James Oberstar

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the small town community banks in Northeastern Minnesota. The vast majority of these institutions are in strong financial condition. They are not AIG, and they are not staring at large sums of ``troubled assets''. The bankers living in my district don't need a bailout. They have money to lend to small businesses and families. They know their local communities because they live in them, their kids attend the local schools, and oftentimes, they personally know their customers from various interactions in the community. The financial strength of their communities directly affects them too, so they are actively working with customers who are experiencing problems repaying their loans-- people who lost their job though no fault of their own and small business owners hit particularly hard by this historic economic downturn. My constituents have seen rising foreclosure rates in their communities too, but it was not Northeastern Minnesota bankers who were responsible for many of these bad loans. Instead, it was often out-of- state mortgage companies who had overly risky lending standards and who did not understand the local economies of Northeastern Minnesota, let alone the housing market in general. Irresponsible lending, over leveraging, and risky financial products by large financial institutions of Wall Street have had devastating economic consequences for families and small businesses located on Main Streets across Northeastern Minnesota. I look forward to working with Chairman Frank and my colleagues on addressing the regulatory shortfalls that allowed the current financial crisis to occur and on addressing the regulation of so-called ``to big to fail'' financial institutions. These actions will be important to restoring the public trust in our financial system and our long-term prosperity. I'm confident we won't have to work too hard on restoring public trust in the small town community banks of Northeastern Minnesota though, because the public trust in these institutions already exists. They have maintained public trust by doing what banks do--accepting deposits and making loans based on responsible leveraging and responsible lending standards.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the Inpatient RehabCare team at the Virginia Regional Medical Center for their safety education and outreach to Minnesota's youth. In addition to their outstanding work at the Medical Center, the RehabCare team educates elementary school students throughout Virginia of the tremendous health risks associated with riding a bicycle without a helmet. They recognize the importance of educating our youth during their formative years--at the age when they are most receptive--of the possible life-altering brain injuries that could result from not wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle. In particular, Madam Speaker, I wish to laud the Inpatient RehabCare team in their most recent outreach to fourth grade students at Roosevelt Elementary School in Virginia. Each fourth grade class participated in a safety awareness session where they learned about the lasting consequences of brain injuries and the importance of wearing bicycle helmets. Students received real-life simulations of what their lives would be like with such brain injuries, demonstrating the difficulty of everyday tasks and making a lasting impression on the students on the importance of taking safety precautions when riding a bicycle. Such hands-on scenarios--combined with the team's helmet safety information and their direct experience with assisting patients who have suffered brain trauma--provided these elementary students with invaluable life lessons in bicycle safety and the severity of brain injuries. It is vital that we teach our children about the many benefits of active and healthy transportation and recreation through cycling; and safety education must go hand-in-hand with these lessons. The RehabCare team's effective outreach to children is noteworthy and ought to be replicated throughout the nation. Their work--and the work of similar groups in the United States--is deserving of our recognition and continued support. I thank the Virginia Medical Center's Inpatient RehabCare team for their inspiring leadership and dedicated work to instill in our children a lifetime of bicycle safety habits. [From the Mesabi Daily News, May 6, 2009] Bike Safety Begins With a Helmet (By Angie Riebe) Virginia--.Writing your name while twirling your foot is not an easy feat. Nor is stacking playing cards in order if you're wearing glasses with lenses blocked by pieces of tape. And finding pencils, paper clips and rubber bands in a bowl of uncooked rice with gloved hands without looking is a downright laborious task. But permanently living with the effects of a brain injury is much worse. Fourth graders at Roosevelt Elementary in Virginia learned about the lasting consequences of brain injuries and the importance of wearing bicycle helmets during a presentation Wednesday at the school, led by members of the Inpatient RehabCare team at the Virginia Regional Medical Center. The students partook in several activities designed to simulate bike-related brain injuries. ``We don't want to scare them, but we kind of want to scare them''; just enough to motivate the use of helmets, said Robin Aronen, Inpatient RehabCare program director. Karen Damberg, the rehab's community relations coordinator, approached the school about holding the seminar as part of the program's expanding community outreach initiative. The school's four fourth grade classes were chosen to participate each in hour-long helmet safety awareness sessions because ``that's the age where they start to think wearing a helmet is not cool,'' said Roosevelt Principal Willie Spelts. Dr. Winston Schandorf, medical director at the rehab program, taught the kids about the brain and how injuries to different parts can cause such things as loss of vision, coordination and the sense of touch. Students then got a real-life taste of what it would be like to live with such injuries. A loss of touch would mean difficulty ``buttoning your