Byrne Opposes Short-Term Transportation Funding Patch

Statement

Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) today voted against a short-term funding patch for the Highway Trust Fund and insisted that Congress instead come up with a long-term funding solution for our nation's highway system.

Byrne said: "At some point we have to draw the line on these short-term highway funding bills, and I think that time has come. By continually putting off tough decisions, we are being fiscally irresponsible and making it impossible to move forward with large scale infrastructure projects like the I-10 bridge over the Mobile River.

"I want to commend Chairmen Ryan and Shuster for the progress they have made on finding a long-term solutions. All sides agree that we need to fix our nation's broken highway funding scheme, so I call on Members of Congress to come together -- Republican and Democrat -- and let's pass a long-term highway funding solution that improves our nation's infrastructure and helps grow the economy."

Funding for the Highway Trust Fund, which is used to fund road and bridge projects across the United States, is scheduled to run out at the end of July. The short-term patch would only fund the Highway Trust Fund through December 18. The legislation passed on a vote of 312 to 119.

Congressman Byrne believes that funding our nation's highway system is a fundamental responsibility of Congress outlined in the Constitution. In May, Congressman Byrne urged Congress to come up with a long-term funding solution and made clear that he would not be able to support short-term patches that do not actually solve the funding problem.

Source