To authorize additional funds for emergency repairs and reconstruction of the Interstate I-35 bridge located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that collapsed on August 1, 2007, to waive the $100,000,000 limitation on emergency relief funds for those emergency repairs and reconstruction, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3311) to authorize additional funds for emergency repairs and reconstruction of the Interstate I-35 bridge located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that collapsed on August 1, 2007, to waive the $100,000,000 limitation on emergency relief funds for those emergency repairs and reconstruction, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill, H.R. 3311, and include extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, at the outset, let me express my great appreciation to my colleagues in the Minnesota delegation for their cohesion and their support of legislative action to respond promptly to the needs of the people of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota. Mr. Ramstad, Mr. Kline, Mrs. Bachmann, Mr. Ellison, in whose district this tragedy occurred, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Walz, Mr. Peterson have all united as one in support of the needs of the people and in common mourning for the tragedy that occurred.

All of us were struck deeply within our souls over this tragedy. Ms. McCollum's daughter, just miraculously almost, passed over this bridge shortly before it collapsed.

I want to express my great appreciation to the gentleman from Florida, the ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Mr. Mica, and his staff and to Mr. Petri, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Mr. DeFazio of Oregon, Chair of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, for the cooperation, for the splendid efforts made, and for the common cause in which we all persevered to bring this legislation promptly to the House, as we are doing today.

And, again, I'm very grateful to the gentleman from Florida for his participation.

Bridges are built to last, not forever, but for a very long time. The title, in Latin, of the leader of the Catholic church is Pontifex Maximus, the maximum bridge builder. And when that title was adopted, bridges were built to last. The one in Rome has lasted 2,000 years, a marble arch bridge.

But in our day and time, not much that we build lasts forever, and that is why we have a bridge inspection program. That is why we annually evaluate the condition, structure and structural integrity of bridges and their operational capacity and ability; and why, in the current law, SAFETEA-LU, with the help of then Chairman Young, I included language to authorize the funding of a new technology comparable to the technology used in aviation to determine the structural integrity of aircraft wings, movable surfaces and fuselage, to find hairline cracks using technology that can discover microscopic cracks not visible to the naked eye and then measure their propagation and do the same with bridges.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation was offered the opportunity to use that technology, and I am disappointed that the State rejected the opportunity to use that technology to test the structural integrity of the bridge that collapsed.

In March of 2004, I sent Members of the House a letter and information providing data developed, at my request, by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics showing the number and location of structurally deficient bridges in the national highway system in each Member's congressional district.

Now, not many Members followed up on that, but I just happen to have in front of me the letter addressed to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie) who did respond. The letter pointed out the number of structurally deficient bridges in each Member's district and then pointed out that, in 2002, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that 167,566 of the Nation's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Since then, that number has grown to, of the 597,340 bridges in the national bridge inventory, 26 percent are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

Then the cost to repair and bring to a good state of maintenance, the cost in 2004, was estimated at $9.4 billion a year to maintain. In the SAFETEA-LU legislation, we provided $4 billion a year. It should have been at $5 billion. If the original introduced bill Mr. Young and I introduced in October of 2003 had prevailed, we'd have been at $5 billion a year. We are where we are.

But this is the map, in smaller form, that we sent out to all Members of the House in 2004. For the State of Minnesota, it lists all the structurally deficient bridges. There are 19 on this list updated today.

The State of Minnesota has 13,000 bridges. 1,135 are structurally deficient. 451 are functionally obsolescent. That's 12.2 percent. That's one of the lowest percentages in the country, but it underscores the serious problem of the State of Minnesota and of the Nation's bridges.

We come to the floor today united in purpose to help the State rebuild this structure. The estimate from the Minnesota Department of Transportation is in the range of $200 plus million, which may grow, depending on the bridge abutments on both sides of the river; and the structural integrity of those facilities has yet to be fully evaluated. So the $250 million is a soundly based estimate, based on engineering evaluations, and is a fair number, and so is the funding that we provide in the legislation to compensate the State for the shift from highway transportation to transit as occurred in California, in Oakland earlier this year in April when their bridge collapsed due to a tanker truck collapse.

Those are the basic figures. Those are the justifications. We've limited, capped the dollar amount for transit at $5 million in response to a question from the other body, and we have a well-supported figure of $250 million for the reconstruction out of general revenue funds.

I appeal for the support of this body for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Minneapolis (Mr. Ellison).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds.

I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska for his leadership on SAFETEA-LU and for the participation we enjoyed together in crafting that and previous legislation. I thank him for his comments, with which I concur.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the Speaker, the gentlewoman from California.

I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz).

I would like to inquire how much time remains on both sides.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin, our neighboring State (Mr. Kind).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen), a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time.

I think the applause on our side for all of the speakers shows the depth of feeling, the depth of appreciation that the Minnesota delegation feels toward each other, toward others in the body who have spoken tonight, toward our ranking member, Mr. Mica, to whom, once again, I express my appreciation for the responsiveness and to prompt action on this matter.

And to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Young, I remember so well the Sunshine Skyway Bridge tragedy and later included it in a hearing that then Mr. Clinger, my ranking member on the Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee, held hearings that included that tragedy. I was here to vote on the funding for that restoration of that bridge, and I appreciate the gentleman's recollection.

We will look back, I guess, in a few days, on this moment as a welcome respite from the cacophony of dissidence that we have heard in the last several hours in this body. Unfortunately, tragedy, loss of life and injury has brought us together, but it shows the greatness of this House of Representatives, that it can come together and find common cause and move ahead.

I hope that respite from cacophony will prevail in the other body as we send this legislation forward and that there will not be, as has been threatened, procedural issues raised or jurisdictional matters that may be raised that might deter a provision of this legislation to provide respite from the congestion that will result in the reconstruction of this bridge and that already is occurring in the city of Minneapolis.

The House provided respite for Oakland, San Francisco in the collapse of the 580 and 880 structures just earlier this year, in April. We provide almost identical language and support in this legislation. I just hope the other body will not raise objections and move this legislation forward, because those are relatively minor matters that be can resolved in the management by DOT of that transit language.

I want to thank all our colleagues for the dignity of this discussion tonight and for the support expressed for the people of Minnesota by the rest of the Nation. We thank you, thank all our colleagues, and we ask for a wholehearted vote in support of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise lo mark the first anniversary of a tragedy in my home state, a tragedy that touches all Americans. At 6:05 p.m. on August 1, 2007, the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people. The eight-lane, steel truss bridge span, which was constructed in 1967, carried approximately 140,000 vehicles daily.

Within just six minutes of the bridge collapse, emergency personnel responded to the scene, risking their own health and safety to rescue victims and to provide care to the injured. Within three hours, first responders were able to complete the rescue of victims stranded on the bridge. The swift and heroic actions of the first responders that day saved countless lives and were critical in minimizing the potential for more loss of life.

I received the tragic news of the bridge collapse while standing on the floor of this House, managing the Water Resources Development Act. The Transportation Committee staff and I immediately began developing legislation to help the City of Minneapolis, the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and the State of Minnesota cope with the loss of a major transportation artery, and rebuild after the terrible tragedy. The Committee approved my legislation the following morning, and the House passed H.R. 3311, authorizing up to $250 million to carry our emergency repairs and reconstruction of the bridge and $5 million for transit needs less than 48 hours after the tragedy occurred. To date, a total of $371 million in Federal funding has been provided for the cleanup and reconstruction of this crossing.

Construction of a replacement bridge on I-35W has moved swiftly. By late October, 2007, major work to replace the bridge had begun, and by mid-April of this year construction crews had reached the half-way point in the project. This week, crews will finish pouring the concrete on the final span of the new bridge as construction continues ahead of schedule. The new bridge is expected to open on December 24, 2008.

