Hire More Heroes Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend and--in this enterprise--my partner, along with the informal partnership we made with our Republican chairs. And that is what it has been: an informal partnership with Members and also with staff.
I want to recognize the countless hours of staff time that went into what is really, in many ways, a complicated bill. The four of us are cosponsors, original cosponsors, of this bill, indicating its bipartisan nature.
Because Ranking Member DeFazio has gone down many of the important parts of the bill, I want to speak to three or four that I think are of particular significance.
Let's start with funding. We understand that funding is at the core of any transportation, transit, and infrastructure bill. We also understand that there may be barely enough funding to get through 2 1/2 years and that this is a 6-year bill in name and intent only, but it does amount to a 6-year promise, and we must keep that promise.
I appreciate that this bill is on the floor this week because States have so little money that they have virtually ceased beginning major projects, and those are the projects that they most need. The States will be disappointed that the funding is essentially the same as it was in the prior bill, MAP-21, except for inflation, which, of course, has been virtually nonexistent. But they will be grateful for what this bill provides for the immediate future, unlike our short-term reauthorizations.
The shortcomings of this bill should not obscure what makes this bill unique. It is genuinely bipartisan. It was approved unanimously in committee. When does that happen in this Congress? Democrats and Republicans put aside their many differences, giving up much of what they believe they need. I hope this bill will be a model for how to proceed in the future.
Let me say a word about major projects. The administration had a ``Projects of National Significance'' section in its bill. We have a different major projects section, but it is somewhat comparable. It is meant for transformational investments of the kind that are solely needed throughout the United States: megaprojects. Now States will compete for the funding.
What is also important in this program of national significance is that it includes freight. For the first time, I think, this bill recognizes that whatever we do with transportation and infrastructure, we should have in mind its intermodal connections, and freight is a very important part of those connections.
I want to mention a 21st-century approach to the highway trust fund, a provision I especially pressed for. I regard this provision as a provision of overriding importance. When I say a 21st-century highway trust fund, I mean a trust fund that lasts or can last for 6 years. We are still in the throes of a 1950s highway trust fund. In the last authorization bill, we did nothing to move forward to update the trust fund.
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Ms. NORTON. I thank my good friend for yielding.
The States have done spade work, however, Oregon, Washington, California. So there is $20 million to encourage them to do more. We know what some of these experiments are, vehicle miles, et cetera. Think of new ways. We need to encourage this experiment if we are to fund the trust fund in the future.
Another one of my priorities which is relevant to every State is in this bill, and that is the takeover of the DC-MD-VA Metrorail by the Department of Transportation. That was envisioned in MAP-21. It is not very unusual.
In addition, this bill authorizes the so-called minority business contract DBE Program, which is available to racial and ethnic minorities, women and service-disabled veterans. They are the only groups which under the Constitution may obtain this special recognition. The bill enhances Buy America. It has workforce development. It enhances the safety of bus riders and of bus drivers.
There is $40 million here to encourage State-based efforts to combat racial profiling and we have seen people in the streets for that one. I am so pleased that there was bipartisan support for that and other provisions.
I look forward to the continuation of the bipartisan partnership we have had as we go forward to the Senate to produce a comprehensive bipartisan, bicameral bill.
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