Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 111 CONGRESS, FIRST 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 111 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 155 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2009 No. 183 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was MORNING-HOUR DEBATE A GREEN LIGHT FOR THE REAU- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- THORIZATION OF THE SURFACE pore (Ms. SPEIER). The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- TRANSPORTATION ACT ant to the order of the House of Janu- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ary 6, 2009, the Chair will now recog- f Chair recognizes the gentleman from nize Members from lists submitted by Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO the majority and minority leaders for utes. TEMPORE morning-hour debate. Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- The Chair will alternate recognition this is one of those rare occasions fore the House the following commu- between the parties, with each party where Congress can put everything to- nication from the Speaker: limited to 25 minutes and each Mem- gether for a holiday gift for Americans. ber, other than the majority and mi- People in this city and across the coun- WASHINGTON, DC, try are obsessed with the concern to December 8, 2009. nority leaders and the minority whip, create jobs. It is appropriate and im- I hereby appoint the Honorable JACKIE limited to 5 minutes, but in no event perative that we do so. All the objec- SPEIER to act as Speaker pro tempore on this shall debate continue beyond 9:50 a.m. day. tive evidence suggested that the eco- NANCY PELOSI, nomic recovery package made a huge Speaker of the House of Representatives. difference, but not enough. NOTICE If the 111th Congress, 1st Session, adjourns sine die on or before December 23, 2009, a final issue of the Congres- sional Record for the 111th Congress, 1st Session, will be published on Thursday, December 31, 2009, to permit Members to insert statements. All material for insertion must be signed by the Member and delivered to the respective offices of the Official Reporters of Debates (Room HT–59 or S–123 of the Capitol), Monday through Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. through Wednesday, December 30. The final issue will be dated Thursday, December 31, 2009, and will be delivered on Monday, January 4, 2010. None of the material printed in the final issue of the Congressional Record may contain subject matter, or relate to any event, that occurred after the sine die date. 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Members of Congress desiring to purchase reprints of material submitted for inclusion in the Congressional Record may do so by contacting the Office of Congressional Publishing Services, at the Government Printing Office, on 512–0224, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. By order of the Joint Committee on Printing. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, Chairman. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H13551 . VerDate Nov 24 2008 04:26 Dec 09, 2009 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 8633 E:\CR\FM\A08DE7.000 H08DEPT1 smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with HOUSE H13552 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE December 8, 2009 As my friend and colleague Mr. and to put millions of Americans back work. There is no long lead time. There DEFAZIO, from the Transportation and to work. Unlike other areas of expendi- is no lengthy environmental review. Infrastructure Committee, has docu- ture, this is truly an investment in We are replacing or rebuilding things mented, the economic recovery pack- America’s future, which will generate that are already in place. In addition age had only 4 percent of its funds dedi- other economic activities and will help to that, there are many other road and cated for infrastructure, but it created the long-term fiscal health of our Na- highway projects of great merit. That 25 percent of the jobs. Mr. OBERSTAR, tion while we strengthen our families can be committed within 120 days—$49 and Subcommittee Chair DEFAZIO, and our communities. billion. It could take place next con- have been working for 3 years on the I hope there is a green light for floor struction season—$16 billion in inter- reauthorization of the biggest infra- time for the Transportation bill. I hope modal, port and other access issues. structure package that we will look there is a commitment to front-load Then perhaps this will get the atten- at—the Surface Transportation Act. the Transportation bill with TARP tion out at the White House: $20 billion The evidence is that they are, literally, money and that we can get a Transpor- in transit. We are killing people on our just weeks away from the opportunity tation bill passed next month and on transit systems because of the out- to bring this legislation to the floor. its way to the Senate so we can put moded, decrepit infrastructure we At the same time, we see the con- America back to work. have. There is an $80 billion backlog. sensus building, at least on the Demo- f When you begin to fill that backlog, cratic side of the aisle and with the ad- what you can do within a day in some PUT AMERICA BACK TO WORK ministration, that it is time to revisit places, like the Chicago Transit Au- AND REBUILD AMERICA’S DE- efforts to revitalize the economy, that thority, which spent a quarter of $1 bil- CREPIT INFRASTRUCTURE the original economic recovery pack- lion in 30 days, which is all the money age simply wasn’t big enough consid- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The they got—they spent it in 30 days be- ering the problems that we were facing. Chair recognizes the gentleman from cause they have a decrepit system. There is an opportunity to take unused Oregon (Mr. DEFAZIO) for 5 minutes. They ordered things that create a huge TARP money, part of the hundreds of Mr. DEFAZIO. Madam Speaker, the multiplier effect and jobs across the billions of dollars that was set aside, to President brought the jobs summit to a economy—transit vehicles, buses. Then help the financial sector recover after very unfortunate and, unfortunately, people who make parts for buses have it brought our economy to, literally, ill-informed close in his summary jobs. We have ‘‘buy America’’ provi- the brink of collapse. statement. sions so the jobs aren’t going to China Well, we’ve seen at least that area The President is skeptical about like the DOE grants are. These are the stabilize. Some of the money is being shovel-ready projects. He said the term kinds of investments we need to be repaid, and the balance is not likely to ‘‘shovel-ready.’’ Let’s be honest. It making. These things work. be needed for an economic emergency doesn’t always live up to its billing. Now, why won’t his advisers wake up like we saw last year. So we should be Well, if he is talking about other than and tell him the truth? able to take a significant portion of infrastructure, he is right. Most of the jobs, the real jobs—the that unused TARP money and, rather The Department of Energy managed private-sector jobs—that were created than sending it to Wall Street, sending to commit a tiny fraction of the money by this last so-called ‘‘stimulus,’’ were it instead to Main Street, perhaps to in the stimulus bill, and that which in transportation infrastructure. The your street to be able to front-load the they have committed has created thou- money has been successfully spent and reauthorization of the Surface Trans- sands of jobs. Yeah. Unfortunately, obligated. We can give him those sta- portation Act to be able to have 6-year they are jobs in China of making wind- tistics. I defy them to go to any other funding certainty. mills that will be shipped to the United part of that bill other than the money This is a very important opportunity States of America. Not exactly what that kept teachers working and other that we should not lose because, at a we had in mind. things that helped the States or the time when we are concerned about defi- Maybe it’s the tax cuts all across tax cuts where the money has spent cits in the Federal budget, there is a America. People every week are grate- out at such a rapid rate. yawning deficit in the highway trust ful for their tax cuts. No. Actually, So it’s time to reorient the thinking fund which simply is not going to be they don’t know that they get a minus- down there on the economic team at able to meet the current needs of cule reduction in their withholdings, the White House.