Nick Rahall

Mr. RAHALL

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), the ranking member on our freight panel.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson). (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano).

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), a valued member of our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel), who has worked very hard on this legislation and does a superb job of representing her ports in southern Florida.

Mr. RAHALL. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) and thank her for her tremendous input and help on this legislation as we developed the bill.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Chaka Fattah, a very powerful member of the House Appropriations Committee. (Mr. FATTAH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority whip.

Mr. RAHALL. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

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

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

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

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, may I have the time remaining on both sides, please.

Mr. RAHALL. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), a very valuable member of our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who has had tremendous input on this legislation.

Mr. RAHALL. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to another gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer). This particular gentleman is a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and has been a leader on that committee in discussions about financing this Nation's infrastructure, whether it be water port infrastructure or highway infrastructure, and I commend him for that leadership.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Nevada (Ms. Titus), a very valued member of our committee.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to yield Chairman Shuster an additional 2 minutes of my time for him to control.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, as we conclude this debate, I want to once again commend Chairman Shuster, Subcommittee Chairman Gibbs, and our ranking member, Mr. Bishop of New York, for the tremendous effort that has been made to bring this legislation where it is today. It started out with Chairman Shuster's leadership early on in this Congress at the Member level. It spread to the staff level, and it has continued every day. It has been a transparent process and a process in which we have been in communication with one another. And as I said in the very beginning, I hope this will be a signal of how this committee will bring future pieces of legislation to the floor, and I just hope that it will be a signal to the entire Congress how we should be working closer together in a bipartisan fashion. This legislation has a wide array of supporters. I have a list here of some five pages of labor, industry, and business supporters that have written members of our committee in strong support of the pending legislation. They include: the American Coal Ash Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Home Builders, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Friends from labor, including carpenters, transportation trades, AFL-CIO, Laborers' International, and many other labor organizations have come together in support of this legislation. And as I summarize and conclude my comments, I want to quote the president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, Mr. Ed Wytkind. He wrote members of our committee: Real investment in harbor maintenance is vital to the health of an industry that supports 500,000 jobs, plays a critical role in expanding U.S. exports, and is the gateway to international trade and humanitarian aid. H.R. 3080 will help improve our maritime infrastructure and keep pace with our international competitors, and will also create thousands of good-paying construction and maritime jobs during what remains a slow economic recovery. I urge you to vote in favor of this important legislation. I will conclude by again thanking Chairman Shuster for his superb leadership and join with all my colleagues in urging passage of this vital piece of legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, although I am not opposed to the amendment, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, Shuster amendment No. 1 provides for the expediting and completion of ongoing feasibility studies and authorizes the Corps of Engineers to move to pre-construction planning, engineering, and design. It directs the Corps of Engineers to consider nonstructural alternatives in the rebuilding of areas impacted by floods and storms. I am in support of the amendment, and I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.