pants'' and ``you wouldn't be able to feel a zipper toggle,'' Damberg said to a group of fourth graders trying to find small objects in containers of rice while wearing gloves. ``You wouldn't be able to feel the temperature of water. Getting into the tub and shower would be difficult. You'd have to make sure the water wasn't too hot because you wouldn't know,'' she said, as the kids searched for a spoon, pencil, plastic baggie and other things. Meanwhile, Aronen asked a group of youngsters to try writing their names on paper while rotating their right legs counter-clockwise. ``When you have a brain injury, things slow down. This is how it would feel,'' she said as the students struggled with the request. At a table nearby, Schandorf had students attempt to put in order a deck of cards while wearing obstructed glasses. ``See how difficult it would be,'' he said, noting that an injury to the back of the head could cause vision problems. ``There's nothing you can do to correct it,'' said the doctor. ``The best thing you can do is prevent it. Wear your helmet all the time and tell someone if you fall and hit your head.'' ``It's important they learn at a young age to prevent brain injuries,'' Aronen said. The rehab program works with patients 18 and older who have suffered brain trauma. ``How many of you have been tempted to not put on a helmet because you're only going a block?'' Schandorf asked, and a number of kids raised their hands. ``That's bad news. You should keep your helmet with your bike always to wear even during short rides,'' he said. ``I learned when you fall you might lose your sight and hearing and not be able to feel things that good,'' fourth grader Kaitlin Knutson said after the activities. ``Even if you don't have a helmet you should ask your mom and dad to buy you one, like for Christmas or something. And if you fall and hit your head you should tell somebody.'' ``It wouldn't be fun to have a brain injury,'' said 9-year- old Ben Kalinowski. ``Finding objects in the rice was the most difficult task,'' said classmate Mikayla Lutz. ``I learned we should always wear a helmet. Some people don't think they're cool, but you should always still wear one,'' she said. ``Some (helmets) can be really cool,'' she added later during a question and answer time. ``The kids have been asking great questions,'' Aronen said after the last session. The fourth graders were given helmet safety information to share with their parents, and the students will create posters, based on what they learned Wednesday, for a contest. The rehab program will award helmets next week to the top two winning posters in each of the four classes during a follow- up presentation, and all of the kids will receive ``goodie bags,'' Aronen said. Spelts said he was thankful for the rehab team's effort. ``Anything we can do to help the kids is great,'' he said.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 415, a resolution to commend the heroic efforts of the people fighting the floods in North Dakota and Minnesota. In October of 2007, the House passed H. Res. 657, to express sympathy for the victims of the devastating flooding that occurred in the States of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin in August of 2007. I spoke on the House floor then to commend our fellow citizens in the wake of Mother Nature's wrath, and to thank the men and women who serve this nation as police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel and who place themselves in great danger every day in order to protect each one of us. These dedicated professionals were once again called to duty last month in the wake of the Red River floods. In April of 2009, in my district in Minnesota, the counties of Cook and Lake were greatly affected by flooding along the Red River. The Red River flows north between North Dakota and Minnesota. Flooding along the Red River, combined with extremely cold weather, caused severe ice damage in Cook and Lake counties. Wadena county was declared a disaster area and a small section of Beltrami county was declared eligible for individual and public assistance. Flooding conditions along the river were the result of one of the wettest springs where winter stream flows were up to 300 percent above normal. Twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, all over this country, when any type of tragedy enters our lives, from a medical emergency facing a neighbor to a large-scale natural disaster, terrorist attack, or other incident, our Nation's emergency responders and charitable organizations are the first on the scene to provide professional services, expert help, aid and comfort. These well- trained, highly-skilled individuals are truly on the front lines in preparing for, responding to, and mitigating damages from a variety of hazards. In addition to the heroic acts of our neighbors and friends, we rise today to also acknowledge and praise the support of local businesses, and many charitable organizations whose boundless generosity and caring are just one of the pillars of recovery on which we have come to rely. I strongly support this resolution and urge its passage.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, today I would like to introduce the ``Fair Treatment for Metal Implantees Act'', which creates a program within the Department of Homeland Security that incorporates biometric technology or other applicable technologies to verify the identity of an individual who has a metal implant, so as to limit disruptions for such individuals while traveling by air transportation, in a manner consistent with aviation security. According to the Joint Implant Surgery & Research Foundation, there are approximately 500,000 total hip and knee replacements performed in the United States each year. An estimated 11 million people in the United States have a medical implant and this number is growing as the population receiving implants increases. In a 2007 study, researchers at the Harvard Medical School found that 100 percent of hip replacements and 90 percent of knee replacements cause commercial airport metal detectors to alert. Whenever a passenger alarms the walk-through metal