Issue Position: Transportation and Infrastructure

Issue Position

Supporting policies that improve our transportation infrastructure and expand transportation options in our communities is an important responsibility in Congress. 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.. Meanwhile, as we strive to put people back to work, it is important for them to have transportation options for job interviews and employment. Smart transportation projects like the Newberg-Dundee Bypass, decades in the making, will help transform our communities and ease congestion.

In June of this year, I voted to support a two-year transportation bill that was presented to Congress after a long negotiation process by House and Senate members. We needed a transportation bill to provide stability to those in our communities who rely on federal transportation funds to support important projects, and for whom the continuing uncertainty from repeated extensions of transportation programs was simply unacceptable. We passed a bill that will get people back to work, creating or saving more than two million jobs. Importantly this bill extends county payments -- critical funding that many counties in the First District and across Oregon depend on to maintain public services like schools, public safety, and fire departments. This extension will allow us time in Congress to work on a long-term solution to this ongoing fiscal problem. Additionally, the bill expands a loan program that could bring much-needed federal transportation dollars to Oregon, and maintains robust funding for Projects of National and Regional Significance.

Now that we have moved past the lengthy and often frustrating process of developing a transportation bill, we need to begin a new conversation on transportation to take our economy into the 21st century. We can't address the transportation needs of our constituents by simply building new roads; we need to invest in new transportation policy and infrastructure--from high speed rail to bicycle and pedestrian pathways. Looking ahead, I will begin working with my colleagues on how we can improve the current transportation bill going forward.

Source