Senate Proceeding 09-26-08 on Sep 26th, 2008 :: 0:23:05 to 0:30:29
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0:20:44 to 0:23:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Daniel Akaka

0:22:54 to 0:23:05( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: in the senate about bridges and bridge repair. senator boxer today asked this bill be called up. it successfully was passed through our committee, the environment and public works committee, and she

0:23:05 to 0:23:21( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: asked the bill be called up because, obviously, we're in the waning days of the session here and we felt this was an incredibly important bill for this country. unfortunately, the other side blocked this

0:23:05 to 0:30:29( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

0:23:21 to 0:23:33( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: bill. they wouldn't allow this bill to be heard. and i would like to, today, to make some comments about the objections from the other side to this bill. i don't understand it. i think much knows what

0:23:33 to 0:23:44( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: happened in minnesota on august 1st. our nation was shocked to learn that an eight-lane highway in the middle of minnesota, the i- 35 bridge collapsed. a bridge should just not follow down in the middle

0:23:44 to 0:24:01( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: of america, not a bridge that is an eight-lane freeway, not a bridge i drive my 13-year-old daughter over every day. now, as you know, there's been great progress in rebuilding that bridge. in fact,

0:24:01 to 0:24:22( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: we have a new bridge and that bridge opened up just about a week ago and that new bridge spans the river. we're very proud of the workers that worked on that bridge. but it is will a spot of great

0:24:22 to 0:24:40( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: sadness as we remember the 13 people that died -- the 50 some people that were injured, the 10some cars that went into the bridge, all the rescue workers that saved so many lives. we must still get to

0:24:40 to 0:24:58( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the bottom of why this enormous bridge fell into the middle of the mississippi river. it didn't happen because of an earthquake or a barge coalition. something -- collision, something went terribly

0:24:58 to 0:25:09( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: wrong. evidence is accumulating that the bridge's condition was deteriorating four years and it was a subject of growing concern with the minnesota department of transportation. this wasn't a bridge

0:25:09 to 0:25:21( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: over troubled water. this was a troubled bridge over waters. still, as a former prosecutor, like the presiding officer, i know that we must wait until all the facts and evidence are in before we reach

0:25:21 to 0:25:31( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: a verdict. we will need to be patient as the investigation continues. mark rosenkurd the chairman of the national transportation board said last night the ntsb investigation is nearing completion and

0:25:31 to 0:25:40( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: that a final report should be ready for public release very soon. the chairman also said that photographs of the gusset plates which were half an inch thick and warped were stressed by the weight of

0:25:40 to 0:25:50( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the bridge and may have been a key indicator to the dangerous stayed of the i-35-w bridge. we know it was most likely a design defect but the chairman has said that the photographs shows there was visible

0:25:50 to 0:26:02( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: problems and so we will await the report to see what the ntsb thinks of that, but, clearly, there was some indication that there were problems with this bridge. finally, the bridge collapse in minnesota

0:26:02 to 0:26:16( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: has shown that america needs to come to grips with birthdayer -- broader questions about our infrastructure. americans were shocked into a realization of how important it is to have safe, sound, infrastructure.

0:26:16 to 0:26:31( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: because we also have learned that another brj in our state -- and i think you have seen this across the country -- had a similar design, we've actually looked at all our bridges in minnesota and we have

0:26:31 to 0:26:44( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: another bridge closed down in the middle of st. cloud, minnesota. this bridge has been closed down and we look all over the country and we see problems with our infrastructure. according to the federal

0:26:44 to 0:26:57( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: highway administration, more than 25% of the nation's 600,000 bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. unfortunately, it took a disaster like the bridge in our state, to put the issue

0:26:57 to 0:27:13( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: of infrastructure investment squarely on the national agenda. of these 25% of the nation's bridges that are found to be structurally deficient, the 600,000 bridges, 74,000 of them come into the category

0:27:13 to 0:27:27( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: of "structurally deficient." in my home state, that means 1,579 bridges are considered structurally deficient. there is virtually no way to drive in or out of any state without going over one of

0:27:27 to 0:27:41( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: these britons. when the average -- one of these bridges. when the average age of a bridge is 43 years and 25% of all american bridges are in need of repair or replacement, it's time to act. recently

0:27:41 to 0:27:56( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the government accountability office released a study raising several issues regarding the federal highway bridge program. first, the program has expanded from improving deficient bridges to including

0:27:56 to 0:28:08( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: funding criteria that make nearly all bridges eligible. second, states are able to transfer bridge program funds to other transportation projects. third, there are disincentives for states to reduce their

0:28:08 to 0:28:22( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: inventories of deficient bridges since doing so would reduce their federal bridge funds. finally, g.a.o. noted that the long-term trend is more bridges in need of repair and the cost of repair rising

0:28:22 to 0:28:34( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: as well. in other words, the highway bridge fund is not fiscally sustainable. just a few weeks ago, transportation secretary peters announced that the federal highway trust fund would not be able

0:28:34 to 0:28:44( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: to meet its obligations and, as you know, we replenished that fund. but that is not enough. and we all know that that is not enough. so, that is why we have introduced the bill and senator durbin and

0:28:44 to 0:28:57( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: i introduced s. 3338, the national highway bridge construction a inspection act, which is a companion bill to h.r. 3999. the bill that congressman oberstar successfully authored and moved through

0:28:57 to 0:29:12( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the house. and in the house, i think my colleagues acrosshe aisle should know, that there was much republican support for the bill. it passed by a wide margin, and they were able to get the bill through

0:29:12 to 0:29:25( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the house. this is what the legislation does. and the reason i care about -- the reason i led up to it about the story of our bridge is after we looked at what happened to our bridge in minnesota,

0:29:25 to 0:29:39( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: we ands that about 50% of the highway bridge fund, that federal funds had not been used for bridge maintenance. you look across the country and find out they're used for a construction project

0:29:39 to 0:29:50( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: to plant flowers, four all kinds of things. if we have a highway bridge program that money should be used for bridge maintenance and bridge reconstruction. at the hearing that chairman boxer had

0:29:50 to 0:30:01( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: on this topic, we actually had some very interesting testimony from witnesses who talked about the fact that bridge maintenance is never a very sexy thing. people don't like do that as much because it

0:30:01 to 0:30:14( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: doesn't involve cutting ribbons and it doesn't involve new projects. and so there's all kinds of actual reasons that our country s. has not been putting the money that it should into this bridge maintenance.

0:30:14 to 0:30:29( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: what our bill does is it would require the federal highway administration and state transportation departments to develop plans to begin repairing and replacing bridges that pose the greatest risk to to the public.

0:30:29 to 0:30:41( Edit History Discussion )

scwhee this does is it reages it and says, let's look at the bridges that are most in need of repair and let's put our money there first. i cannot believe that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle