Rep. Loretta Sanchez Appointed by Pelosi to Negotiate Long-term Highway Bill

Statement

Today, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues appointed Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-46) to negotiate a landmark bipartisan long-term highway bill between the House and the Senate. It's been 10 years since Congress last passed a long-term highway bill and this current highway package is crucial to addressing the urgent transportation infrastructure needs of communities across the country, especially Congresswoman Sanchez's home state of California.

Leader Pelosi chose Congresswoman Sanchez for this important role citing the Congresswoman's deep expertise and strong values demonstrated in her decades of service in Congress.

"I'm honored to serve alongside these strong and experienced leaders to negotiate more robust, long-term funding for America's decaying infrastructure system," said Congresswoman Sanchez. "Today, we will meet for the first time to negotiate this bi-cameral bill with California's champion on infrastructure, Senator Barbara Boxer."

"Our families, our roads, and our economy deserve a highway funding bill that will invest in America's future, invest in better infrastructure, and invest in bigger paychecks for the hard-working families across our nation," Congresswoman Sanchez continued.

This highway bill is critical to the Southwest economy which is already suffering from deficiencies in water infrastructure as a result of the drought. Furthermore, 68% of California's roads are in poor or mediocre conditions and almost 30% of California's bridges have been recognized by the Department of Transportation as "structurally deficient.'

Source