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Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Mr. President, we are about to pass unanimously the St. Croix bill. It is something we have been working on very hard--the two Senators from Minnesota, myself, Senator Franken, Senator Johnson, as well as Senator Kohl--to get through the Senate.

This bill allows a bridge to be built that has been waiting for 30 years. It is a bridge that exists now and is a beautiful bridge, but it is falling apart. Pieces of the bridge have fallen into the St. Croix River. It is a bridge that is expected to take 18,000 cars a day, and the Department of Transportation and the State of Minnesota believe very strongly we need a new bridge.

This legislation allows the bridge to move forward. I appreciate all of the help from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. They have helped me to work on this legislation over the last few months. Senator Coburn had some changes at the end, and we worked with every single Senator to get this done.

The bill now moves to the House where it also enjoys bipartisan support, and both Governors of both States support this bill. They will then be allowed to build the bridge they want.

There has been questions raised about whether this creates some kind of precedent under the Scenic Rivers Act. This is a very unique situation. It has taken us a year to pass. We are in a situation where any new bridge would need an exemption to the Scenic Rivers Act.

We are pleased this bill is getting passed today. I don't believe anyone believed we could have done this unanimously after 30 years of work, but tonight we are getting it done.

I yield the floor.