Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012

Floor Speech

Ms. RICHARDSON. Madam Speaker, it's been 910 days and eight extensions since SAFETEA LU expired. Today we find ourselves kicking the can once again as we take up extension number nine because this House Majority has failed to act.

Thankfully the Senate did act. Two weeks ago, Democratic and Republican Senators overwhelmingly voted, by a bipartisan majority of 74 22, to generate jobs, repair our roads and bridges, invest in our infrastructure, and strengthen our economy. Meanwhile, this body under Republican leadership has yet to put forward a credible highway reauthorization that puts Americans back to work.
MAP 21, the surface transportation authorization bill, passed by the Senate is by far the biggest jobs legislation Congress will consider this year.

It is imperative that the House of Representatives join the Senate in passing this bipartisan bill and send it to the President before the March 31st expiration of highway program funding or risk devastating job losses across the nation.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 14 will save 1.8 million jobs and creates up to 1 million more jobs.

The bill also provides consistency for states and maintains current funding levels for highways and public transportation, consolidates and streamlines highway programs, and establishes a national freight program. This national freight program will provide over $2 billion dollars to upgrade our nation's goods movement system. That equates to $336 million to the state of California alone over two years for freight infrastructure upgrades. These funds are critical to areas like my district where over 40 percent of our country's imports arrive each year via the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

In addition, the bill would authorize another $1 billion dollars in fiscal year 2013 for Projects of National and Regional Significance. In previous years, the Projects of National and Regional Significance provided funding to several projects that provide economic benefits by making it easier to move goods.
Madam Speaker, these two programs and this bill are essential for our country to remain competitive globally.

H.R. 14 also improves safety, and institutes performance measures and improves accountability for transportation infrastructure investments.
Now is the time for swift action by the House action on the bipartisan Senate bill that will save or create 132,000 transportation jobs and 45,000 transit jobs in my home state of California.

Transportation has long been a bipartisan issue--and the Senate continued this tradition. The House should follow suit and put America back to work by passing H.R. 14.

I encourage my colleagues to stop kicking the can down the road--start creating jobs--and defeat this extension.

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