Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 105 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 144 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1998 No. 14 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was Mr. LOTT. Thank you, Mr. President. cated in today’s RECORD under ‘‘State- called to order by the President pro f ments on Introduced Bills and Joint tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. Resolutions.’’) SCHEDULE Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I yield the PRAYER Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morn- floor. The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John ing the Senate will be in a period of Mr. BYRD addressed the Chair. Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: morning business until 10:30 a.m., as The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. under the previous consent order. At Gracious God, You have planned per- BOND). The able Senator from West fectly for the balance of our listening 10:30 a.m., the Senate will resume con- Virginia. and speaking. Help us to do both well. sideration of S. 1663, the campaign fi- nance reform bill. Also, under the pre- You have called us to listen to You in f prayerful meditation on Your truth re- vious unanimous consent order, the time from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. vealed in the Bible. You also speak THE HIGHWAY BILL through Your Spirit to our inner being. will be equally divided between the op- Sometimes You shout to our con- ponents and proponents of the legisla- Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, other Sen- science; other times it is a still small tion. ators and I have spoken numerous voice that whispers to our souls. The In addition, by consent, from 12:30 times over the past several weeks world around us asks, ‘‘Is there any p.m. to 2:15 p.m., the Senate will recess about the significant problems that word from the Lord? What does He for the weekly policy luncheons to will arise in States across the country want? Is what we are doing in plumb meet. Following those luncheons, at if the Senate further delays action on with His plans?’’ 2:15 p.m., the Senate will resume con- the highway bill. Each day we delay When we have listened to You, what sideration of the campaign finance re- adds to the burden of commuters sit- we have to say cuts to the core of form bill, with the time then going ting in traffic that is often moving at issues. We are decisive and bold. Our until 4 o’clock being equally divided a crawl or brought to a complete stop voices ring with reality and relevance. between the opponents and proponents. because many of our highways are sim- Following that debate, at 4 p.m., the The psalmist longed for this equi- ply overcrowded. Each day we delay Senate will proceed to a vote in rela- poise. He prayed, ‘‘Let the words of my brings us closer to the May 1 deadline— tion to the pending McCain-Feingold mouth and the meditation of my heart just 39 session days away from today. amendment. Therefore, the first roll- be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, That includes today—39 days. The time call vote today will occur at 4 p.m. my strength and my Redeemer.’’— bomb is ticking. Senate session days Senators can also anticipate the possi- Psalm 19:14. remaining before May 1 deadline: 39. bility of additional votes after that Bless the men and women of this That includes May 1 as it includes vote on the McCain-Feingold amend- Senate with the grace to hear Your today. ment. But we do not have a definite voice and then speak with an echo of Since 1969, the number of trips per time agreement on that presently. Be- Your guidance and wisdom. person taken over our roadways in- fore the 4 o’clock vote, we will notify Now we join our hearts in interces- creased by more than 72 percent and Senators about the schedule for the re- sion for the people of central Florida the number of miles traveled increased mainder of the day. by more than 65 percent. whose homes and communities have I yield the floor, Mr. President. been devastated by tornados. Bless The combination of traffic growth f Senators BOB GRAHAM and CONNIE and deteriorating road conditions has MACK as they care for their people. Es- MORNING BUSINESS led to an unprecedented level of con- pecially, be with those families that The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under gestion, not just in our urban centers have lost loves ones. Comfort and the previous order, there will now be a but in our suburbs and rural areas as strengthen them. Through our Lord period for the transaction of morning well. Congestion is literally choking and Saviour. Amen. business. our roadways as our constituents seek f Mr. BOND addressed the Chair. to travel to work, travel to the shop- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The ping center, to the child care center, RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Senator is recognized. and to the churches. According to the LEADER Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank the Department of Transportation, more The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair. travelers, in more areas, during more able majority leader, Senator LOTT of (The remarks of Mr. BOND pertaining hours are facing high levels of conges- Mississippi, is recognized. to the introduction of S. 1669 are lo- tion and delay than at any time in our ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S865 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:32 Oct 31, 2013 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\1998SENATE\S24FE8.REC S24FE8 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY S866 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 24, 1998 history. And these congested condi- While the size of our highway net- air quality. As cars and trucks are tions make us more susceptible to mas- work has remained relatively static for slowed by traffic congestion, they emit sive traffic jams as the result of even years, the condition and performance more pollutants, thereby impeding ef- the most minor of accidents. The DOT of those roads has deteriorated. Poor forts in many parts of the country to tells us that, during peak travel hours, road and bridge conditions must share come into compliance with federal air almost 70 percent or the urban inter- part of the blame for our nation’s con- quality standards. Road improvements states and just under 60 percent of gestion problem. According to a 1995 aimed at smoothing the flow of traffic other freeways and expressways are ei- U.S. Department of Transportation’s can reduce auto-related pollutant ther moderately or extremely con- report to Congress, 28 percent of the emissions substantially. All such im- gested. That is lost man hours, reduced most heavily traveled U.S. roads are in provements, however, cost money. And productivity, wasted fuel, and wasted poor or mediocre condition. That the Senate should be doing everything time. means that those roads need work possible to ensure that our state and The worsening congestion is taking a now—work now—to remain open and metropolitan officials do not run out of horrible toll on our economic pros- protect the safety of the traveling pub- federal highway funds that can help perity. I direct the attention of my col- lic. And more than 181,000 bridges, or 32 them relieve congestion and improve leagues to a study conducted by the percent of our nations’ 575,000 bridges, air quality. Texas Transportation Institute at are in need of repair or replacement, Today, Mr. President, Americans rely Texas A&M University. According to including 70,000 bridges built in the on automobiles for 90 percent or more the Institute’s study, the annual cost 1960’s and designed to last 30 years of all trips. In many areas of the coun- of highway congestion in our nation’s under 1960’s travel conditions. These try, we need additional highway capac- 50 most congested cities has grown roads and bridges that have outlived ity to accommodate that travel. And from $26.6 billion in 1982 to almost $53 their useful life or that are falling federal highway funds are often a crit- billion in 1994. In other words, it has apart from under-investment often are ical source of capital for these projects. doubled. Delay accounted for 85 percent traffic choke-points that can be cor- What can we do about congestion, of this cost, while fuel consumption ac- Mr. President? What can Congress do rected with the proper repairs. counted for 15 percent. While more re- And Senators don’t have to travel to help eliminate the $53 billion annual cent data are still being collected, the very far away to see the traffic choke- burden borne by commuters in our Institute’s researchers state that, in points, as they attempt to cross the large cities? What can we do to give the last four years, the cost of conges- bridges, get on the bridges and cross people more time at home with their tion in these cities has only continued the Potomac every morning and every families or on the job instead of stuck to grow. This multi-billion dollar hem- in traffic? What can Congress do to our orrhage is found not only in our largest evening. It took me an hour and 15 minutes to get from my home in cities and counties to help their air cities where eight of the top ten cities quality? McLean, 10 miles away, this morning, had total annual congestion costs ex- Probably the single most important to get to my office because of traffic ceeding $1 billion; we find congestion action Congress can take to help al- taxing severely the economies of sev- congestion feeding into the streets, and leviate these problems is the prompt eral small- and medium-sized cities as feeding on and feeding off the bridges.