quorum call:

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i come to the floor today to introduce the military and veteran caregiver services improvement act. mr. president, this is a bill that will make really critical improvements to how we support

our why i am and injured veterans -- our ill and injured veterans and their caregivers. and i am especially pleased to be joined by our former colleague, senator elizabeth dole, who has come here on the floor and has been such a tremendous and invaluable person in working to bring these caregiver issues to national attention. and i really appreciate her being here and being such a champion on this and a leader. she has brought people from all over the country together to make a difference for our caregivers and for our veterans. we also have many of the very caregivers this bill is designed to help, representing, by the way, almost every state in the gallery today to see this legislation introduced. i am very proud that they are here. it's incredibly important that you are here today and on the hill, because, mr. president, as you know, our caregivers work extremely hard without any

recognition, and they rarely ask for anything for themselves. in fact, most of the caregivers i have met sound much like the veterans and service members they care for when they say, oh this isn't about me. i'm just doing my part. so last week, mr. president, when rand released their comprehensive groundbreaking study on military caregivers, they chose a very appropriate title: "hidden heroes." that is why it is so important to have all those caregivers here today and working constantly to make sure we understand what they do. mr. president, i am very proud to be introducing this bill not only as a senator and a senior member of the veterans' affairs committee and someone who has fought so hard for the implementation of the v.a. caregivers program, but as many of my colleagues know, for me this is really a deeply personal issue. growing up, i saw firsthand the many ways that military service

can affect both veterans and their families. my father served in world war ii. he was among the first soldiers to land in okinawa. he came home as a disabled veteran. he was awarded the prosecute pell -- award the purple heart and later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. he became too sick to work at the five-and-dime store that he managed and my mom became his caregiver. that was no small burden for my mom who had to also raise seven children, care for my dad and was now all of a sudden the primary source of income for our family. today, after more than a decade of two wars, men and women in uniform like my father, have done everything that has been asked of them and so much more. but now, as our role in this conflict winds down, the support we provide cannot end when the war no longer leads the nightly

news broadcasts and disappears from the front pages of our newspapers. it is an enduring commitment for those who will first need help now or those who may need help later in their lives. and it is a lifetime of care for so many. in so many cases the responsibility of providing that care often falls on the loved ones of severely injured veterans. their courage and nature devotion in taking on these responsibilities is inspiring for all of us. they are the reason we created the v.a. caregivers program which now provides these family members with health care and counseling and training and respite and a living stipend. and i was proud to lead the congressional efforts to push the v.a. to stop delaying the implementation of the caregivers program and restore the eligibility criteria to the intent of the law. thankfully as we know in the end the white house and the v.a.

announced that they would allow more caregivers of more veterans to be eligible for benefits and finally got the program implemented. but there is a lot more that we can do, because as the rand study clearly shows us, caregivers are still struggling. military caregivers have significantly worse health than noncaregivers, and they are at higher risk for depression. the stress they live under jeopardizes their relationships and puts them at greater risk of divorce and they have trouble with employment and keeping health insurance. mr. president, there is no way we will sit by and let caregivers and veterans face this on their own. not when we can make it a little bit easier. the bill that we are introducing this morning, the military and caregivers improvement act makes broad changes to help give caregivers and veterans the

issues they need to help tackle what they face. and i would like to take a moment on the floor today to highlight skwruflt a few of the important -- just a few of the important provisions contained in this bill. first and foremost, this bill will make veterans of all eras eligible for the full range of caregiver support services. we took an important first step in creating the post-9/11 veterans caregivers program, and now that the v.a. has had some time to get this program working, it is time for us to get the services to our older veterans who are also in great need. the bill also expands eligibility for the v.a. caregivers program by recognizing a wider array of needs which may require care giving, placing greater emphasis on mental health injuries and removing restrictions on who is eligible to become a caregiver. under the bill caregiver services will be expanded to include child care, financial advice and legal counseling. those are some of the top and

currently unmet needs of family caregivers. mr. president, the bill will also require the federal government to meet the unique needs of employees who are caregivers with flexible work arrangements so they can stay employed while caring for their veteran. i of course want to see all employers make these kind of accommodations for caregivers, but i want the federal government to lead by example. when it comes to the department of defense, the bill makes several improvements to the special compensation for assistance with activities of daily living first by making those benefits tax-exempt. and second, eligibility for special compensation would also be set at a more appropriate level of disability and would be more inclusive of mental health injuries and t.b.i. the military and veteran caregiver services improvement act also addresses a key theme identified by rand. there are many services inside