This tragedy demonstrates the need to make a commitment to invest in the maintenance, reconstruction, and replacement of our nation's surface transportation infrastructure. Many bridges, highways, overpasses, and transit facilities are being stretched to the limit of their design life and beyond.

Of the 599,766 bridges in the National Bridge Inventory, 25.4 percent of America's bridges--more than one in four--are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. There are 72,524 structurally deficient bridges and 79,792 functionally obsolete bridges. According to the Department of Transportation (``DOT''), more than $65 billion could be invested immediately in a cost-beneficial way to replace or otherwise address existing bridge deficiencies.

Of particular concern is the condition of bridges on the 162,000-mile National Highway System (``NHS''), which consists of the 46,747-mile Interstate System, the Strategic Highway Network for military mobilizations, and other major highways. While the NHS makes up only 4.1 percent of total U.S. mileage, it carries 45 percent of vehicle miles traveled. NHS bridges carry more than 70 percent of all traffic on bridges. Of the 116,172 bridges on the NHS, including more than 55,000 Interstate System bridges, 6,175 are structurally deficient. Almost one-half of these structurally deficient NHS bridges are bridges on the Interstate Highway System, which has 2,830 structurally deficient bridges. The DOT estimates the current NHS bridge investment backlog to be $32.1 billion, including $19.1 billion for the Interstate Highway System bridge backlog.

While bridges are a key component of our nation's infrastructure network, these figures highlight the failure to make necessary investments in our nation's transportation infrastructure network. America's intermodal transportation network serves as the backbone of our economic security and competitiveness, as well as our quality of life. It facilitates the safe movement of people and goods, linking our communities to each other and to the world. The U.S. transportation system has served as a model for developing an interconnected network. However, in recent years we have been losing ground.

Many aspects of America's transportation network are operating at or near capacity. The Texas Transportation Institute, in its 2007 Urban Mobility Report, reported that in 2005 wasted fuel and time translated into a total congestion cost--or tax on the nation's drivers--of $78.2 billion--$5.1 billion higher than a year earlier. This congestion translates into millions of vehicles stuck idling on American roadways. This undermines our nation's economic competitiveness, productivity and quality of life. It has also contributed to a significant increase in transportation's share of U.S. green-house gas emissions.

Advances in logistics have turned our nation's roadways into real- time warehouses thanks to ``just in time delivery'', which builds greater efficiencies and cost savings into the system by allowing businesses to order parts and inventory stock in smaller batches. However, the increasing congestion on the nation's roadways threatens these efficiency gains. Truck transportation has increased its share of overall logistics costs for U.S. companies, reaching 77 percent of total logistics costs in 2007. Total logistics costs today account for 10.1 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2007, up from 9.9 percent in 2006.

With our nation's population expected to grow from approximately 300 million today to 420 million by 2050 and freight volumes expected to grow by 70 percent by 2020, future demands on our intermodal surface transportation network will require a bold new vision and approach to addressing the challenges of the 21st century, and a commitment to identifying the resources to carry out this new vision. Yet we continue to underinvest in infrastructure.

Earlier this year a Congressionally-chartered Commission--the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission-- identified a significant surface transportation investment gap, and called for an annual investment level of between $225 and $340 billion--by all levels of government and the private sector--over the next 50 years to upgrade all modes of surface transportation (highways, bridges, public transit, freight rail and intercity passenger rail) to a state of good repair. The current annual capital investment from all sources in all modes of transportation is $85 billion.

We are now on the threshold of a transformational moment in the evolution of our surface transportation program. Next year, as Congress develops the next surface transportation legislation, we will face challenges in determining what the shape of our system should be and how best to finance it. This new era of transportation will challenge our imagination, our political will, and the tendency of all user groups to hunker down, think and act in insular ways--in self-interest, rather than in the common interest. We must begin now to rise above our differences, to find common ground in policies--and funding--that will best serve the nation's passenger and freight mobility and access needs in the 21st century.

