Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bills

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I am pleased that today the Senate passed two annual spending bills--Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs--and approved funding to combat the Zika virus.

Senators Collins, Reed, Kirk, and Tester worked hard to craft good, bipartisan bills with no ideological, partisan policy riders.

They have reminded us of the way we should do business here in the Senate.

I was proud to support both bills when they were considered by the Appropriations Committee in recent weeks and proud to support them again today.

I am pleased that the bill includes long-overdue funding to fight Zika. The bill does not provide the full amount of funding that our health and infectious disease experts say they need, but it does provide a good down payment of $1.1 billion.

We must do more, and we must do it now, in order to protect pregnant women nationwide.

This bill builds on the surface transportation bill, the FAST Act, that Congress passed last year that provides funding over 5 years for rail and highway infrastructure.

Illinois rail lines are at the center of our national transportation network.

In 2014, 5 million people boarded or exited trains in Illinois, giving residents a safe, affordable option when traveling.

The bill supports rail options by providing strong funding for Amtrak, including $1.42 billion for the national network.

It increases funding for TIGER and Core Capacity Capital Investment Grants, which supports transportation improvement projects across Illinois like the CTA's Red Purple Modernization project to provide more commuter passenger rail options to people in Chicago.

The bill also funds important rail safety programs across the country.

First-time funding for passenger rail grant programs authorized in the FAST Act will address gaps in supporting and growing our nation's passenger rail infrastructure.

Rail line relocation and grade crossing enhancements will reduce accidents and improve passenger safety in Illinois and around the country.

Nearly 1.1 million barrels of crude oil are hauled on our nation's railroads every day. Last year's derailment in Galena, IL, highlights the need to invest in rail safety.

The bill continues funding for Positive Train Control programs and supports the Safe Transport of Energy Products Program.

There is always more work to be done. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, America scores a D in investment in roads, transit, and aviation and a C-plus in rail.

This bill is a good start. This bill not only invests in our transportation infrastructure, but it also invests in our housing infrastructure.

I want to thank Senators Collins and Reed again for their efforts to address lead-based paint hazards in our Nation's low-income housing.

Since Flint, we have learned that exposure to lead, be it through our drinking water or paint in our homes, is still a major problem in communities across Illinois and the country.

We have also learned that, when government shortchanges our infrastructure because of opposition to commonsense protections and draconian spending cuts, families suffer the consequences.

In the case of Flint, local and State government was the problem, and now, it, along with Federal Government, have to be part of the solution.

And the provisions in this bill can help us do that. This bill requires HUD to update its standards to the CDC's blood level standard, which is currently four times the CDC level. It improves tenant awareness and education of the lead-based paint hazards. And it provides a modest increase in funding for the identification and remediation of lead-based hazards found in federally assisted housing.

These are all good things, and they will go a long way in addressing the government's abysmal and embarrassing record in dealing with this problem, which has led to far too many children living in federally subsidized housing suffering from lead poisoning, including one family in Chicago. Lanice Walker's 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with lead poisoning less than 5 months after her and her family moved into a home subsidized by a Housing Choice Voucher.

But Lanice Walker was not able to move without the risk of losing her voucher because her daughter's blood lead level, which was two times the CDC level, didn't meet the standards under HUD regulations. It wasn't until all nine of her children had elevated blood levels and legal advocates intervened on her behalf before she was granted permission to move.

This is unacceptable, and we must do more to protect children in affordable housing before they become poisoned by lead. We must ensure that lead-based paint hazards are properly identified before a family moves into a unit. We must update all outdated lead regulations using the most recent science and enforce them. And we must adequately fund programs designed to identify and eliminate lead paint hazards.

I hope that our efforts today are just the beginning of our recommitment to addressing our lead epidemic.

The Senate also approved the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, which provides a $3.1 billion increase above fiscal year 2016 enacted levels.

This funding will support a wide variety of projects to ensure the military readiness and quality of life on military bases within the United States and around the world.

It provides $70 million for Arlington National Cemetery to ensure that the final resting place for our servicemembers is well maintained.

The bill ensures that we provide for our Nation's veterans and their families, those who have sacrificed so much over the years and deserve our gratitude.

The Veterans Benefits Administration will receive $2.8 billion more than last year to help the VA modernize its claims processing as well as help reduce and eliminate backlogs.

Forcing veterans to wait months and sometimes years to get the benefits they deserve is unacceptable.

The bill increases funding for critical programs and emerging needs, including hepatitis C treatment, whistleblower protection, as well as family caregiver support.

For years, I have championed the caregivers program in Congress, so I am pleased that this program is a priority in this bill.

Hundreds of veterans and their caregivers in Illinois and more than 23,000 nationwide participate in this program, with much success.

The bill increases medical and prosthetic research funding by $44 million compared to fiscal year 2016, at $675 million. These funds are critical to continuing our national commitment to medical research and will help our veterans that return home with both the physical and mental wounds of war.

The number of veterans using VA services is dramatically increasing as the population ages. The VA provides more care for veterans now than ever before, and more of these veterans and their families have increasingly critical needs.

I would also like to take a moment to address an amendment I offered that was included as part of a managers package.

My amendment directs the Secretary of the VA to spend at least $21 million to fill critical staffing shortages in VA leadership at networks, medical centers, and health care systems across the country.

At least three dozen key VA leadership positions are currently filled by acting or interim directors, sometimes for years at a time. In my home State of Illinois, for example, Hines VA Hospital has not had a permanent director since 2014.

Permanently assigned leadership that is capable of overseeing and managing networks and medical centers is critical to delivering high quality care to our Nation's veterans in a timely fashion, especially at a time when the VA faces a number of challenges.

This funding will help the VA prioritize filling these key positions, as well as address staffing shortages in other management and clinical positions, including in rural and underserved areas.

It is my hope that this funding will allow the VA to quickly fill these important positions within the Department.

I am glad to say that overall, moving this bill is good for our Nation's military and their families.

I hope today's action by the Senate is another step in the direction of passing all 12 appropriations bills, all without ideological riders.

I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to continue to work with us in a bipartisan manner to pass additional appropriations bills without ideological riders.

I would also like to urge my colleagues to quickly send these funding measures to the President. Zika funding is needed now.

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