Reauthorize Surface Transportation Bill

Floor Speech

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a result of the Senate invoking cloture on what is being called a jobs bill. I believe we should be calling this bill what it really is. It's a cash infusion to keep the highway trust fund solvent.

Mr. Speaker, the Senate majority leader has said that a full reauthorization of surface transportation will be on the table by the end of the year. I ask, why not now? I ask, why not last February when we were debating the stimulus bill? Of the total stimulus spending in 2009, only 4 percent went to roads and bridges.

And while it is widely acknowledged that government spending does not end recessions, the money that has been otherwise squandered on portions of the stimulus that have been highly contested could have been used to promote maintaining or expanding our infrastructure. In turn, this would lead to safety enhancement, and above all, a more productive country.

The American people deserve some certainty--whether

it's looming health care mandates, cap-and-trade legislation, or planners just wondering if the highway dollars are going to be there.

If we want real stimulus, Congress will do its work and reauthorize surface transportation legislation immediately.

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