detector, additional screening must be conducted to locate and resolve the source of hand-held metal detector and, first, conducts a pat-down inspection of any area that alarms; then conducts a whole-body pat-down. This additional screening consumes an average five minutes more of a passenger's time at security checkpoints. This excess screening of metal implantees is not an efficient use of a TSO's time, which could be more efficiently used elsewhere. H.R. __ would develop a travel credential or system that incorporates biometric or other applicable technologies to verify the identity of an individual who has a metal implant to ensure that such individuals can travel by air with greater ease, consistent with current security regulations. The bill would require the program to include verification of the individual with a metal implant, resolution for false matches and non-matches, determination of travel credential or system, and validation of a credential or system issued to an individual under the program that is lost, stolen, or no longer authorized for use. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Mr. Thompson, for introducing this legislation with me. H.R. __, the ``Fair Treatment for Metal Implantees Act'', will direct more resources to secure our skies and help metal implantees negotiate through airport security.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 313, supporting the goals and ideals of National Public Works Week. H. Res. 313 recognizes the week of May 17 through 23, 2009, as National Public Works Week and pays tribute to our public works professionals. This week has been designated by a variety of groups to celebrate those public works professionals who keep our nation running in the most basic and fundamental ways. These professionals protect our public health, our economy, and our communities. They design, build, and maintain vital transportation systems, levees, sewage systems, and public buildings that enhance everyday life in our nation. Today, we are all eminently aware of the financial issues that Americans are facing. What we are less aware of, however, is the current state of our nation's failing infrastructure. Critical elements of our highway system, drinking water infrastructure, and wastewater treatment facilities, are failing us in dangerous ways. To reinvigorate our economy, Congress passed the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. This landmark piece of legislation invests in key infrastructure areas, is currently putting Americans back to work in the public works sector, and is improving the state of our nation's infrastructure. The Recovery Act provides $64.1 billion of investment in critical transportation and infrastructure programs. These investments include: $27.5 billion for highways and bridges; $8.4 billion for public transit capital investment; $4 billion for state water pollution control revolving funds; $4.6 billion for water-related infrastructure of the Corps of Engineers; and $5.575 billion for federal buildings. I am confident that investment in these areas will put more of our nation's public works professionals back to work and improve our economy. Just last week, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on the implementation of the Recovery Act and found that as of March 31st, more than 1,250 people have been put back to work in 263 highways projects in 30 states. As a result of our efforts, more than 1,200 families can rest more easily with the promise of a paycheck, and can continue to make the day-to-day expenditures that will help turn this economy around. This is the promise that Congress made to the American people--to invest wisely in our infrastructure systems and help the nation's economy recover. We cannot underestimate the importance of infrastructure investment. Quite frankly, the public works professionals that we are honoring today protect our citizens, our economy, and our communities. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this resolution and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 269, supporting the goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and bringing much needed attention to motorcycle safety on our nation's roadways. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Giffords) for bringing this important issue to the forefront. With the arrival of spring's warmer weather, our nation's highways will once again experience a large increase in the number of motorcycle riders across the country. Motorcycles represent a valuable component of the transportation network in our nation. In 2006, there were more than 6.7 million registered motorcycles in the United States. Motorcycles continue to grow in popularity each year with motorcycle registrations increasing by over 60 percent from 1998 to 2005. Motorcycles are a fuel-efficient and congestion-decreasing mode of transportation. This increasingly popular mode of transportation also requires greater attention to the safety concerns associated with riding. However, because of motorcycles' smaller size, motorcyclists are often hidden in a vehicle's blind spot. Public awareness of motorcycle safety benefits everyone that uses our nation's roadways, not just motorcyclists, because it can lead to a decrease in car- motorcycle crashes. In 2007, motorcycle rider fatalities increased for the tenth straight year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), between 1997 and 2007 there were 38,566 motorcyclist fatalities and 756,000 motorcyclist injuries on U.S. roadways. In 2007 alone, there were 5,154 motorcycle fatalities and 103,000 injuries, up from 2,116 fatalities and 53,000 injuries in 1997. These statistics on motorcycle fatalities and injuries each year further illustrate the importance of public awareness and the need for greater education of all roadway users. Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists are approximately 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and 8 times more likely to be injured. Further, an estimated 142,000 motorcyclists have been killed since the enactment of the Highway Safety and National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. A NHTSA-funded study, the ``Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures Study'', found that in approximately two-thirds of fatal car-motorcycle crashes, the driver of the car was at fault. Throughout Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, riders are encouraged to become educated on the importance of following the rules of the roadway, being alert to other drivers, and always wearing protective gear such as a helmet. NHTSA estimates that helmets saved 1,784 motorcyclists' lives in 2007, and that 800 more lives could have been saved if the motorcyclists involved in fatal non-helmeted crashes had worn helmets. These striking statistics paint a very clear portrait of the need to decrease motorcycle crashes through licensing, rider training, education, enforcement, personal responsibility, and increased public awareness. I urge my colleagues to join me in agreeing to this resolution.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight the importance of intercity passenger rail in the United States and express my support for Amtrak in conjunction with its 2nd Annual National Train Day on May 9, 2009. National Train Day was established to celebrate train travel in America on the anniversary of completing the first transcontinental railroad 140 years ago. To mark the day, Amtrak is hosting free events across the country to teach adults and children about Amtrak and the benefits of intercity passenger rail. Passenger rail's benefits indeed are myriad. The Department of Transportation has described the problem of congestion on our highways and in the air as ``chronic''. Amtrak removes almost 8 million cars from the road annually. Airports are also experiencing significant delays, with more than 550,000 flights departing or arriving late in 2008. Amtrak eases air congestion by eliminating the need for 50,000 fully loaded airplanes each year. Amtrak is substantially more environmentally friendly than automobiles or airplanes. In fact, according to the World Resources Institute, rail transportation produces 57 percent less carbon emissions than airplanes, and 40 percent less carbon emissions than cars. Additionally, Amtrak has taken decisive action to reduce its carbon footprint as well, committing to reduce emissions from its diesel locomotives by 6 percent from 2003 through 2010, the largest voluntary emissions commitment in the United States. Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 States over 21,000 miles of routes, and employs more than 18,000 people. Amtrak has come a long way since its inception in 1971 and now its beginning its 39th year of operation. The service has faced many challenges over the years, but continues to grow stronger with each passing year. Despite past uneven Federal investment, Amtrak has persevered, achieving many successes in improved operating efficiency, increased ridership, and higher revenue. In fact, in FY 2008, Amtrak set new ridership and revenue records for the sixth year in a row, exceeding 28.7 million passengers and $2.45 billion in revenue. These increases are being enjoyed across Amtrak's entire network. In FY 2008, Amtrak held a 62 percent share of the air/ rail market between New York and Washington, and a 47 percent share of the air/rail market between New York and Boston, up 6 percent in each market from FY 2007. This increase shows that, where Amtrak is provided the resources to succeed, it provides a trip-time competitive alternative to air and car. At a time when jobs are being lost, the transportation network is getting more congested, and global climate change is taking its toll, supporting passenger rail has never been so critical. Recognizing the need for passenger rail investment, Congress passed the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act last fall, reigniting America's commitment to both intercity and high-speed passenger rail. Among the steps taken to broaden our use of passenger rail, this legislation provided capital grants for Amtrak to bring the Northeast Corridor and other rail network infrastructure to a state-of-good-repair, encouraged intercity passenger rail investment through an 80-20 matching grant program, and created a grant program to finance the construction and equipment for 11 authorized high-speed rail corridors. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave high-speed and intercity passenger rail another immediate boost, providing $8 billion in capital grants to States for development of high-speed rail and another $1.3 billion for Amtrak. This funding is setting us on a course to link regions of the country with a safe, fast, and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. It truly is an exciting and historic time for our transportation network. Madam Speaker, I lend my strong support to Amtrak and the commemoration of National Train Day on May 9, 2009, and encourage all of my colleagues to use this excellent opportunity to reflect on the benefits that Amtrak and intercity passenger rail provide to our Nation.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, the Conference Report on the Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 13) provides a solid foundation for the surface transportation authorization act. I thank Chairman Spratt and the Committee on the Budget for their leadership and vigorous support for transportation and infrastructure programs in the Conference on the Budget Resolution. If the funding levels included in the Budget Resolution Conference Report are applied over the six-year period from fiscal years 2010 to 2015, the Resolution assumes a base allocation of $324 billion for highway, highway safety, and transit programs, including $312 billion of contract authority. Importantly, this allocation restores $82 billion over the six-year period of highway contract authority that had been cut from the Congressional Budget Office baseline, which assumed fiscal year 2009 rescissions would recur in all future years. The Senate had adopted this lower, unadjusted baseline and I am very encouraged that the Conference adopted the House provision providing a baseline of $324 billion for the surface transportation authorization bill. In addition, the Resolution establishes a Reserve Fund to allow this base allocation of $324 billion to be adjusted upward as necessary to accommodate higher funding levels to the extent they can be supported by the Highway Trust Fund. The Resolution also assumes the Airport Improvement Program is funded at $4.0 billion in FY 2010, $4.1 billion in FY 2011, and $4.2 billion in FY 2012, consistent with H.R. 915, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009, as ordered reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on March 5, 2009. This is an increase of $840 million over the baseline funding level for this program over the three-year period from FY 2010-2012. Finally, the Resolution rejects the Office of Management and Budget's proposal to change how programs funded by contract authority are treated for budget scoring purposes. This proposal, had it been adopted, would have converted the mandatory contract authority that currently funds our highway, highway safety, transit and airport grant programs to a simple authorization of appropriations for budget scoring purposes. I am pleased that the Budget Resolution continues to recognize the unique nature of trust-funded programs by rejecting this ill-advised proposal. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Conference Report on the Budget Resolution.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1746) to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to reauthorize the pre-disaster mitigation program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 1746.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for generously managing on the Republican side. Thank you for your participation. And I want to welcome, Madam Speaker, the gentleman, once again to our committee. It's his first term in Congress, first term on our committee, and it's good to have his participation. Appreciate it very much. I was delayed getting here to the floor because of a number of meetings, but the most particularly, and sort of fitting was a session with James Lee Witt, former administrator of FEMA, who did a superb job during his tenure at FEMA, and who actually initiated Project Impact, which was the predecessor of the legislation, or the predecessor idea for the legislation we bring to the floor today. It was called then Project Impact. And it was the idea of administrator James Lee Witt, after his experience with a number of tragedies that could have been prevented or substantially mitigated, that is, the effect of the natural disaster could substantially have been mitigated if cities, counties, States, local agencies, had taken a few practical steps that would be far lower cost in initial impact than the broader costs of a natural disaster, whether an earthquake, a flood, hurricane, or other tragedy. Over 100 communities actually participated in Project Impact. One of the most significant beneficiaries of Project Impact was the City of Seattle, which was awarded a grant of $50 million for very specific actions to take in Seattle to strengthen buildings, strengthen bridges, strengthen portions of the Alaska Way Viaduct, a portion of Highway 5 that goes through the City of Seattle and is a focal point of a great deal of maritime activity and trucking and passenger vehicle activity. For a $50 million investment, they put all of the strengthening activities in place, and a year later, the earthquake struck Seattle. And the Mayor of Seattle, I think it was Mayor Nichols at the time, said, if we had not made this investment, it would have cost the people of Seattle $500 million to repair the damage that the earthquake would have caused had they not made this very small investment. The irony of the event and of the announcement is that was also the day that the Bush administration chose to terminate Project Impact. I have experience in my district of pre-disaster mitigation, when, in 1999, hurricane-like force winds blew through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, a wilderness area on the U.S./Canadian border in my district that stretches nearly 110 miles along the Canadian border. They're called a derecho, D-E-R-E-C-H-O, derecho, from the Spanish. Straight line winds, 15 miles across, 40 miles in length, at 100 miles an hour, blew down 26 million trees. The U.S. Forest Service did a computer analysis of all previous forest fires, and calculating with the amount of fuel on the ground, that when a lightning strike would hit that blown-down, drying out timber, it would create a fireball 50,000 feet into the air. Action had to be taken in the areas outside the wilderness to protect homes and resort facilities and outfitter facilities, and within the boundary waters to do controlled burns, because timber harvesting is not allowed within a wilderness area. We turned to James Lee Witt and FEMA for pre-disaster mitigation funding to support homes, to install sprinkler systems, and resorts to install sprinkler systems. Four years later, a fire known in the area as the Ham Lake fire, broke out. The local volunteer fire department, attempting to respond, found that their pumper truck was inoperative. They could have put the fire out in that little area, but they were unable to. It gathered force and burned 76,000 acres, half in the U.S. and half in Canada. The homes that were spared were those that had installed the sprinkler systems from the FEMA pre-disaster mitigation program. The ones that didn't have the sprinkler systems, or who didn't maintain them, were burned; 148 structures in all burned, and 135 were saved. This legislation will establish the pre-disaster mitigation program out into the future because, while the previous Project Impact was terminated, Congress, under the previous Republican years, re- established, reinstated Project Impact as pre-disaster mitigation, and the authority will sunset on September 30. So with bipartisan support, we bring this legislation to the floor to extend the program. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. OBERSTAR. I advise the gentleman we have no further speakers. If the gentleman is prepared to close, I will have some closing remarks, and then we'll conclude.

