Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act

Floor Speech

Mr. COSTELLO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the conference agreement on H.R. 4348, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012.

As a conferee on the surface transportation bill, I am glad an agreement was reached and the bill is before us today.

I am pleased that Illinois' share of federal highway formula funding increased to 3.67%, the highest level that our state has received in over 15 years.

In addition, the conference report does not include language that would allow bigger and heavier trucks on our roads and bridges, but instead requires the U.S. DOT to conduct a comprehensive, national study.

While the surface transportation conference report is not perfect, it does provide certainty to State DOTs, transit agencies, and contractors that will help create and sustain jobs for out-of-work Americans and keeps construction workers on the job for the rest of the season.

I commend Chairman MICA, Ranking Member RAHALL, Subcommittee Chairman DUNCAN and Ranking Member DEFAZIO for their leadership in helping to bring this conferenc report before us today.

Finally, this legislation does not include residual risk provisions in the National Flood Insurance program that would have required the purchase of flood insurance for communities behind certified levees. A strong bi-partisan effort prevailed to remove these provisions from this legislation, and I commend Congressman SHIMKUS, Senator DURBIN, and Senator KIRK for working with me on this matter.

I urge my colleagues to support the conference report and yield back the balance of my time.

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