A bill to extend federal surface transportation programs for three months beyond their scheduled September 30 expiration won the support of the House of Representatives today. By a vote of 335-85, the House approved and sent to the Senate H.R. 3617, a bill to extend the current surface transportation authorization through December 31.
Following are prepared floor statements from Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.), Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
FLOOR STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES L. OBERSTAR
H.R. 3617, THE “SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2009”
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3617, the “Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009”, to extend the current surface transportation programs funded in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) for three months.
Although an extension of current law and funding levels is a far cry from my preferred approach to addressing the nation’s growing transportation challenges, we must pass an extension to provide continuity of funding for infrastructure projects, cutting edge research, and highway safety programs across the country that are putting Americans to work, saving lives, and fostering economic prosperity for businesses and consumers alike.
These important tasks, however, require a much greater level of investment and a transformational restructuring of the nation’s surface transportation programs to deliver the best return for taxpayers on their investments in the system.
Existing Federal transportation policies, which will be continued under this extension, are outdated and ill-equipped to meet the demands of a changing nation.
Right now, the only impediment to the implementation of a long-term surface transportation authorization is a lack of political will to make the necessary choices and implement the reforms that will set the nation on the path to building a surface transportation network that meets the needs of the 21st Century and beyond.
The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009, crafted by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and with the extraordinary input of Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman Peter DeFazio, would invest $450 billion in the nation’s multi-modal surface transportation network, providing long overdue investments in the nation’s highways, bridges, and transit systems to bring them into a state of good repair, and begin to address the growing investment gap in the nation’s infrastructure that has been identified by nearly every independent analysis.
Most importantly, the investments made by this long-term authorization will create or sustain six million good paying job opportunities.
Passing a transformational six-year surface transportation authorization bill is critical to delivering urgently needed jobs and building upon earlier bold efforts to begin to recover from this historic economic recession. This authorization would put Americans to work rebuilding the backbone of the nation’s economy and laying a solid foundation for long-term economic prosperity and growth.
Over the past year, the nation’s economy faced a dramatic collapse that undermined the solvency of the U.S. financial markets, jeopardized personal and commercial economic security, and caused massive and sustained job losses across a broad array of sectors.
Congress and President Obama confronted this economic freefall head on, taking swift and decisive action to bring the nation’s economy back from the brink of disaster and put us on the road to recovery and prosperity with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Recovery Act”).
The Recovery Act included substantial surface transportation investments that have allowed States and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to continue repairing and maintaining assets by funding ready-to-go projects. These projects are currently putting Americans back to work and in the coming months will create even more job opportunities as the nation’s economy climbs out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.
However, addressing the immediate need for job creation in a time of economic crisis cannot be mistaken as a substitute for passing a transformational long-term surface transportation authorization. While the Recovery Act provided much-needed funding and enabled States to reduce mounting maintenance backlogs, even this significant investment falls well short of meeting the overall needs of the system.
Meeting these needs can only be accomplished through the passage of a robust and transformational long-term surface transportation authorization that charts a bold new path for the future of the nation’s transportation network and builds upon the job opportunities created by the Recovery Act.
Passage of the Surface Transportation Authorization Act will ensure that we can build ourselves out of this recession brick-by-brick, project-by-project, and job-by-job. Once the nation’s economy has emerged from this downturn, it will rest on an infrastructure foundation that is safer, stronger, more efficient, and more environmentally sustainable for all Americans.
Unfortunately, the Administration, the Republican Leadership, and some in the Senate have suggested an 18-month extension of the existing surface transportation programs. This proposal is unacceptable and would seriously damage the bold efforts that are being implemented to rescue the economy and invest in the nation’s future.
Under their approach, in 18 months, we would once again find ourselves with the same difficult decisions, the same outdated and inefficient programs, and even greater investment needs for all modes of the surface transportation system.
Worst of all, failure to pass a long-term surface transportation authorization quickly would force significant uncertainty on States and MPOs that must plan critical projects years in advance and that require the long-term funding assurances and stability from their Federal partners to proceed.
In fact, my Committee has found that if we were to pass an 18-month extension of existing program funding levels instead of passing the Surface Transportation Authorization Act, more than 379,000 jobs would be lost or foregone over the next 18 months. This number continues to grow with the prospect of additional short-term extensions that would inevitably follow.
With nearly every State facing crushing budget shortfalls and Governors across the nation forced to make difficult choices to cut back on spending, it is simply irresponsible for those proposing an 18-month extension to expect States and local governments to make the necessary investments in infrastructure planning while here in Washington we are unwilling to make the same commitment ourselves.
