The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRANSPORTATION BILL” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Senate section on pages S1156 on Feb. 29, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRANSPORTATION BILL
Mr. REID. Mr. President, before I start the closing script, I want it to be spread on the record that we have tried all day to come up with an agreement to move forward on this legislation, and we have been unsuccessful.
This is a piece of legislation that is as bipartisan as is humanly possible. We have one of the most progressive Members of the Senate, Senator Boxer, and one of the most conservative Members of the Senate, Jim Inhofe, who are cosponsoring this legislation. It is a piece of legislation that continues the highway program, the surface transportation program. It is so needed.
Yesterday, I had the director of the department of transportation in Nevada, Susan Martinavich, come in. I am confident that most Senators have had someone from their States here and had a conference. It will bring construction in Nevada to a standstill on our highways and bridges and some of the mass transit programs if we don't move forward. But we can't even get on the bill.
I have agreed to do this unrelated amendment. My caucus agreed we will do these. We don't want to; they are not productive. They are message amendments, and they are not germane or relevant. But we will do a limited number of these bad amendments. There have been over 100 of them filed.
I am at a loss for words as to what the Republicans expect me to do--
stand around for another week and look at each other?
We started moving to this bill on February 7. The amendment we are going to vote on tomorrow, out of nowhere, on a transportation bill, is dealing with contraception. We have agreed to have votes on it. They will not let us have votes. Yesterday, I had to bring up a Republican amendment they didn't even bother to file. They just wanted to talk about it and hold press conferences on the issue.
Unless something changes, I am going to have to file cloture on this bill, and we are going to have to find out if the Republicans really want destruction all across the 50 States and have another hit to our economy by not doing highway construction, especially as the weather is getting better. In the Presiding Officer's State of Oregon, which is just like Nevada, where unemployment has not been good, a lot can go on. I have no alternative but to file cloture to stop the filibuster. It is one of these roving filibusters where all these phantom people will not let us move forward on this legislation.
I am almost embarrassed to be saying this in front of the Presiding Officer. I say that because at the beginning of the year the Presiding Officer, along with the junior Senator from New Mexico, thought maybe we should change how this place operates. A number of us, in good conscience, believed the few changes we had made would be sufficient to establish a better working situation. It hasn't been better. In fact, I am sorry to say, it is worse.
So we are going to--unless something happens--have a vote tomorrow. Can you imagine, I created a vote because they would not allow us to have a vote? So I don't see what choice I have.
____________________