Infrastructure is easily overlooked. It is always there, always functioning, always serving our needs. When infrastructure fails, though, as it did that day one year ago in Minneapolis, we are suddenly awakened to the fragility of our national transportation system. The collapse of this facility is a tragedy that policymakers and leaders around the country, and Americans in general, will not soon forget. The traveling public is looking to their government for solutions to ensure that such a tragedy will not happen again. We must take the lessons of the I-35W Bridge, and use them to create an accountable and reliable surface transportation program that guards the safety of all users.

It will be up to Congress and the next Administration to summon the political will necessary to create a surface transportation system that will serve as an engine of sustainable growth, underpinning and enhancing the greatest economy in the world, and ensuring the safety of American drivers.

We cannot walk away from this responsibility, and we can no longer afford to ignore it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3311 and join the gentleman from Minnesota whose State and area has been hit by this terrible, horrible tragedy that's taken lives.

And on our side of the aisle, when we do have a national tragedy of this nature, we do try to pull together in a bipartisan manner to address the needs of people who have suffered this type of, again, horrible disaster.

I know that the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) has taken a leadership role today in approving this money; and I'm pleased, as the Republican leader, to also come forward and lend our support for this authorization.

Now, many people have asked me what we're doing here today. And we are authorizing $250 million for repair and reconstruction of the I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River. Now that's authorization and Federal authorization. It is not funding, and there must be appropriations.

I might say that we're doing that because the authorization fund, the Highway Emergency Relief Fund, unfortunately, we had $100 million and it's depleted. Not only is that $100 million depleted but also the reserve and additional money that was put in in the supplemental is depleted. So that's why we're doing this for our friends and colleagues and those who have suffered this loss in Minnesota.

It's my hope that this bridge will be built in rapid order and replaced; and I know that the good custodians in Minnesota, with their Transportation Department, will work to see that happen.

But let me say that the Minnesota bridge is only, unfortunately, the tip of the iceberg in an aging infrastructure and transportation system that we have in this country. We have, out of almost 600,000 bridges, about 80,000 bridges that are structurally deficient. Twenty-seven percent of our bridges are structurally deficient or obsolete, according to one of the most recent studies; and the infrastructure, not

just in bridges but in highways, in ports, in airports, in rail, is inadequate and it's outdated.

I proposed as a solution recently a national strategic transportation plan. The American Council of Civil Engineers has estimated this will take $1.7 trillion.

We need a national plan to restore our infrastructure from sea to shining sea, where we have congestion, where we have bridges falling into our rivers and where we have inadequate infrastructure on which to conduct the business of this country or just get around our congested communities.

So we need a bigger plan, and then we need a way to finance that plan, and I look forward to working with all of the Members in trying to develop that plan and with this administration and the next administration.

So finally, as I close with my initial thoughts, I want to say that our prayers go out to the people of Minnesota, especially the families of those affected by this tragedy. And I pledge from our side of the aisle again to work with every Member in Congress and with the folks in Minnesota to bring things back to regular order there.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the Republican subcommittee leader on the Highways Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished former Chair of the T&I Committee and the senior Republican on the T&I Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

(Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to probably one of the most capable and compassionate Members of the House I know and the senior Republican of the Minnesota delegation, the gentleman, Mr. Ramstad.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to another outstanding Member of the Minnesota delegation, Mr. Kline.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the newest Member of the Minnesota delegation, a rising star in Congress, and the people of Minnesota are very fortunate to have her here at this time (Mrs. Bachmann).

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 3 minutes to one of the most distinguished and senior Members, not only in Congress, but the senior member of the Florida delegation, former chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Young, my friend.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I will yield myself the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, Mr. Oberstar, I thank you for paying attention to the important responsibility you have, not only as Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee but as a good steward for the people of your State in a time of need.

And, you know, it's amazing what we can do in this House. It's absolutely incredible. Mr. Young has been here for many years, and I have always looked up to him as one of our leaders. We started some years ago, senior to me, but I followed his career and what he has been able to do on a bipartisan basis.

And when we do have an emergency, whether it's 9/11 or whether it's a bridge that collapses in Minnesota, it's amazing what this House of Representatives can do when it comes together in a bipartisan fashion. That tragedy just occurred a matter of hours ago, and here we are, in our system, working together, helping those people. We're not going to solve this all by the Federal Government; and, as I said, this is only an authorization. But people are in need, and we came together, as this body is designed to do.

But, as I said, the bridge is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Our Nation's infrastructure is collapsing. Our Nation's infrastructure is obsolete. We have got to come together.

We came together, Mr. Oberstar and I, with a Water Resources bill that hadn't been passed in 7 years, but we brought it here, it is now pending final approval, to build the Nation's dams and infrastructure, also important. And we see that if you don't pay now, you will pay later.

So we can do this. We can make the investment to build the infrastructure that makes our economy grow, that makes this a great country and allows free enterprise to give us the great life that we've had in this wonderful country.

So I look forward, Mr. Oberstar, to finalizing this with you and helping the people in this time of need and also in taking on a leadership position as we make the investment in our country that is so necessary in our infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3311, which was received from the House.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment that is at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, my colleague from Minnesota is here. I will yield to her if she wishes to proceed first.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, my colleague from Minnesota has described the spirit of a people confronted with great tragedy. It was horrible to be there by that bridge and see those cars, some in the water, others that had burst on fire--a tractor trailer--to see a school bus on the precipice. I think it had dropped 20 feet. Had it gone a little further to the side, it would gone over the edge. Had it gone a little further forward, it would have been caught between crashing portions of steel and concrete. Had it gone another distance, it would have been in the water. Yet every one of those 60 kids walked away.

We saw tragedy. There are those who have lost their lives and suffered great pain, but we also saw miracles. We saw the reaction of a community that came together at every level--the first responders, the citizens who came together to jump in the water to try and help folks who were in situations that were hard to understand.

In addition to that, when Senator Klobuchar and I got there early in the morning, we sat in on a briefing with the Governor and the mayor and the first responders, the county commissioners, city council members--some Democrats, some Republicans. It didn't matter.

I sat there as a former mayor remembering what it was like on 9/11, remembering how unprepared we were on 9/11. And after 9/11, as a city, we tried to take stock and recognize that our first responders weren't tied into what was going on at hospitals, and various police and fire from different communities could not communicate. What we did is we went about the process of training and training and training, preparing and preparing and preparing, and it came together. I watched in the city of Minneapolis, and as a former mayor I took pride in the way the people responded.

I think the Nation saw it, I think the world saw it, and it made me proud to represent Minnesota.

I say that because I saw the same spirit in the Senate tonight. The people in Minneapolis have some great needs. My colleague in the House, Congressman Oberstar, put forth a plan that would provide authorization to rebuild the bridge. There was also provided some extra money on the table to deal with some very immediate needs.

I was there when the Secretary of Transportation made the pledge that ``we are going to be there to help,'' and we had some challenges then in moving that forward. There were some technical issues. But what I found along the way was my colleagues on both sides of the aisle simply said, how can we help? How can we get this done? The chairman of the Budget Committee a little while ago discovered there was one minor technical issue. He said, we are going to take care of this.

I got a call today from the director of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator. I got a call yesterday from the head of the SBA. At the scene yesterday we had the head of the Transportation Safety Board. We had the Secretary of Transportation, the highway administrator. They were all there. Everyone had come together. And on the floor of the Senate I saw that tonight, that spirit, and I simply say thank you to my colleagues. On behalf of the people of Minnesota and the

people of Minneapolis, I say thank you for the support you have shown and the spirit in which you have come together.

At times, there is so much rancor in our Nation today--this partisan divide. It is so uplifting to be in this Chamber to see my colleagues on both sides of the aisle come together, and so I say thank you.

