Natural Resources Management Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I rise to discuss challenges that influence nearly every component of our day-to-day lives and the opportunity to address these challenges in the 116th Congress.

No matter who you are, where you live, or your level of income, every one of us is affected by our Nation's transportation system. I believe, as most Nebraskans do, that a core responsibility of the Federal Government is to provide sufficient and sustainable transportation and infrastructure to all of our citizens. Our transportation system is critical to our national security, to our economy, and to our public safety. Here in the Senate, I have worked hard to remove the unnecessary obstacles to the safe and efficient flow of goods and people throughout our country and around the world, and I plan to continue that work as we begin this Congress.

This is a priority that is of particular importance to my State of Nebraska. Agriculture is the economic engine of our State's economy. According to the U.S. Trade Representative's office, Nebraska is the fifth largest agricultural exporting State. To continue moving our products from the heartland to the coasts and beyond, we need an efficient, an effective, and a safe transportation system. Few understand this better than Nebraskans. We rely on the connection of our roads and highways, railroads, ports, and ocean carriers to bring goods and services to the world market. We use trucks to haul livestock across the country. Our railroads and waterways move vast quantities of grain across the prairie and to the coasts, and our ports and ocean vessels move these commodities around the world.

For Nebraska to continue benefiting from domestic and international trade, it is vital that we build and maintain our infrastructure, reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, and promote safety across the surface transportation network. We must also recognize that connections across all of these modes--truck, rail, waterway, ocean, and air--must function smoothly for the system to work.

In the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, I am proud to, once again, chair the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, which oversees the important surface transportation issues. This will be my fifth year as chairman, and I am looking forward to continuing the effective accomplishments that my colleagues and I have made.

Specifically, in 2015, we worked across party lines to pass the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, more commonly known as the FAST Act. This was the first long-term highway bill that had been passed by Congress in over a decade, and it included several positive reforms to our surface transportation system. It recognized the importance of freight movement as part of the broader infrastructure debate by including a new freight formula program and a freight specific grant program. It gave key State and local officials the flexibility they needed to develop strategic investments in their communities.

Together, we have improved the flow of commercial traffic and increased the safety of America's roads, but there is still much work to be done. With the 116th Congress underway, we have much to do on transportation policy.

Of note is the quickly approaching expiration of the FAST Act reauthorization in September of 2020. The transportation and safety subcommittee, which oversees the Department of Transportation and a number of modal administrations, will be hard at work on our part of that FAST Act reauthorization. Administrations under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Each of these modal administrations will be closely examined by the subcommittee.

We will be holding hearings on Federal trucking policy and will be providing oversight for the FMCSA. The trucking industry is critical to our economy because it moves the most freight by volume and value across this country. As such, we will be examining a number of trucking issues, including hours of service requirements, the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program, and the very wide scope of trucking regulations. Moving forward, we will work together to find safe, practical solutions to these issues.

Additionally, we must carefully consider policies to support our port facilities and the connections they make between truck and rail networks to ocean shipping. It may sound funny to my colleagues that a Senator from a triple landlocked State like Nebraska is advocating the support of our ports and ocean shipping industry. Yet, as I noted earlier, Nebraska is the fifth largest agriculture exporting State in the Nation, and whether it is beef or grain or equipment, we depend on our ports to ensure our quality products reach around the world.

There are currently a wide variety of issues facing this key portion of our transportation system. Ocean carriers are using even bigger vessels, which has greatly increased the amount of freight moving through the ports and is affecting the connections to other transportation modes.

Port operations are becoming increasingly complex, and stakeholders are examining ways to support freight movement by better utilizing data, such as GE Portal at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Ports are taking advantage of new types of infrastructure, like inland ports, while also addressing new challenges such as a shortage of chassis to move the containers.

State and local governments, industry, labor, and the Commissioners at the Federal Maritime Commission are reviewing these and other important issues to the maritime commerce system. We need to hear from all of these stakeholders to better understand these challenges and these opportunities before us.

Additionally, last year, the Federal Railroad Administration oversaw one of the biggest changes to our railroad network in recent history-- the implementation of positive train control, or PTC.

There are 41 railroads that are required by Congress to install and to use PTC on their systems. I was glad to see the statement from the FRA that all 41 railroads met the deadline to submit documentation that they are either utilizing PTC or that they have completed the requirements to receive an extension, as required by the Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015. This, however, was the first of two major deadlines for PTC implementation.

Railroads that receive an extension must complete their PTC systems no later than December 31, 2020. Congress must continue its oversight of PTC implementation, especially as railroads work to achieve that interoperability across the network.

The Transportation and Safety Subcommittee will be looking at PTC but also at regulations and railroad investments more broadly, both at the Federal Railroad Administration and at the Surface Transportation Board.

Late in the 115th Congress, the Senate confirmed Patrick Fuchs and Martin Oberman to be members of the STB, and I look forward to working with the Board and its new members on rail commerce issues.

The Transportation and Safety Subcommittee will also examine pipeline safety issues as we prepare for a reauthorization of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. For families, consumers, workers, and businesses, the safety and security of our pipeline network must remain a top priority. America's pipelines move vital energy to homes and businesses in Nebraska and throughout our Nation. Congress must continue its robust oversight of our pipeline network.

In 2016, we worked in a bipartisan manner to pass a bill I introduced--what ultimately became known as the PIPES Act--to reauthorize PHMSA through fiscal year 2019.

The Transportation and Safety Subcommittee will be working to reauthorize PHMSA with an eye toward improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of the Agency's pipeline oversight. We will continue ensuring the Agency has what it needs to complete its pending rulemakings.

As Congress begins its work on these surface transportation issues, I look forward to working with the administration on policies that cut redtape and improve the movement of people and freight across our system.

During the last Congress, I was very pleased to twice host Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to Nebraska, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Secretary and the Modal Administrators. I also look forward to working with Senator Duckworth, the new ranking member of the Transportation and Safety Subcommittee, and with all of my colleagues on the subcommittee so we can find bipartisan solutions for our surface transportation system.

We have a very unique opportunity to work together to improve the daily lives of all Americans. This is so much more than just drawing a few lines on the map. It means making decisions that will help parents get their children to school using safe and reliable roads. It means ensuring our commercial truckdrivers, railroads, ports, ocean carriers, and all those in between can ship products made in Nebraska to the rest of the country and all over the world. It means connecting American communities.

During my chairmanship, I will encourage strategic, targeted, and long-term investments that improve safety and more efficiently facilitate commerce. By working together, we can deliver solutions that will allow American families, communities, and businesses to thrive for generations to come.

Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source