Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT: A LEGACY FOR USERS -- (Senate - May 09, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. President, I am pleased this afternoon to talk about title VII of this very important Surface Transportation Improvement Act of 2005. I remind my colleagues that the highway and transportation legislation, TEA-21, that we passed back in 1998, effectively expired September of 2003--not 2004 but 2003. We are now on the sixth extension of this very important legislation. This week we need to complete action on this very important bill.

It is about building decent highways and bridges and transit authorities, but it is about more than that. If we do not have decent infrastructure, if we do not have decent highways and bridges, if we do not have transit capability, if we do not have border roads, we are not going to have economic development. Most importantly, and that is why I am here as the chairman of the Surface Transportation and Merchant Maritime Subcommittee, safety provisions are not improved and extended. We should care an awful lot about this.

The safety portion of the legislation was reported out of the Commerce Committee, with the support of Chairman TED STEVENS and the ranking Democrat, who is referred to in our committee as cochairman, Senator Inouye. It is bipartisan, and I believe it is very strong legislation.

I care about the safety portion of it, and maybe I care about the safety provisions more than some people because I have had a family tragedy myself that has affected my thinking on this. My father was killed in an automobile accident, without a seatbelt, involving alcohol, on a narrow, two-lane, hilly road. This section of this legislation would affect all of that. It would give additional incentives for States to do more to stop driving while under the influence of alcohol. It would give incentives for people to use seatbelts. It would improve our roads and bridges and widen our roads. So this is personal with me, and I care an awful lot about it.

Before I get to that section of the legislation, I want to talk about the broader perspective. When we look at history and at infrastructure and the ancient Roman Empire, many would say it was their advanced infrastructure and efficient highways that allowed them to build the empire that they had. That highway system was critical to the expansion and protection of their empire. It allowed rapid troop movement. It facilitated trade. It enabled ease of movement for diplomats and couriers. It provided rapid expansion of the Roman sphere of influence. It afforded military protection from invaders and facilitated communication between distant parts of the empire.

We do not want to replicate everything we saw in the Roman Empire, but it also is interesting to note that that empire eventually went away, and some people say it was partially attributable to the fact that they quit building the infrastructure; they let the country start decaying and the infrastructure go into disrepair. I think that is what we are beginning to experience in America.

One of the reasons why we have been able to continue to grow, do well, and move around this country is because of our infrastructure: highways, bridges, railroads and ports and harbors. The whole package is critical. It is what enables America to have our great system. Whether people are from Maine, Mississippi, California, Virginia, Florida or Washington, we have access to virtually all the same products, and it is because of our infrastructure.

On September 11 and in the days immediately following, we saw that our highways were absolutely critical to movement of goods and our people and that we need to have a balanced and complete infrastructure package. So it is time that we act. Our interstate system in America is 50 years old. States have been doing their part, but a lot of the States are struggling with their budgets and a lot of the highway departments have been living on these extensions. So we have lost an opportunity. We have lost ground.

Thirty-two percent of our major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, almost a third. Almost 30 percent of our Nation's bridges are structurally deficient and obsolete. Quite frankly, I am afraid where we are headed. If we do not do something about this, there will be a loss of the jobs that would have been generated, and it would contribute to the slowing down of our economy.

TEA-21 did an awful lot for our country, but it is time that we move to the next step. The U.S. Department of Transportation has said that for every $1 billion in Federal

transportation infrastructure investment, 47,500 jobs would be created. So just think about that when looking at what is involved in this bill. We are talking about many thousands of jobs being created. We need to have this 5-year extension. In the general sense, I urge my colleagues to work together in a bipartisan way and work with the administration to get this legislation completed before this next extension expires.

The portion of the bill that I am directly responsible for is from the Commerce Committee, and it is the safety provisions that would be in the reauthorization. I will describe what is in this Safety Improvement Act of 2005. It is a comprehensive reauthorization of many of the Department of Transportation safety programs that we passed in 1998. It includes trucking and bus safety, highway and vehicle safety and hazardous material safety. The bill also includes provisions to protect consumers from fraud in the moving industry and to reauthorize the boat safety and sport fishing programs. It is designed to improve the safety of all of our constituents and its enactment will save lives and reduce injuries.

Just last month, the Department of Transportation released preliminary traffic fatality data for 2004. The good news is the fatality rate on our highways is down slightly, but that data still shows there is much to be done. The programs authorized in this bill are authorized to do that.

Through the leadership of Chairman Stevens, we have met with all of the interested parties in business, labor, safety advocates, as well as State representatives. We made sure everybody had some input in the drafting of this legislation.

We still have to make note of the almost 18,000, or 56 percent, of the people who died last year in highway accidents were not wearing a seatbelt. The quickest and most effective way of increasing safety is to get people to wear their seatbelts. So we have included a program to give States incentive grants to pass primary seatbelt enforcement laws. Some people would like to turn this around and say if States do not pass the seatbelt acts, we are going to take money away from them. That sort of approach has been tried in the past. It did not work, and it will not work now.

I believe in States such as mine, with an incentive to pass these primary seatbelt laws, there is a good chance we would comply. But if we are told we are going to be punished if we do not, the odds are we will not. So we have drafted this in a way that I believe every State will strive to have significant increases in their safety numbers and a decline in the fatalities on their highways. So we will be supporting this provision in our part of the highway bill.

The data also shows that alcohol is a factor in almost 40 percent of all crashes. Funds are included for States to enforce drunk driving laws and include incentives to toughen their laws. These safety programs should have been authorized almost 2 years ago, but due to disputes we have not been able to improve our safety provisions, improve our safety incentives, and therefore some of the culpability for the amount and severity of accidents and the deaths should be placed at our doorsteps.

We need to work with the States to ensure these programs make sense and they are carried out effectively. We should have funding levels that reflect the commitment that we are making to highways and to safety on our highways.

I hope the Senate will pass this legislation this week and that Congress will pass the final conference report this month so the States do not miss the summer's construction season.

I again thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working with us to develop the safety provisions that will be included in the substitute package I believe the chairman will offer.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. President, if the Senator will further yield, who is the cloakroom--is he a Senator? This is highway legislation that has been held up for 2 1/2 years that is causing people to get killed, that is keeping us from creating jobs.

The Senator from Missouri and the Senator from Oklahoma and all other Senators trying to manage this legislation have been very effective, very helpful of everyone, very considerate, but it is time we get this legislation going. The very idea that a Senator on Monday afternoon is calling in here or hiding out in his office or calling from some airport saying they object to us going to this legislation--I would like for them to explain that to their constituents. The Senate has been playing around long enough this year delaying everything, slow-walking everything.

By the way, this is not partisan; it is on both sides. This legislation is critical. It is time the Senate starts acting as a Senate instead of a kindergarten. I hope the Senators will give the consent this Senator from Missouri needs to get on this legislation and get it out of here. If we do not, our constituents are going to know who is the problem and why we are not getting this job done. It is time we get some Senators by the nape of the neck and tell them to put up or shut up because this legislation is critical. It is time to get it done. We ought to be having votes on amendments this afternoon. The very idea of Senators hiding in their offices saying, I am not ready, or I don't want to come, or I object--get over here and legislate and start acting like adults.

I thank the Senator from Missouri for yielding to me for that calm expression of concern.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov