Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the Republican Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2015. This bill drastically underfunds critical transportation and housing programs.

The bill's cuts to the TIGER program are particularly egregious. TIGER, formally known as Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, is a competitive grant program that creates jobs by funding investments in transportation infrastructure.

The Republican bill cuts TIGER from the 2014 level of $600 million down to a mere $100 million in 2015. Moreover, the bill includes restrictive language that limits TIGER grants by excluding public transit, passenger rail, bicycle, and pedestrian projects.

Public transit is an essential part of a modern transportation system. A previous TIGER grant helped the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to accelerate the construction of the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, a light rail project that will reduce traffic congestion and improve transportation service in my district.

Under the bill's restrictive language, this innovative project would never have qualified for a grant.

TIGER needs to be expanded, not restricted, not cut. The President requested $1.25 billion for TIGER in fiscal year 2015 in order to create jobs and modernize our Nation's transportation infrastructure.

Earlier this year, I sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee urging support for the President's request, and 144 Members of Congress signed my letter.

I urge my colleagues to strike the restrictive language in this bill, expand the TIGER program, and invest in a transportation system for the 21st century.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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