Issue Position: Transportation and Infrastructure

Issue Position

The responsibility of Congress to improve our transportation infrastructure and expand transit options in our communities is important. Investing in our transportation infrastructure is an economic multiplier--not only do we employ hard-working Americans by building and maintaining infrastructure, we also improve the way people get to work and goods get to market. Smart transportation projects--many decades in the making, like the Newberg-Dundee Bypass--will help transform our communities and ease congestion.

In 2015, I voted for a five-year, comprehensive surface transportation bill that authorizes federal highway, public transit, highway safety, and other safety programs. We need a long-term transportation bill to provide stability and certainty to communities, and often federal transportation dollars are an essential part of the funding needed to build and complete local projects. Before the five-year bill, there was uncertainty from repeated short-term extensions of transportation programs, and it was gratifying to help put that behind us. This legislation will bring at least $2.6 billion to Oregon for roads and bridges and at least $500 million for public transit. I was able to include in the bill a designation of the Newberg-Dundee Bypass as a High Priority Corridor, which will help our region make the case for continued funding and support.

Now that we have moved past the lengthy process of developing a transportation bill, we can begin a new conversation on transportation that will take our economy into the 21st century. Simply building new roads and maintaining old highways is not enough; we need to invest in new transportation policy and infrastructure--from high-speed rail to bicycle and pedestrian pathways. Looking ahead, I will be working with my colleagues on how we can improve and upgrade our multi-modal transportation system.

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