Tom Carper

I would like now to turn to the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021.

My hope is that we will report this bill out with a strong, maybe unanimous vote

I know Senator Stabenow has been one of our great champions on this issue.

We have nothing to be ashamed of in this bill, even without the Markey Amendment.

This is a work horse committee. We are not show horses, we are work horses.

I am proud that our bill focuses on these critical issues of climate, safety, and equity and does so in a bipartisan way.

The idea of climate change is very, very real, and I just thank everybody for noting that

And with that, the nomination is confirmed.

The nomination is approved. Thank you all.

The fast timeline that led to this markup today is not by chance; it is a reflection of our commitment to getting the work done.

The roads and highways and bridges in this country need an enormous amount of work, an enormous amount of work.

With that, the nomination has been approved, and we report the nomination favorably to the Senate.

Let me be clear, though: There is still a lot of work to be done on infrastructure in this Congress.

I would look forward to working with you on these proposals, and any others.

States looking to expand telehealth in their Medicaid and CHIP programs would benefit from additional research and a more robust understanding of the impact of telehealth.

During the pandemic, telehealth has been an essential, and is becoming a more essential, tool in our toolbox.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency--which we are still struggling to get out of, but making progress--a wide variety of policy waivers have been put in place across our country to expand access to telehealth services.

I am always looking for win-win situations. This appears to be a real win-win situation.

Two weeks ago, the Biden administration issued the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Report, which intended to outline steps toward President Biden's goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.

Beyond our Committee, the Great American Outdoors Act, which I cosponsored, was enacted last Congress and will provide investments in our public lands and to address their maintenance backlogs.

I am proud to say that President Trump signed that bill into law last year.

The Chesapeake WILD Act, the first Federal wildlife conservation grant tailored to benefiting species in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, has bolstered our State's growing outdoor recreation industry.

There are a bunch of problems that need to be addressed, and our pointing fingers at one another... is not going to solve the problems.

We need them to nominate career Ambassadors, and we need to hold speedy hearings, vet them, and vote them up or down.

We are implicit in their misery. The question is: What are we going to do about it?