the government and outside to assist caregivers, but these programs are not coordinated. eligibility criteria are different for each one of them and there's not enough oversight to ensure the quality of those services. so what our bill does is create a national interagency working group on caregiver services. it will coordinate caregiver policy among all the different departments and create standards of care and oversight tools to make sure our veterans and their caregivers receive high quality services. the last provision i want to highlight is intended to help a military spouse who may be required to become the primary source of income for the family after the service member's been injured, just like my mom was. in order to help that spouse get the job they need to support the family, this bill will allow the injured service member or veteran to transfer their

post-9/11 g.i. bill benefits to their dependents by exempting them from the length of service requirements that would currently prevent them from transferring those benefits. injured veterans should not be penalized because their injury occurred early in their service. this provision is extremely important because for 2013 the unemployment rate for people with bachelor's degrees was only 4%, about a third lower than the national average. and their median weekly earnings were 34% higher than the national average. meanwhile, the rand study found 62% of post-9/11 caregivers reported financial strain because of their care giving. i know this is important. i saw it in my own family. for my family, the additional education my mom got got her a better job so she could support her family while she was caring for my dad.

it is what made the difference. so, mr. president, i want to again thank some key people who have been true leaders to get this to this point. i again want to thank senator dole and her great staff at the elizabeth dole foundation for keeping our country focused on the needs of our military and veteran caregivers and for bringing such national momentum to make the changes that we need. i also want to thankthe woundedt which was the driving force in creating the first v.a. caregivers program. they have provided invaluable advice. and finally, i really want to thank the outstanding folks at the rand corporation. they have put together a truly groundbreaking study that takes stock of where care and benefits have fallen short, where new needs are emerging, and how we can make it easier for veterans to get the care and benefits they deserve.

there are many ways for the whole country -- government, nonprofits, businesses, community leaders, faith leaders -- to do more help -- to do more to help. for all of us in congress, that starts with passing this legislation to help the hidden heroes, our hidden here close: our military and veteran caregivers. thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the record and i again want to thank all of our tremendous caregivers in this country for their service, for not asking for help, as they should. we are the ones who need to ask for help for them and to be there to provide it. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection, the material will be printed in the record. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators in accordance of the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of michelle t. freidland of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of michelle t. freidland of california to be united states circuit judge of the ninth circuit, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory

under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the ayes are 56. the nays are 41. the motion to invoke cloture is agreed to.

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, could we have order in the chamber? the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to start today by making an obvious point, that every member of the united states senate is dedicated to helping law enforcement officials get dangerous criminals off the street and deliver justice to victims of sexual assault -- every one of us. as we mark national crime victims' rights week and national sexual asiewl assault awareness month, let's all keep that in mind. ten years ago i was proud to join with my colleagues and president bush to enact the justice for all act, which has

made it easier for america's law enforcement agencies to protect the innocent, to identify the guilty, and to bring peace of mind to victims of violent crime. justice for all dramatically increased the resources available to test d.n.a. samples from crime scenes, to improve our d.n.a.-testing capabilities, and to reduce the rape kit backlog, which had become a national scandal. the backlog was and remains that national scandal of the highest order, but we're beginning to make some progress. in the city of houston, for example, a backlog that once reached 6,600 untested rape kits -- one of the largest in the country -- is now in the process of being completely eliminated -- that backlog, thanks in part to the support provided from the justice for all act. and just to refresh the memory of my colleagues and perhaps the

public who might be listening, these rape kits consist of forensic evidence collected at crime scenes that will help by testing the d.n.a. to identify the perpetrator and, in the process, it will -- has the potential of exonerating people who have been falsely accused because the d.n.a. tests are that good and that effective. but what is extraordinary about d.n.a. testing in the field of sexual assault is the that sexual assault offenders rarely commit that crime once. they are typically serial offenders. in other words, they keep at it until they're caught. and as we've learned from law enforcement officials, when they're not perhaps an adult victim available, they are opportunopportunistic and they l attack children, the most vulnerable among us.

so this is enormously powerful evidence that is available to exonerate the falsely accused, to make sure that the guilty are identified with scientific precision, and to take serial offenders off the streets so they can't commit other acts of violence. last year i joined with the senior senator from vermont, the chairman of the judiciary committee, to introduce bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the justice for all act and continue this beginning steps of progress. but if it were up to me, we would have passed that bill a long time ago. if it were up to me, i would prefer to reauthorize the entire justice for all racque act, rig, today. it has been hugely successful. that said, it doesn't appear that we're going to be able do

that today. but we do now have an opportunity to take immediate action on two of the law's most critical components. indeed, they could and they should be reauthorized right now, today. i'm referring, of course, to the debbie smith act and the sexual assault forensic exam program, both of which have been invaluable tools in our efforts to eliminate the rape kit backlog and to improve public safety. earlier this week our house colleagues passed a bill reauthorizing those provisions, and so the senate now has an opportunity to take up that more narrow house bill to reauthorize the debbie smith act and the sexual assault forensic exam program, even if we can't do the justice for all act today. so i'm hoping that colleagues

here in the chamber and anyone who might be listening to my voice will join us in this effort. let's do what we can do today to reauthorize the debbie smith act and the sexual assault forensic exam program, and then we can come back when it's possible for us to pass the justice for all act, the largerrer piece of legislation, when the senate is prepared to act. as i said, i'd prefer to reauthorize the entire justice for all act -- and i know there are many of our colleagues who share that sentiment with me -- but regardless of whatever minor disagreements members may have, we should immediately -- today -- reauthorize the debbie smith act and the sexual assault for forensic exam program. of course, again, refreshing some of my colleagues' memories and others who may not be familiar with this, the debbie smith act was named after debbie smith, who has dedicated her life to making sure that

congress keeps focused on this rape kit backlog problem and scandal. and she is one of the biggest cheerleaders for this law that now bears her name. this is also the name for the portion of the law that allocates funds to the department ofer justice tdepartr grant programs in law enforcement agencies around the country who may not have the money or expertise or the wherewithal to be able to test these rape kit backlogs. so it's not just my position that these two provisions that the house has passed should be taken up and passed by the senate and then we'll catch up in due course with the entire justice for all afnlg act. but that's not just my position. it's also the national center for victims of crime and of course debbie smith herself,

which many a confident many of my colleagues have -- which i am a confident many of my colleagues have -- which i'm confident many of my colleagues have heard from her. those folks support bigger provisions of the bill but if we can't do that, they support us passing the provisions passed in the house as soon as possible. we now have an opportunity, today, to do something to support countless victims of sexual asiewlt during the -- se- sexual assault i'm proud to stand here with the heroic people who are -- have dead quated their lives to helping -- have dedicated their lives to helping to address this scandal of a backlog in terms of untested rape kits, but people even more so who are willing and are spending their time and treasure to try to help folks

who need to heal, who need justice, and who are asking for our support. in all my years of public service, debbie smith is among the most inspiring people i've ever had the privilege of meeting. and i sincerely hope my colleagues will keep her in mind and others like her as we move forward with this legislation. earlier this week debbie reminded me that the rape kit backlog is not just about numbers and d.n.a. samples and scientific testing. it's about people, it's about justice, and it's about recovery. as she so eloquently put put i , these aren't rape kits that need to be tested. these are lives that need to be given back to their owners. these are fragments of lives that have been torn apart. i hope my colleagues will

remember those words, as they contemplate how we should move forward on the house provisions that have been passed as lon pas the larger justice for all act. by authorizing the debbie smith act and later the larger justice for all act, congress can continue doing our part to help people like debbie smith heal wounds, repair lives, and make our country a safer place. mr. president, i yield the floor. and i' i had i'd suggest the aba quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: mr. sessions: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i would ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, michelle t. friedland of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. mr. sessions: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i just share with my deletion some recent -- my colleagues some recent developments that i believe are important on the immigration front. my office did a report and

animals that -- recently that pointed out that this administration, unlike what has been done historically, has been counting border apprehensions and deportations as deportations or removals from the united states. classically before that, the i.c.e. officers, immigration, customs and enforcement officers apprehended people inside the border and did removal proceedings, and that was what was counted. so they have used those numbers to create the impression that a great deal more removals are occurring than really are. and that's not good. the administration should not be doing that and it's creating confusion. it's one more example of this administration's willingness, unfortunately, to miss

represent, twist numbers to make them advance an agenda that they believe ought to be advanced. so we are a nation of immigrants, we believe in immigration, but we believe in a lawful system of immigration. most americans believe the lawlessness should end and we should have a system that creates a mechanism by which people apply, and they admitted based on a fair evaluation people most likely to be prosperous in america, to do well and contribute to the nation should be given priority. we're just not doing that. and so the administration did that. then they contend and say openly that we're not going to deport people, except those who commit serious crimes, which apparently does not include d.u.i.

and those crimes almost always have to be a felony, it appears. and so those are the people that ought to be deported, according to the administration. we'll just ignore the law that there is a company down the street and an area of high unemployment and they have got five employees here working illegally, those would not be removed. they will be allowed to stay and just continue to work unlawfully, and americans would be drawing unemployment insurance or other subsidies who can't get a job, and this is happening all over america. so i'm trying to get to this fundamental point, that things are not being operated like a president who is charged to see that the laws of the united states are faithfully executed should conduct them. he has issued prosecutorial

policies, removal policies that go beyond creating a mechanism to enforce the law, but in fact wipe out the law. eliminate the law. there has never been a requirement in the law that if you're in the country illegally that you can stay here as long as you don't get convicted of some other felony unrelated to an immigration violation. and indeed under the policy as has been executed, if an individual has false documents, which is a felony for american citizens, that doesn't count as deportable crime. it's only a drug dealing or a crime of violence or some robbery that -- under the policies that we are carrying out. well, they say we are faithfully executing that part, and we're deporting the individuals who are convicted of serious crimes. well, a study came out from the

uscis enforcement immigration service group, a private group, and they have noted that -- that only about a third of the people who have been convicted of serious offenses are being deported. they're being released in one form or another and just staying in the country. and we have so much going on that's very troubling to me. former i.c.e. director john sand wig said repeatly if you are a run of the mill immigrant here illegally, your odds of getting deported are close to zero. it's just not going to happen. now, that's the truth. i was a federal prosecutor. i know how the system works. i have worked with i.c.e. officers and border patrol

officers and prosecuted their cases. this is what the reality is, and it's not right. it should not be. and when you have the vice president of the united states saying recently he considers the 11 million to 12 million people here illegally as citizens anyway. what message does that send, colleagues, to an individual who would like to come to america permanently but has a visa to work so many months or be a student for so many months, whatever, and their visa is over? what does vice president biden's statement mean to him? it means he doesn't have to go home. he just stays in the country. if he is in the interior and not caught at the border, he came on an airplane, flew into philadelphia or denver. he just gets to stay.

as long as he doesn't get convicted of a felony, nobody's ever going to bother. so this is open borders. if you get past the border, get into the interior, go to st. louis, you go to salt lake city, you go to little rock, arkansas, then you can just stay. that cannot be the policy of the united states of america. it just cannot be the policy of a nation who expects its laws to be respected that if you can get past the border or if you can get a visa into the country and overstay, nobody is going to have any intention of removing or enforcing the agreements you made or enforcing the law. i just feel strongly about them. people are unaware of how this is happening. i just see the -- in addition to the expansive claims about who is being deported or removed.

this was in the front page of "the washington times" today, steven dinan says -- ""the washington times "projections show that federal agents are -- quote -- " on pace this year to remove the fewest number of immigrants of president obama's tenure." close quote. he goes on to say -- quote -- "that slower pace contrasts with the president's argument that he is enforcing the law to the fullest extent possible by targeting criminals in recent border crossings." the article also goes on to say that they are fully funded to remove at least 400,000 people each year, the i.c.e. officers are, and at this rate they will be well below that figure. why? because it's the policy not to enforce the law. this is what's going on in this

country. and on the same page is an article that -- quote -- "sheriffs warn dangers of cartels reach far beyond the border." this is the headline. it goes on to say this -- "outmanned and outgunned, local law enforcement officers are alarmed by the drug and human trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping and money laundering that mexican drug cartels are conducting in the united states far from the border. not just at the border, away from the border. scwtion "it goes on --" u.s. sheriffs say that securing the border is a growing concern to law enforcement agencies throughout the country, not just those near the u.s.-mexico boundary. quote -- "if we fail to secure our borders, then every sheriff in america will become a border sheriff said sam paige, sheriff

of rockingham county, north carolina. we are only a two-day drive from the border and have already seen the death and violence that illegal crossing brings to our community." close quote. other sheriffs join in expressing that similar concern. we just are not where we need to be. since the president took office, interior removals have been cut nearly in half. they have dropped by 44%. more than half of the i.c.e. removals since 2009 are the border apprehensions where they just caught them at the border and send them back. these are not interior deportations as the statistics used to be focused on. more than half -- two-thirds of all i.c.e. removals last year were border apprehensions, so --

i said half earlier. it's really two-thirds of the numbers that they are counting as deportations and removals are really border deportations that weren't previously counted as such. 94% of the people removed last year, get this, were either apprehended at the border, which is not a true deportation, or were convicted of a crime while in the united states. do you hear that, colleagues? 94% of the people that were removed were either people captured at the border or had committed a serious crime. and as i said, all of those who commit serious crime were not deported. and most of the rest were repeat violators or fugitives that had been out on arrested on a fugitive warrant. so 99.9% of the 12 million illegal immigrants and visa

overstays without known crimes on their record, including those fleeing from authorities, did not face removal last year. so if you were here as a visa overstays or an illegal entrant inside the country and did not commit a crime, 99% of that -- 99.92% of the 12 million here were not involved or no action was taken to remove them. so it just goes to show that our law enforcement system is in a state of collapse. it's a deliberate plan by the president of the united states and it is wrong, and people need to be aware of it and need to stand up to it, and i think the american people are beginning to do so. this administration has effectively declared that anyone in the world who illegally gains

access to the interior of the united states through a border, through an airport, through a seaport is free to illegally remain in the united states, free to claim certain tax benefits, free to work and take jobs that unemployed americans need. this deprives millions of americans of their jobs, wages and represents a dramatic breathtaking nullification of federal law. this law enforcement collapse is evidenced everywhere. 872,000 aliens have been ordered removed but haven't left. so we order people removed, they get released on bail or just releaseed and ordered to remove themselves or show up for removal. well, how many are showing up? not many. it's called a catch and release, as has been referred to. so there are 872,000, almost a million, who have at one time or another been ordered removed but

haven't left. 68,000 potentially deportable aliens deemed criminals by i.c.e. were released by immigration authorities last year. these are people that were charged with crimes and still didn't get deported. the border patrol chief predicted a 10-fold -- get this -- chief of the border patrol. this is the guy who runs the border offer -- effort with his team, predicted a 10-fold increase in the presence of illegal youth crossing the border between 2011 and 2014. the number of -- well, they have been told come on down, nothing's going to happen, and it's created more people coming, this lack of enforcement. and then new york -- the "los

angeles times" report that the number of asylum claims at the border have increased sevenfold since 2009. well, the administration developed a policy of stopping everything, all you have got to do is say i'm claiming asylum and the whole process stops, and time goes by, often the individuals who claim asylum are released on bail, and then they don't leave. we don't know where they go. so this is in effect a postmodern view of challenging the very idea we are a nation state with real borders. attorney general holder and cecilia munoz, who is the president's chief director, policy person on immigration, who used to be with la raza, they've described amnesty as a civil right. so you come into the country illegally and the attorney

general of the united states declares that these individuals have a civil right to amnesty. how can this possibly be? the chief law enforcement officer in america? senator -- vice president biden recently said -- quote -- ,"you know, 11 million people live in the shadows. i believe they're already american citizens. 11 million undocumented aliens are already americans. goodness. the vice president of the united states would make such a statement? it's stunning beyond belief. apparently somebody whose visa was up and they were due to get on an airplane yesterday and they read the vice president's statement, they'll say i'll just stay. i'd rather stay now. i kind of like this place. if i go back, i'll have to wait in line. compete within the system like

everybody else that comes lawfully but i'm here, i'm just not going to leave. is it any wonder why we're having more people staying as the border patrol chief said? president obama has made a series of nominations, mr. jeh johnson, the head of the homeland security, a lawyer at the department of defense and a political campaigner, the head -- to head this huge department of homeland security, he could be counted on to know one thing, however, he's very close to the president and that's to carry out the president's wishes. he doesn't know anything else about running a big, major law enforcement operation like this. mr. perez at the civil rights chief at department of justice, mr. perez was very active in the

pro-amnesty group in maryland before this, and mr. rodriguez, who is now over at homeland security, too, they were installed not to be good, smart law enforcement officers but to effectuate the president's agenda. you want to know the truth, that's the truth. they were put in there to carry out the agenda, not to carry out law enforcement, and the homeland security morale is the lowest of any major entity in the united states government. they've actually sued supervisors because they're being blocked from enforcing the law as they've taken an oath to. so, mr. president, i see my colleagues here and i will yield the floor and just conclude by saying i hope we'll -- colleagues will look at this. these facts are not disputed.

this is not acceptable. it cannot be that the united states government would carry on its business in this way. it's dangerous not only on immigration law but any other law that might come up in the future. presidents cannot, attorneys general cannot, homeland security people cannot fail to enforce plain law without creating serious damage to the great american constitutional legal system that has protected us and produced our prosperity. i thank the chair and would yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i'd like to start this afternoon by thanking chairman murray for her tireless work on the budget committee on which i serve to develop and pass a bipartisan budget, a budget that sets us on a path to return to regular

order. senator murray has also been a tireless advocate for transportation and infrastructure programs and has chaired the trappings and housing and urban development subcommittee on which i also serve, she has fought to include funding for amtrak in the 2014 omnibus and moving forward. the topic i'd like to take up today is the role of amtrak in our communities and our country and its appropriate role as a central piece of federal transportation policy going forward. senator murray has been a terrific advocate for investing across a wide range of transportation modalities and as a member of the appropriations committee i look forward to working with her and with our leading full committee chair, senator mikulski, to make sure that we are successful in fighting ardently, steadfastly for amtrak this year and in the future. i come to talk about the importance of our national

passenger rail system, amtrak because this isn't just about getting people from point a to point b. investing in amtrak means creating jobs, making our economy or dynamic and america more competitive. amtrak is performing better and better each and every year and as the presiding officer knows, all too well, ridership over the last decade has steadily increased. in fact, ten of the last 11 years have seen record numbers and last year we broke through 31.6 million riders on amtrak. the trains are more and more crowded but are arriving more and more frequently on time and the quality of the train sets and the quality of the service provided by the conductors and the other folks who work for amtrak has steadily increased. as the value proposition of amings that-track has increased, so has ridership and though record ticket sales and other revenues have made this possible, amtrak today covers nearly 89% of the cost of operating their trains by far the best of any passenger rail operation in the united states.

they are, in fact, on track to cover 90% through revenues of their total proiting costs in -- proiting costs in 2014. because of this success since 2002 amtrak has decreased its debt by more than half. my home state of delaware and your home state of new jersey mr. presiding officer, is part of the oldest and most crit cal sections of our passenger rail system, the so-called northeast corridor which goes from boston to washington and this corridor produces if it were its own separate economy, this corridor would produce $3 trillion a year, 20% of our nation's total economic output which would make it the fifth largest economy in the world if it were on its own. but it's not. it's an integrated part of our nation and its passenger rail infrastructure is an integrated part of our national commitment to efficient and effective transportation. in this region in particular, though, amtrak isn't a luxury. it's a fundamental and critical part of our economy and of

moving our community and our people forward. if amtrak service were cut off in the region for just a day, it would cost our economy $13 million. and one-third of all the jobs in test the northeast corridor or seven million jobs are within five miles of a station. amtrak's impact on my home state of delaware is particularly large because amtrak employs over a thousand men and women in the state of delaware. many work in wilmington and in bear where they repair train seats to the trucks to the cars themselves. i've had a number of chances to visit them and it is incredible to see the work ethics and the capabilities of the men and women of amtrak. these shops have been there a long time and they've worked hard to be relevant and to contribute to the strengthening bottom line of amtrak overall. let me just mention iris john, a good friend grend of mine in the sheet metal workers, sheet metal workers with amtrak were one of the unions that worked with management to find ways to significantly save costs on

overhaul work on the acela sets that resulted in amtrak choosing not to farm out the service work and instead do $125 million job to overhaul 20 acela sets in house. this is union labor, this helps support good middle-wage jobs, this helps support middle-class families and mielg communities in delaware and our region. this particular work on this acela overhaul will last more than three and a half years and sustain difns and dozens of jobs at our repair facility. my friend bill with the amtrak union is another friend who has helped me understand the critical role that the employment that amtrak provides, provides to our whole region, not just to delaware, not just to the philadelphia area but to the whole northeast corridor. so when we talk about investing in amtrak, we're not only investing in new options for commuters and businesses, we're talking about investing in our communities, no workers who will build and maintain the next generation of american rail. these are as i've said, great

high skilled jobs and by investing in amtrak's present and giving them a predictable future, we'll preserve and continue these important skills, these important workers and their families in our communities. now, amtrak's benefits go beyond just the immediate skilled workers and their families and the communities that benefit from them. in delaware the services that amtrak provides helps to keep and draw in new businesses through a ripple effect in our whole economy. in fact, just last week there was an announcement of a new company spinning 0 off out of sallie mae locating in wilmington. they've chosen a site specifically because it is walking distance from our amtrak station. from the joseph r. biden amtrak station in wilmington, delaware. in newark, the university of delaware is building a new campus, the star campus which will build partnerships between regional entities. thomas jefferson university in philadelphia and the aberdeen proving ground in maryland and

what makes that partnership possible is that backbone of the northeast corridor, the connection between these different cities that is made the stronger and better because of passenger rail. i hope from these few examples it's clear that passenger rail is also a critical exoanlt of economic development. passenger rail tends to link downtown urban areas and essential to anchoring their revitalization as the presiding officer knows so well. passenger rail is critical not just in the northeast corridor but in communities across the country that rely on it to connect with other communities and our economic centers. state supported services have become a major are scores of ridership growth, nearly doubling between 1998 and 2013. long distance ridership across the heartland of our country has grown by roughly 20%. without the introduction of any new services, frequencies or equipment and in 2013 long

distance ridership reached its highest ridership in 20 years. we are as the proverbial crossing roads or i should say crossing, because ridership is soaring, amtrak is more popular than ever before and demand will continue to grow but we are not keeping up with the investment in infrastructure that we need to sustain this growth into the future. right now for instance there is nearly $6 billion in outdated delayed investments that need to be made just in the northeast corridor to bring it to what's called a state of good repair. so let me focus on a few of the critical infrastructure needs in the northeast corridor, there are also needs across the whole country. in baltimore a city i traveled through this morning on the way to this capitol on the amtrak trains, senator mikulski's home state, the b. & p tunnels have stayed open since 1873 and although they've had periodic repairs none were built to be permanent. we can't be competitive if we

continue to rely on tunnels that have been around since roughly the time of our own civil war. we need to invest in modernizing this infrastructure. between the presiding officer's home state of new jersey and the great state of new york, preliminary planning is underway on the gateway tunnel, a critical project, that, ends up costing the economy more in the short and long run. we need to invest in our infrastructure. in delaware we have a bottleneck around our most popular station, the joseph r. biden station in wilmington. the rail lines north and south of that station mid-atlantic slim from three lines to two, restricting service and preventing the addition of new rail service. thanks to a rail grant, construction will soon be underway to add a third track to alleviate this choke point, ma the main one south of the station but without new investment that choke point will continue north of the station and that's not to mention the hundreds of bridges and tunnels and other ceksz points including the overhead catten areay lines

that require replacement on the northeast corridor lien. we need to invest in our infrastructure. we spend a lot of time on this floor talking about our nation's fiscal deficit and debt but we should also focus on our physical deficit and debt. the delayed repair of critical pieces of infrastructure that we rely on for our economy and our communities but that we can't focused on that if we would invest in today would employ people in repairing them and lay the groundwork for our improvement of our economy for the long term. i recognize the reality while the budget picture has improved, it is not yet as good as it should be. we are still facing real fiscal challenges. but, mr. president, as i ride between wilmington and washington nearly every day on amtrak, our workers are responsible for repairing and retrofitting a lot of the trains and parts that i ride on, i'm

impressed with their skill and the caliber of their repair work. as a rider and as our state senator i see how critical amtrak is to our economy, to our communities and to our country as a whole. i hope that is clear to the rest of the members of this chamber. and i hope that anyone watching who lass appreciated the value of amtrak's connecting power that links this country together east to west, north to south will communicate with your senator and convey the importance of strong and sustained investment in the northeast corridor yes, but across the whole reach of our only by strengthening amtrak and ensuring the vibrancy of the entire nation's system of passenger rail can we really ensure that american rail will be there for years and generations to come. thank you, mr. president. with that, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: