Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act --Continued
Floor Speech
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Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this is a killer amendment. Our committee voted 18 to 0 on a bipartisan bill that set out the formulas in a very fair way. What did we do? We didn't want to jolt the States in the middle of a tough economic time, so we kept that funding in place. Again, the distribution is very fair.
In contrast, we have a lot of drafting problems with my friend's amendment. The Department of Transportation says it doesn't even specify that the gas taxes will not be factored in as Federal gas taxes. It just has a flaw in it. It is also very biased because traditionally we have always distributed these funds to States based on numerous factors, need-based factors: lane miles in a State, the cost to repair or replace deficient bridges, the vehicle miles traveled.
So I would say to my friend, I appreciate the spirit with which he offers this amendment. I understand the spirit is one that he can be proud of.
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Mrs. BOXER. But this, in fact, at the end of the day, ruins the bill, and I urge a ``no'' vote.
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Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, could we have order?
First, thank you to all colleagues for your amazing cooperation. I hope we vote this down because we already did vote down a similar amendment.
This is another amendment that would devolve the Federal Aid Highway Program back to the States. In closing, let me quote from the American Road and Transportation Builders. This is what they say:
Allowing States to opt out of the Federal highway program ignores the role of the U.S. highway network in supporting the national economy and the reliance of each State's economy on the ability to ship products efficiently across borders.
This is not good for our economy. I urge a ``no'' vote.
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Mrs. BOXER. This would essentially devolve the whole program, go against what Dwight Eisenhower had in mind when he started the National Highway System.
I urge a ``no'' vote.
I ask for the yeas and nays.
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Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I hope we will oppose this amendment. It is very controversial. It is opposed by a very broad and diverse group of business and labor organizations.
It would overturn a 60-year prohibition on allowing commercial services at interstate rest areas. The ban was enacted because Congress recognized the importance of supporting businesses and commercial activity along interstates. That decision has resulted in the development of 97,000 businesses that employ over 2 million Americans who provide services to travelers on our Nation's highways.
This amendment would allow commercial activities at existing interstate rest areas, which would lead to devastating losses to those businesses that are located near interstate interchanges.
So I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and support the small businesses that exist across our country near highway exits. So I urge a ``no'' vote.
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Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I just wanted to go on record tonight as saying we have made just incredible progress on this bill, and I look forward to tomorrow, where we will complete work on it. I think we are showing bipartisan spirit here and bipartisan cooperation. It is important to note that 2.8 million jobs hang in the balance.
So we will see everyone tomorrow. I feel very good we are going to pass our bill, and with that I suggest the absence of a quorum--I withdraw that.
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