Richard Shelby

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. Indeed, my colleague from Mississippi is correct. The Senate bill does include funding for the Federal Aviation Administration to address problems of runway incursions, and it is my hope the FAA will perform testing as the Senator from Mississippi described.

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. I acknowledge the Senator's request, and I pledge to work with her on this matter.

Mr. SHELBY. I appreciate the Senator's support, and I thank her for her leadership.

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. I share my colleague's support of a procedure that will encourage the States to initiate passenger service through a competitive bid process. I believe it is important that Congress examine whether a competitive process can preserve and expand intercity rail passenger service at reasonable prices. I pledge to the Senator from Kansas that I will work with the House conferees to pursue a provision that would introduce a uniform procedure to allow the States the option of providing competitive rail passenger service.

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment be adopted and considered original text for the purpose of further amendment, with no points of order being waived.

Mr. SHELBY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, I send a substitute amendment to the desk at this time.

Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, I am pleased to present to the Senate the Transportation, Treasury, and general government appropriations bill for the fiscal year 2004. The reorganization of the Appropriations Committee earlier this year substantially changed the jurisdiction of this subcommittee. While the jurisdiction of this subcommittee is not as wholly different as the new Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, the bill before the Senate is quite different from the bill the Senate has considered in the past. For the first time, programs outside the Department of Transportation have to directly compete against certain Transportation programs. This bill is within the subcommittee's 302(b) allocation. Despite being $300 million below the President's request, I believe we have included adequate resources to meet our responsibilities in a balanced and responsible manner. The goal of the subcommittee is to allocate scarce resources to the administration and our Members' highest priorities, to glean out savings where possible, and to apply those savings to programs that save lives, improve America's competitiveness, and programs that create jobs. I am pleased to report that the bill before the Senate does just that. I wish to provide a brief overview of the highlights of the bill. The budget request proposes an 8-percent raise. I am proud to report that the bill rejects the proposal and has included a historically high $33.8 billion for highway infrastructure investment. It will come as no surprise to anybody that my highest priority for the Transportation portion of this bill is to provide adequate investment in our highway system. Highway investment creates jobs through infrastructure development, fuels economic growth by reducing the transportation costs associated with American goods and services, and improves the quality of life of our citizens and enhances their ability to move around this country easily. The bill before us also includes $20 million for AMBER Alert grants to expand and improve the Nation's ability to quickly recover missing children. We know the alert system has worked in Texas. This investment will provide additional infrastructure across the country to notify the public to immediately begin looking for missing children and suspects. While many of Treasury's law enforcement functions were transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, Treasury continues its important responsibility for combating terrorist financing and other financial crimes both domestically and abroad. The bill includes funding to establish the Office of Terrorist and Financial Crimes. We have also included additional resources to support Treasury's policy responsibilities pertaining to counterterrorist financing and financial crimes. I believe these are essential functions in our Nation's war against this fight on terrorism. The bill includes an additional $20 million for the HIDA Program. Over the years, the HIDA Program has been effective in coordinating Federal, State, and local law enforcement to disrupt drug trafficking. We have also included language to, once again, make the National Youth Antidrug Media Campaign an effective investment for the Federal Government. While a few of my colleagues may disagree with the direction the bill proposes to take in regard to the media campaign, there are many more who believe a more stringent approach is necessary. I believe this bill strikes the appropriate balance between responsible congressional oversight of the campaign and allowing it to move forward in an attempt to effect change among our Nation's youth. Further delay in the courthouse construction process would only hamper the effort to meet the growing caseload demands on the Federal judiciary. The bill includes $500 million to fund the Help America Vote Act. This funding, in addition to the $830 million appropriated in fiscal year 2003, will allow more than $1.3 billion to be distributed to States in fiscal year 2004. I am pleased the administration has finally sent up its nominations for the commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission. It is my understanding the Rules Committee plans to hold a hearing on these nominees next Tuesday. I believe it is important that the Senate expedite this process so the resources we appropriate can be distributed to the States in a reasonable manner. The recommendation also includes funding to continue the student and parent mock elections. I know many of my colleagues are very interested in this important program and truly believe in the merits of this valuable hands-on civic lesson. That is precisely why we have included the money. The bill retains the so-called pay parity provision for Federal employees and uniform personnel and sets the adjustment at 4.1 percent. Finally, the bill includes $1.3 billion for Amtrak. I reiterate what I said during the committee consideration. I am deeply concerned about the offsets that have been included in this bill to pay for the additional $400 million above the budget request. We are barely keeping up with the demand for transit, highway, and airport infrastructure investment and maintenance. Amtrak, on the other hand, can hardly keep up passenger demand for its current routes. That is not just rhetoric. Amtrak provides roughly the same number of passenger trips as it did 20 years ago, while all other modes of transportation have more than tripled. I hope we can move this legislation quickly through the Senate and into the conference with the House. I look forward to working with the Senator from Washington, the former chairman of the committee, and also the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations, and with interested Members, to consider and pass this important legislation.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, the managers have no objection to the amendment offered by the Senator from Iowa. I urge the amendment be adopted. Mr. President, we need to check something. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment on behalf of the Senator from Delaware, Mr. Carper.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I have another amendment I send to the desk on behalf of the Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Akaka. It has been cleared by the managers.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I have a number of amendments I will be sending to the desk individually. They have been cleared on both sides by the managers. First is an amendment proposed for Senator Durbin. I send it to the desk.

Mr. SHELBY. I still reserve my right to object, and I would object until we clear this with Senator McConnell that he is ready to proceed.

Mr. SHELBY. I do not know where Senator McConnell is, but I want to clear this with him before we set this amendment aside and move to that.

Mr. SHELBY. We will try to get in touch with him shortly.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Thomas be recognized to offer a first-degree amendment on the issue of competitive sourcing; I further ask consent that there be 40 minutes of total debate equally divided in the usual form relative to both the Thomas and Mikulski amendments; I further ask consent that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Thomas amendment, to be followed by a vote in relation to the Mikulski amendment, with no amendments in order to the amendments prior to the vote and 2 minutes equally divided prior to the second vote.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I have another amendment I send to the desk on behalf of Senator Hollings of South Carolina. It has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I have another amendment I send to the desk on behalf of the Senator from Washington, Mrs. Murray. It has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 2 p.m., to hear testimony on Company Owned Life Insurance.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on Post 9/11 Visa Policy.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing on Federal and State Role in Pharmacy Compounding and Reconstitution: Exploring the Right Mix to Protect Patients during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 10 a.m. in SD- 430.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, October 23, 2003, on pending Committee business off the floor in the President's room, immediately after the first vote of the day.