Let me end by asking that we not forget there has been a great tragedy; that lives have been lost. Let us keep the families of those who have lost loved ones in our prayers. Let us make sure we continue in the effort to ensure that the resources are there to rebuild, and let us do it quickly. Let us do those things to expedite the process. This is a major thoroughfare, a major piece of the transportation system in the State of Minnesota. We need to get the money back to Minnesota and get the people on the ground who can get the work done.

We can do it, and we can do it quickly. We will rebuild this bridge, we will rebuild quickly, we will find out what caused this terrible, terrible tragedy, and we will keep those who have suffered loss in our prayers.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, let me first begin by commending Senators Coleman and Klobuchar for their very aggressive and appropriate response to a crisis in their home State of Minnesota. We were proud, all of us, to join with the Senators in helping their people in the face of great need.

This is interesting, because I rise for the moment to speak about another measure which both Senator Coleman and Senator Klobuchar have joined with me as cosponsors of, and that is the temporary protective status for Liberians. The Presiding Officer, Senator Whitehouse, is also a cosponsor, along with Senators Kerry and Leahy. It is a bipartisan measure. It is in response to a situation where there are thousands of Liberians here legally, but they are in danger of being deported because their status could change by October 1.

The House of Representatives earlier this week passed unanimously by voice vote H.R. 3123, which would extend for 1 year their temporary protected status. In fact, the minority leader, Mr. Blunt, was the key leader in this effort, along with our colleague from Rhode Island, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and I again thank Senators Coleman and Klobuchar, and all the cosponsors.

The Liberian individuals we are talking about were in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s when a brutal civil war broke out in Liberia. They could not go home, and this country granted them protective status. That status, in one form or another, has been continued for now almost 15, 16 years. There are many families of Liberians in this country whose children are American citizens--in fact, who are about on the verge of college or even older.

Today, Liberia has made some progress. It has a democratically elected president. She is a remarkable woman, leading her nation. But, still, it is not a country that is ready to accept individuals who are in the United States, who are part of our community, who have American children, and who are contributing to our communities. We should, I think, give them the opportunity to make a choice of whether they should stay here or go back to their homeland of Liberia.

Every year they face a precipice that comes on October 1, when they worry whether their status will be extended; when they worry whether they will have to leave children behind, give up their jobs, leave their community and be lifted up, literally, to go back to a country which is, quite frankly, not ready to accept them and to use their talents. So each year we have been able to, either through administrative decision or through our efforts here, extend their stay. I urge that my colleagues consider taking up H.R. 3123, and I requested on behalf of my cosponsors a unanimous consent to do that. I am told that on the Democratic side there were no objections, but, apparently, there are some objections on the other side. I want to make it clear to all my colleagues I will renew this request time and time again when we return in September.

We have to act before October 1. It would be unfair, unjust, and unwise not to grant this exemption. It was accepted on a bipartisan basis overwhelmingly in the other body, and I think we should do the same here in the Senate. I urge any of my colleagues who have questions--and I think at this juncture there are many who might have legitimate questions--please, I would be happy to answer them. I would be happy to respond. I believe I can make a compelling case that in terms of fairness, in terms of equity, in terms of recognizing what these individuals have done to contribute to communities all across this country, they should be granted at least 1 more year. This is not a permanent adjustment, this is an additional year.

Let me stress one thing also. We have had a great deal of discussion in this Congress about immigration. These individuals are legally here in the United States, and they have been given the opportunity to work, they pay taxes, and they are not qualified for any social benefits. I am very proud of Rhode Island because we have a large community, relatively speaking, and they have become extraordinarily productive members of our community. So I feel very strongly, and I know my colleague, the Presiding Officer, does, that we are going to do all we can over the several weeks before October 1 to make sure this is adopted; that we follow the other body in doing so. I don't want anyone to mistake my objection to other provisions that are going forward. I am sincerely committed to getting this done. I hope we get it done, and I thank the Presiding Officer for his cosponsorship and leadership.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator be added as a cosponsor.