Mr. OBERSTAR. The gentleman made a very thoughtful statement, Madam Speaker, about the pre-disaster mitigation program, and I very greatly appreciate his observations and the bipartisan spirit within which our committee brought this legislation forward. Clearly, mitigation saves money. I gave an example of a situation in my district, but the devastation of flooding at the Red River in North Dakota is another example of the real impact of natural disasters, and the communities along the Red River of the North, on both the Minnesota and North Dakota sides, have benefited from pre-disaster mitigation funding. Nonetheless, they face huge challenges every year. The Congressional Budget Office and the National Institute of Building Sciences have issued reports showing that, for every dollar spent on pre-disaster mitigation, future losses are reduced by $3 to $4. The Multihazard Mitigation Council, the advisory body of the National Institute of Building Sciences, said: ``A dollar spent on mitigation saves society an average of $4,'' and that flood mitigation, according to the council, yields even greater savings. On average, future losses are reduced ``by about $3 for every dollar spent on those projects, including both Federal and non-Federal spending.'' I also cited the city of Seattle. I misquoted the mayor. It was not Mayor Nickels. It was Mayor Paul Schell who deserves great credit for wisely using pre-disaster mitigation funds just prior to the Nisqually earthquake hitting on February 28, 2001. As for the Red River of the North, investments made by cities on both the Minnesota and North Dakota sides have resulted in far less damage than those communities experienced prior to making those investments. After the 1997 flood, FEMA spent $23 million to acquire vulnerable homes and move them out of the floodplain. In 2006, a flood came within 2 feet of the 1997 flood level, and those mitigation investments saved some $24.6 million, a return of 107 percent on the investment made. Mitigation, clearly, is an investment in people, in property, in protection, and that's why the National Association of Counties, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the Association of State Floodplain Managers, the National Emergency Management Association, and the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies, as well as the Public Works Association, all have endorsed this legislation. So I earnestly appeal for a strong vote, and I am now prepared to close, if the gentleman is prepared to yield back his time, Madam Speaker.

Mr. OBERSTAR. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1747) to authorize appropriations for the design, acquisition, and construction of a combined buoy tender-icebreaker to replace icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 1747.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Despite all of the concern about global climate change and climate warming and of the melting of the glaciers--and the last great glacier did melt and retreat some 10,000 years ago--every November, it makes a comeback in the northern tier States, especially on the Great Lakes. As the cold winds sweep down from the Arctic regions across Canada and as the ice gathers on the shores and extends across, still occasionally, although it has been several years, Lake Superior does freeze completely over. When it doesn't freeze completely over, an ice sheet extends a long distance out from the shoreline, clogging the navigation channels, making transit difficult on the Sault Sainte Marie, on the St. Mary's River and down into the lower lakes where, from mid-November through mid-January and then again in early spring, our Great Lakes' bulk carriers must make that transit to deliver iron ore to the steel mills in the lower lake ports and coal from the Potter River Basin in Wyoming-Montana that comes by unit train to the ports of Duluth and Superior; and they must transit that coal to lower lake coal facilities. The lowest cost, most energy-efficient and most environmentally friendly means of moving bulk commodities are by waterway, and this great waterway of the Great Lakes is absolutely critical. During the 2006-2007 winter season, 10.5 million tons of iron ore moved during the winter shipping season. That ore supports 100,000 jobs at lower lake steel mills, 300,000 jobs at associated industries. In the same winter months, some 6.5 million tons of coal were shipped on the Great Lakes to supply the power plants in lower lake communities with their coal facilities, but we don't have enough icebreaking capacity to keep those channels open, to keep the ports open, to escort vessels through the heavy ice era in the fall and in the early spring. The Coast Guard, which does its very best with the Mackinaw and with some smaller harbor icebreakers, has made a valiant effort, but the shippers on the Great Lakes, in particular in this past season, said they have frequently had a laker moving out but impeded by ice. The Mackinaw could break a channel, but then it would be on call in the lower lake ports, and the smaller harbor icebreakers couldn't keep the channel open for those 60,000-ton vessels to move iron ore or aggregate or sand and gravel or limestone as needed in the iron ore production process. So the clear call from Great Lakes' port and shipping and shipper interests has been add an icebreaker, a real companion to the Mackinaw. The previous Mackinaw icebreaker was built in 1940 and served 60 years and, finally, was gracefully retired; but its replacement simply can't be in two places at once. If we're going to keep our economy moving and our economy functioning effectively, we need that icebreaking capability in the upper lakes and in the lower lakes, often at the same time on the same days. So with two icebreakers, our Great Lakes economy will be able to function effectively. I reserve the balance of my time, Madam Speaker.