The difficult decisions that we face today will not be any easier in 18 months, and the American people will pay the price for our inaction through lost jobs, decreased mobility, diminished productivity, and continued high levels of traffic fatalities and injuries.
Action must be taken to maintain the world class surface transportation system passed down to us by previous generations of Americans, and to build a 21st century transportation system worthy of being passed on to future generations.
We are at a truly transformational point in the history of the nation’s surface transportation system. The many challenges we face, and the growing needs that require bold solutions, can not be avoided any longer.
The safety, mobility, and quality of life in communities throughout America are at stake along with a budding economic recovery that depends on the leadership and bold vision outlined by this long-term surface transportation authorization—a jobs bill for America of unprecedented proportion.
With that in mind, Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R 3617, and urge my colleagues to join me in voting to pass a three-month extension of current law. This fall, let’s begin the hard work of passing the transformational six-year surface transportation authorization the country so urgently needs.
FLOOR STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE PETER A. DEFAZIO
H.R. 3617, THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2009
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. R. 3617, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009.
Our current transportation law, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), will expire a week from today on September 30th. H.R. 3617 will extend SAFETEA-LU for an additional three months in order to give us time to complete a new six-year authorization.
This extension isn’t my preferred method of handling the authorization of our surface transportation programs. I would prefer we vote on the six-year authorization that I have drafted with Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Mica and Mr. Duncan. The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 would create a well-funded, streamlined, efficient and effective transportation program. Our authorization bill reforms how Federal transportation programs work and would make our highways safer, improve our roads and transit systems, make our businesses more competitive, and reduce the amount of time the average person spends in gridlock.
However, due to the inability of the Senate to act in a timely fashion we are left with no other choice but to pass this short-term extension today. In fact, our friends in the Senate as well as the Administration would prefer an 18-month extension of current law. An 18-month delay is unacceptable. It would leave states without the reliable funding source they need to plan significant multi-year projects.
The three-month extension we are about to vote on will give us time to complete a full six-year authorization by the end of the year. It is imperative that we complete a full bill by the next construction season. To not do so will cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs. In fact, an 18-month extension of the current programs would cost us over 379,000 jobs. We can’t afford to walk away from that many jobs. And we certainly can’t afford it in this economy.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act started the recovery process, but a long-term authorization is key to ensuring that recovery is permanent. It is a proven fact that infrastructure spending, particularly transportation infrastructure spending, creates jobs and significant economic activity. Every $1 billion invested in transportation infrastructure creates or sustains over 34,000 jobs and results in $6.2 billion in economic activity. In addition to creating jobs, transportation investment creates assets that benefit generations to come.
A well-funded, streamlined and efficient transportation program improves the economy by making businesses more competitive and reducing the amount of time the average person spends in gridlock. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, in 2007 congestion cost Americans $87 billion in wasted time and fuel. Congestion also impacts the costs consumers pay for products. In this just-in-time delivery system, the longer a delivery truck sits in traffic the more the product costs and the less competitive our businesses are in the global marketplace.
At one time the U.S. led the world in surface transportation investment, but since the Interstate construction era ended our investment has declined, giving us an economy threatened by congestion. The actual purchasing power of the Federal gasoline tax has declined 33 percent since 1993, the last year it was increased. The results of that decline in purchasing power and the lack of increased investment are clear. Almost 61,000 miles on the National Highway System are in poor or fair condition; more than 152,000 bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete; and the nation’s largest transit agencies face an $80 billion maintenance backlog to bring their rail systems to a state of good repair.
The 2009 report card issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the nation’s infrastructure a “D” and estimated it will require an investment of $2.2 trillion over the next five years to bring our infrastructure to a state of good repair. While some might think a transportation system that deserves a “D” grade is good enough, we know it is not. The status quo is not an option. Every day we delay completion of a long-term bill means another day the government denies the public the transportation system it deserves. The current surface transportation programs deliver process, not product. We have a chance for real reform here; a real chance to partner with states and local governments to reduce sprawl and build more livable communities. We must seize this opportunity.
In order to continue the momentum of the Recovery Act – and in order to ensure a sustained recovery – we must invest more in transportation in a long-term, focused way. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has spent the last 2 and a half years preparing for a surface transportation authorization that provides the reform and investment necessary to move us to a 21st Century transportation system, to create millions of family wage jobs, and to continue to put the economy on the road to recovery.
H.R. 3617 isn’t the bill we should be voting on today, but it will give us the time to complete the long-term bill that will provide the renewed vision, increased investment, accountability and reform America’s surface transportation system needs.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3617.
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Summary of H.R. 3617, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009
View T&I Committee members' floor statements on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/user/HouseTransInf
