Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding.

By July, when this new patch expires, Mr. Speaker, we shall have spent a full year since the last patch, not even trying to make progress toward a long-term authorization bill.

We have acquired a dangerous habit--33 since the last long-term bill--of patches that create no urgency to get a long-term bill done. The Ways and Means Committee, the funding committee for this bill, is holding its first hearing next month. The frustration in the States has accumulated as fast as the untenable backlog of projects. Another construction season has already been sacrificed.

The reason we are here is itself a comment on congressional neglect of the Nation's infrastructure. States have slowed down their request for reimbursements from the trust fund because the unreplenished fund, together with the short-term patches, make it impossible for States, themselves, to even begin projects of any size.

Mr. Speaker, the States have already scaled back their plans for 2015 that would have created jobs. This self-inflicted crisis is threatening other jobs, too--many Federal employees in my district and thousands of others throughout the country. If Congress fails to take action by May 31, many Federal employees will be furloughed; Federal reimbursements will stop, and the highway and transit programs will shut down. The hidden costs are even worse, the many economic development projects in the country that can't be started until roads, bridges, and transit to accommodate them are done.

Today, the Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee have introduced the President's GROW AMERICA Act. We are putting a good bill on the table. Change it or do your own substitute, but do not leave the Nation's infrastructure twisting in the dust of another delay.

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