James Oberstar

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I now yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas, the Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished majority leader, Mr. Hoyer. (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. OBERSTAR. I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California, an original cosponsor of this bill, Mrs. Tauscher.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I yield myself 10 seconds to simply assure the gentleman from Indiana that the bill is fully paid for. And I appreciate his fiscal concerns, but the bill is fully paid for with offsets that the committee has identified and has reduced the cost of the bill from $20 billion to $14 billion and the time frame from 5 years to 4 years. And I appreciate the gentleman's kind words about my service. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Carnahan).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. Madam Chairman, I appreciate the remarks of the distinguished Republican leader on the committee, Mr. Mica. Mr. DeFazio was referring to a mandate upon cities to improve their sewage treatment facilities, not to a mandate in this act. Secondly, in our committee report, the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, says H.R. 720 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on State, local, or Tribal governments. So I can only assume the gentleman is making a statement of hyperbole, rather than a fact. Madam Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I yield myself 30 seconds to assure the gentleman that this bill will go a long way towards helping States target additional support to the colonias, as well as other disadvantaged communities throughout the country. We will soon bring up, within the next 2 weeks I hope, the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 under the leadership of the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson). In the past, we have had language to authorize the corps to help provide water and waste water infrastructure for the colonias. We will work with the gentleman to provide such language in the future.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Salazar).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee and my classmate of 1974. (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, how much time remains on both sides?

Mr. OBERSTAR. And the gentleman has only one speaker remaining?

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield myself the balance of our time, which should be about a minute. Again, I express my great appreciation to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), the ranking member on the full committee, and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Baker), who I have the greatest respect for, and I recall his distinguished and authoritative presentation during the committee tour post-Katrina at Baton Rouge where the gentleman had a mastery of the facts of the issues at hand, and we stood in solidarity and we do stand in solidarity on this legislation. We have one difference of opinion. That is why we have a legislative body and a process through which to work these issues out, and as the late Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, said very thoughtfully many years ago, something like 60 years ago, We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable, and that is the manner in which I hope we will continue to conduct issues before our committee. I just think back to the time when I worked, when I was in college working in construction jobs, and I was working as a truck driver and cement puddler for 50 cents below what was a union wage, below what was a standard wage, because this wasn't a unionized job, and I don't want to see that happen to anybody.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I submit the following exchange of letters between Mr. Rangel, Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and me. March 6, 2007. Hon. James Oberstar, Chairman, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Jim: I am writing regarding H.R. 720, the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007, which is scheduled for floor action later this week. As you know, H.R 720 raises revenue by increasing vessel tonnage duties, an authority which falls within the jurisdiction ofthe Committee on Ways and Means. In addition, H.R. 720 violates clause 5(a) of Rule XXI, which restricts bills and amendments from carrying taxes and tariffs not reported by the Ways and Means Committee. In order to expedite this legislation for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action on this bill, and will not oppose H.R. 720 being given a waiver of Rule XXI. This is being done with the understanding that it does not in any way prejudice the Committee or its jurisdictional prerogatives on this or similar legislation in the future. I would appreciate your response to this letter, confining this understanding with respect to H.R. 720, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the record. Sincerely, Hon. Charles B. Rangel, Chairman.

Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman very much for his courtesy and if he would yield 3 minutes?

Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman. Twenty years ago, March 3, 1987, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Clinger, the Republican ranking member on the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, which I had the privilege of chairing, and I held a hearing on this very subject, on the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. We observed the agreement was signed in 1972 and renewed in 1978. It continues in perpetuity, but we observed, while progress has been made, while the Cuyahoga River no longer catches on fire, the bad news is that a great deal of that improvement is due to economic decline in the steel industry. Industries that formerly dumped waste are no longer operating. Fish are able to survive, but now they are surviving with cancers. Some areas of the lakes where birds are deformed because of Toxiphene and Dieldrin. Mr. Clinger and I both observed the real test of our commitment is yet to come. Will we break out of the planning and research cycle, which we have failed to do in the case of acid rain, and begin to implement protective measures which would strengthen the laws and effective remedial programs. Some of that has been accomplished in the ensuing years. The gentleman's proposal would move us further along during this Great Lakes week that we are celebrating on Capitol Hill with our colleagues throughout the Great Lakes States. The amendment would require the Administrator of EPA, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the governor of Canada, to identify problems with the wastewater infrastructure on both sides of the Great Lakes, develop recommendations for increased notification of overflows and increased cooperation. Those are all good and valid and important initiatives which we have pursued in a bipartisan effort within our committee for, as I said, over 20 years. The gentleman's district is the bridge between the upper Lake Superior and the lower lakes. The St. Mary's River moves 130,000 cubic feet per second, and he is astutely vigilant over water quality. I think accepting this amendment will move the purpose of intergovernmental cooperation further along, and I assure the gentlemen on both sides, I will work with the Committee on Foreign Affairs to fashion this bill, this language further as we go to conference with the other body.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes. This is an issue on which there is a genuine disagreement on both sides of the aisle and within the committee, and a deeply felt view on each side. I think it is instructive, however, to look at the history of Davis- Bacon, which originated, actually, in 1927, on Long Island, a district represented by Congressman Robert L. Bacon, Republican of New York, who said wages are fair, and there has been no difficulty in the buildings grades between employer and employee for quite some time. But he was upset when a contractor came to him who had bid on construction of a federally funded hospital on Long Island and noted that the contract was awarded to an Alabama firm that came into Long Island with low-wage workers, whom he housed in tents on the property and underbid local contractors. He said, that's not right, you have to help us stop these underbidding contractors from coming in and taking away local jobs. He, Bacon, introduced legislation that did not inflate wages, as he said, artificially, but assured that government respects the existing local standard. A few years, a year later, the Secretary of Labor, James Davis, supported that bill. By March 3, 1931, Davis had left labor, got elected to the Senate, and the two of them authored this legislation. It was signed into law March 3, 1931, by President Herbert Hoover.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the chair of the subcommittee, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson.