mrs. boxer: mr. president, i rise -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum. mrs. boxer: i would note that we would remove that quorum, if we could, by unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you. mr. president, i rise because we have a crisis on our hands with the f.a.a. f.a.a., the federal aviation administration. and i know exactly why we have this crisis. it's another made-up crisis by the republicans. this is a republican shutdown. we just got past the most -- well, i feel -- made-up crisis we've ever seen. 89 times we've passed a debt limit extension, and it took us weeks of -- and months of wrangling to get it done, finally got it done. i'm glad we got it done. unnecessary -- people in my state panicked that they wouldn't get a social security check. small businesses saying they couldn't get a decent loan. all that for nothing. we can do our work. we can take the ideas of, mr. president, your gang of six, senator coburn's -- we can have the ideas on the table. we can do this. we did it when bill clinton was president. we

boxer when he was young. i swear to god he was dropping his left. because he sounds absolutely adult. he makes mr.ate toe head come off like steven hocking at this point. >> yeah. i have to agree with you, miller. why anybody in the middle of this intense debate would talk about pam grant that the plants got to get back there when the country has a $14.5 trillion debt. i think we should go to his house and rip up the pomegranate. >> at this point half the pomegranates think he is an idiot, okay? they asked for a balanced thing and the republicans say okay we want a balanced budget amendment and they say anything balanced except that anything but that. we want balanced. not that balanced. >> bill: i don't know. the stuff looks, you know, if somebody were coming here from mars, they would say oh reilly you didn't make that president obama turning 50 tomorrow. and going up to chicago big fundraiser. top picket 335800 to hang with the president in a little birthday celebration and you say, miller? that's the very definition of the innate hollowness of a political life when you moments most personal ev

mr. deron lovaas a transportation policy director of the national resources defense council. >> thank you, chairman boxer ranking member inhofe, members of the committee for -- investing for a -- invite me to testify today. imagine a world without transportation systems. rangers and farmers would be unable to get products to market. manufacturers of the vehicle's parts would be unable to ship it to the u.s. or a. overseas transportation -- or overseas. current policy undermines security and our economy. invest wisely by setting national mobility in access, at safety, economic impact and in a car rental quality objectives. public investment in infrastructure can yield a large productivity gains. investment in transportation to its $3.5 billion of gdp to handle investments in public transit systems and high-speed rail would create 3.7 million jobs overall and more than 600 jobs in manufacturing over six. years these investments would generate $60 billion in net annual gross domestic product gp nearly $45 billion in annual worker income, a $14 billion in annual tax revenue. current fiscal constraints warran

mr. chairman, thank you. i wasn't planning to but i wanted to incorporate some of what senator boxer said and also respond to senator hutchison. let me begin by thanking you for having this hearing, for, focusing on infrastructure and also for your personal efforts with senator lautenberg to introduce a transportation oriented infrastructure initiative. it's important. i'm confident we can find a way to wok together. we need to. the most important thing we need to get this done. i want to thank senator hutchison who stepped up early. worked diligently with us to fine tune a proposal so that we could build the bipartisan support we now have. we have senator graham, from south carolina and senator warner on our side. as original sponsors of this legislation. and others on the republican side who are very supportive and hopeful for it. the bottom line is this. and this is why we have to get together. every expert in the country will tell us that we have a $2.2 trillion infrastructure deficit. we would have to spend $250 billion a year for 40 years, which we're not doing just to bring our roads up to par, up to

boxer, we will be there unequivocally. we will be there with you lockstep with this committee. this issue is too important. we will be there with you every step of the way. >> wonderful. mr. james? >> my testimony today was in full support of the bill that's being introduced by this committee. we certainly think it is hugely important that surface transportation funding remain a bipartisan effort, which it has been throughout its history. and we certainly believe that maintaining the current level of funding for the next two years is the best approach to the highway program. >> and will you help a? >> absolutely. that was not complicit in what i said. absolutely we will. >> actually. because it is going to take -- we understand if this bill takes a different turn and somebody here says, any of you don't like it anymore, i get it, but that's not our intent. it's our intent to keep it as you see it. >> madam chair, simply, strong and clearly, yes your aashto will be there. >> aashto is crucial. and audible gary ridley, such close friend of mine, coley, what use a? >> madam chair, certainly the states and cities such as los angeles cannot rely totally on the gas tax that th

boxer, we'll be there unequivocally, we'll be there with you lock step with this committee. this issue is too important. we will be there with you every step of the way. >> wonderful. mr. james? >> my testimony today was in full support of the bill that's being introduced by this committee. we certainly think it is hugely important that surface transportation funding be remain a bipartisan effort which it has been throughout its history, and we certainly believe that maintaining the current level of funding for the next two years is the best approach to the highway program. >> and will you help us? >> absolutely, absolutely. >> make sure -- >> that was not implicit in what i said. we absolutely will be there. >> excellent. look, we understand if this bill takes a different turn and somebody here says -- any of you don't like it anymore, i get it, but that's not our intent. it's our intent to keep it as you see it. >> madam chair, simply, strongly, and clearly, yes. we will be there. it's crucial, and the honorable gary what do you say? >> cities and states like los angeles can want rely on the gas tax. they have to require on other funding because they take transportat