Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT: A LEGACY FOR USERS -- (House of Representatives - March 09, 2005)

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise on behalf of the Committee on Ways and Means, and the committee approved the tax title to the highway reauthorization bill last week. The tax title of this bill appears to be noncontroversial.

To summarize, the tax provisions would extend current law highway-related excise taxes until 2011 and the Highway Trust Fund expenditure authorities until 2009. These provisions under current law expire in 2005.

We need more transportation funding. This is a good bill, and I commend both the chairman and the ranking member and all of those on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure who have worked so hard to bring this bill to the floor today. Apparently, there has been agreement among the Republican leadership that H.R. 3 provides the right level of funding for our transportation systems in the coming years. However, I believe strongly that we still need to be doing more.

I know that the ranking member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), who has done so much on this for so long, will speak strongly on the need to do more to improve and to maintain our existing transportation system and to ensure adequate infrastructure investments nationwide; and I strongly agree with the gentleman.

Our Nation's long- and short-term needs have been specific and well documented by the Department of Transportation. All that needs to be done is for this Congress to act and to provide that adequate level of funding.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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