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I am very grateful to the gentleman from Texas for his strong support and for his thoughtful statement about the Great Lakes icebreaker. I want to assure the gentleman, Madam Speaker, that we'll be happy to assure that the only ice you ever have to break in the Texas ports will be at cocktail hour, because you don't want to have to deal with the ice as we see it and as we experience it in the Great Lakes where I grew up and lived most of my life. But I know the needs for the Houston ship channel, which I strongly supported. It's going to need more dredging, more improvement, as the Panama Canal, the second Panama Canal, is completed in the next few years and those 1,000-foot carriers carrying 12- to 13,000 containers make their way through Panama and into the gulf ports--all the ports in Texas and Louisiana and Alabama are going to need a channel deepening and port upgrades to accommodate those vessels. And we're going to support that activity in our committee. We're going to make sure that the gulf region is competitive in this ever-changing world of international commerce. With regard to the polar icebreakers, the Recovery Act stimulus funding has provided for refurbishing and reintroduction in service of one of the polar icebreakers. I would advise the gentleman, Madam Speaker, the Coast Guard is doing an evaluation of the costs and how the costs of the polar icebreaker fleet can be contained. We have received testimony in the 110th Congress and information updated this year that the cost per icebreaker might run in the range of $1 billion. It seems to me that the Coast Guard ought to be able to contain that number and bring it down to something much more manageable. Those original polar classes, the Polar Wind, the Polar Star--I remember very well serving with Mr. Young, our former committee chairman on Transportation and Infrastructure, and we both served on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee in the seventies when those vessels were commissioned and then when they set out on their first voyage. My recollection is it was less than $100 million, and the cost has escalated enormously; and we have to be sure that the Coast Guard-- and they, too, want to be sure they can contain those costs and assure a multimission activity for those icebreakers. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OBERSTAR. If the gentleman will yield?

Mr. OBERSTAR. It is not only the silt from the rivers but the hurricanes that have devastated and in the last 5 years have brought enormous amounts of silt into those harbors. And we have worked with the Corps of Engineers to accelerate dredging. We had, actually, funding for an accelerated dredging program for the Corps of Engineers in the Recovery Act, and those funds have not yet been released by the Office of Management and Budget, but I am very hopeful that some of those funds, Madam Speaker, will be directed to the gulf coast ports to alleviate the adverse effects of hurricane movement of sand into the shipping channels. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks. We look forward to moving the Water Resources Development Act bill through the committee this year and addressing in that legislation whatever accelerated dredging needs may be beyond those we already have in the recovery program to address the imminent issue facing us, and that is vastly increased vessel capacity and size that needs to move into those gulf ports. And meanwhile, maybe the Coast Guard can get started--if the other body will move this bill--get started on an icebreaker replacement. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, in 2006, I brought to the attention of the House of Representatives the use of billboards as ``wanted'' posters. Since then, donated billboards have become a common tool for law enforcement, including the new digital billboards that can be changed quickly via computer. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been a pioneer in the use of digital billboards to help apprehend suspected criminals. After initial success in Philadelphia, the FBI has been using digital billboards across the country. To date, 18 fugitives have been apprehended because they were featured on these high-tech ``wanted'' signs. On March 20, 2009, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller presented a 2008 Director's Community Leadership Award to Clear Channel Outdoor, Lamar Advertising, Adams Outdoor Advertising and the Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia. Together, these entities provide access to more than 1,000 digital billboards to the FBI. Director Mueller said to those receiving the awards: ``Whatever the motivation--an unfilled need, a tragic occurrence, a desire to give back--these are people who make things happen and enlist others in their cause. They are activists who have earned their prestige through good works.'' The FBI cites these cases: On November 12, 2008, Richard Franklin Wiggins, Jr., was arrested for money laundering and for ties to a drug trafficking organization--just three weeks after both Lamar Advertising and Adams Outdoor ran his image on their digital billboards in the Norfolk, Virginia area. Wiggins reportedly turned himself in at the insistence of his family and friends. On October 24, 2008, Walter Haskell was arrested for an armed robbery in New Jersey that he had committed several months earlier. After the robbery, he fled to Minnesota. His image was plastered on digital billboards across the state, generating tips that led to his apprehension. ``If we have a crack at over a quarter-million people seeing that photo every day, then we have a very good chance at catching the person we're after,'' said Special Agent Sean Quinn, a spokesman for the FBI in Newark. ``The exposure gets us started.'' On November 9, 2008, Christopher Ellis was apprehended for a multi-state crime spree that included a bank robbery in Kentucky, a kidnapping and carjacking in Georgia, and a home invasion in Tennessee. Our partners placed a photo of Ellis and the truck he was driving on billboards in multiple states across the region. The publicity generated by the digital billboards contributed to a larger campaign which generated the tip that led to his arrest. As I pointed out in 2006, ``wanted'' posters are part of American history, including the pictures I saw in the United States Post Office growing up in Chisholm, MN. The success story of ``wanted'' billboards--and the recent recognition from the FBI--serves to remind us that outdoor advertising is a significant medium of communication. Madam Speaker, I close with a summation that appears on the website of the FBI: ``Long story short: the billboards are working and working well. And that means a safer America for all.''

