linda Vaccaro. He led by example and never boasted of his accomplishments and efforts on the battlefield. Born in New York, Corporal Vaccaro moved to Deltona, FL where he lived until he joined the Army on March 14, 2004. According to family and friends, Corporal Vaccaro had found his place in life as a medic with the Army's 10th Mountain Division. Corporal Vaccaro's honorable service to our nation included a deployment to Afghanistan. He conducted more than 140 patrols and heroically risked his life in order to save the lives of fallen comrades. On one such occasion, Vaccaro's platoon came under heavy enemy fire and Vaccaro and four others suffered significant injuries. Ignoring his wounds and still battling Taliban forces, Corporal Vaccaro used his own body to shield fellow soldiers from the enemy while he dragged the wounded to safety and began emergency medical treatment. Corporal Vaccaro's actions during this battle earned him his first Silver Star. Corporal Vaccaro's second Silver Star was a result of his final heroic actions that saved two of his injured comrades in need of immediate evacuation from the battlefield. While serving as the senior line medic at the Koregal Outpost in Afghanistan, Corporal Vaccaro learned that members of his platoon had come under attack by Taliban forces and that two of them required immediate medical attention. Despite being informed that an ambush was in place for any attempted rescue efforts, Corporal Vaccaro volunteered for the mission without hesitation. Soon after reaching the battle site and while assisting in the successful evacuation of all the wounded, Corporal Vaccaro was struck and killed by a rocket propelled grenade. The country lost a true American hero. In addition to the Army naming the building that houses Walter Reed's Warrior Transition Brigade Headquarters to Vaccaro Hall and the two Silver Star medals, Corporal Vaccaro earned two Purple Hearts and the Army's Bronze Star for his actions during battle. In June the Army named Fort Drum's new state-of-art medical training facility that was opened on the day that Vaccaro was killed in battle, the Bridgewater- Vaccaro Medical Training Simulator Center. Madam Speaker, with the passing of Corporal Angelo Vaccaro, America has lost a hero, an outstanding citizen and a shining example of service to our nation. He will be remembered as a patriotic American, a loving husband, beloved son and a friend to numerous others. It was a pleasure to have attended the dedication of Vaccaro Hall at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and I am proud that those visiting Walter Reed will be reminded of Corporal Vaccaro's heroic sacrifice on behalf of his fellow Americans.