Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act Receives Overwhelming House Support

Statement

Following three days of debate, during which over 100 amendments were considered, the U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan, multi-year surface transportation bill to reauthorize and reform federal highway, transit, and highway safety programs.

The Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (the STRR Act) helps improve the Nation's surface transportation infrastructure, refocuses programs on addressing national priorities, provides more flexibility and certainty for states and local governments, accelerates project delivery, maintains a strong commitment to safety, and promotes innovation to make the transportation system and programs more effective.

The legislation, approved today by a vote of 363 to 64, was introduced in the House by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Ranking Member Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

"The crowning achievement of this bill is its six years of promised funding to the states and the District of Columbia so that they can, once again, resume significant projects," Norton said. "This six-year authorization comes at a time when much of our infrastructure needs rebuilding, not repair. To keep this six-year funding promise, we must reinvent the Highway Trust Fund. If we work together, as Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member DeFazio, Subcommittee Chairman Graves and I have on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015, we will be able to take pride in doing for the nation's 21st century infrastructure what the Eisenhower administration and Congress did for the nation's 20th century infrastructure nearly 60 years ago."

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