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, during the consideration of H.R. 1664, Pay for Performance Act, I inadvertently voted ``aye'' on the Bean Amendment (rollcall vote 180). I had intended to vote ``nay,'' and want the record to reflect that I share Chairman Frank's concerns that this amendment, which would exempt recipients of TARP capital investments from the bill's requirements while taxpayer funds were still outstanding, is contrary to the intent of the bill.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, adequate investment in our transportation and other public infrastructure is the foundation for future economic growth, and in these troubled times, it is needed more than ever. The Budget Resolution before us today recognizes the importance of infrastructure investment-- investment that will not only jump-start our economy now, but continue to pay dividends for many years into the future. The Resolution provides a solid foundation for the surface transportation authorization act that must be completed this year. If the Resolution is applied over the six-year period from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2015, it provides a base allocation of $324 billion for highway, highway safety, and transit programs. Importantly, this allocation restores $82 billion of highway contract authority that had been eliminated from the baseline because of FY 2009 rescissions that the baseline assumed to recur in all future years. As a point of comparison, the budget resolution proposed by the Senate Committee on the Budget does not restore this $82 billion of highway contract authority. I will insert into the Congressional Record a state-by-state chart comparing the FY 2010 highway contract authority apportionments under the House and Senate budget resolutions (assuming the current law programs and formulas), to illustrate how devastating the Senate proposal would be for many States. In addition, the House Budget Resolution establishes a Reserve Fund to allow the base allocation of $324 billion to be adjusted upward as necessary to accommodate higher funding levels to the extent they can be supported by the Highway Trust Fund. This Reserve Fund provides the flexibility necessary to accommodate surface transportation authorization legislation as it is developed and shaped by Congress this year. For the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), the Resolution provides the full amounts authorized by H.R. 915, the ``FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009'', as ordered reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on March 5, 2009. Specifically, the Resolution allocates $4.0 billion for AIP in FY 2010, increasing to $4.1 billion in FY 2011, and $4.2 billion in FY 2012. This funding will allow the AIP program to keep pace with inflationary cost increases, and begin to address the investment gap in airport safety and capacity needs. For passenger rail, the Resolution accommodates the President's proposal for a new Federal commitment to high-speed rail transportation by increasing investment to $1 billion in FY 2010. Building on the $8 billion for high-speed rail provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this additional funding will lead to the creation of several high-speed rail corridors across the country linking regional population centers. For environmental infrastructure, the Resolution assumes $2.4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program in FY 2010, consistent with the President's budget and H.R. 1262, the ``Water Quality Investment Act of 2009'', as passed by the House on March 12, 2009. I welcome and strongly support the President's proposal to significantly increase Federal support for restoring and maintaining the nation's water quality. It is indeed a refreshing change from the previous eight years, which saw some of the lowest funding levels requested by any administration since the creation of this program. Finally, the Resolution rejects the Office of Management and Budget's proposal to change how programs funded by contract authority are treated for budget scoring purposes. This proposal, had it been adopted, would have converted the mandatory contract authority that currently funds our highway, highway safety, transit and airport grant programs to a simple authorization of appropriations for budget scoring purposes. I am pleased that the Resolution continues to recognize the unique nature of trust-funded programs by rejecting this misguided proposal. I thank Chairman Spratt and the Committee on the Budget for their strong support for transportation and infrastructure programs, and I urge my colleagues to support the Resolution.