Mary Landrieu: “There has to be a better way to do this, because we have to take that money out of the Coast Guard budget.”

I thank the Presiding Officer. First of all, let me associate myself with the remarks of my cosponsor, Senator Hoeven, who before he had to slip out the door to take a call relative to this vote was really very clear on so many important…

With all due respect, I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: let's let local law enforcement and the elected officials in city government do their job, and we should focus on ours.

We waited for 6 months after the final report was done. So the final report has been done. It has been 6 years. It is clearly in America's interests. We have labor unions, business organizations-- the Association of Petroleum Institute…

I generally support the goals of the enhancements to the FAST Act, and do believe, as Senator McCaskill said, that having--and both of you--a permanent director, a budget, a staff to give some strength to what you all are trying to do.