In announcing this mark up, Mr. Chairman, you argued that patching the Highway Trust Fund through next May would give this and other committees "the full influence they deserve" in crafting a long-term solution.
Yet in the last three-plus years, the Republican majority on this prestigious panel has failed to take advantage of its potential influence and its responsibility to sustain the Highway Trust Fund over the long-term and shore up vital infrastructure projects. In fact, this Committee has not held a single hearing on financing options for the Highway Trust Fund since Republicans assumed the majority of the House, despite Democrats urging otherwise.
Six months ago, every Democrat on this committee requested that you hold a series of hearings on financing options. "Time is of the essence," we wrote in that January letter.
That request went unheeded and we now find ourselves at the 11th hour, with the Highway Trust Fund running on fumes. Unless Congress acts by the end of this month, more than 100,000 transportation projects could be delayed, and as many as 700,000 construction jobs could be put at risk.
Our infrastructure, once a point of pride around the world, is literally falling apart. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave our country's roads an overall grade of D in its 2013 report card. More and more of our nation's bridges are becoming structurally unsound.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, in its current form, the Highway Trust Fund will experience a shortfall of $120 billion over the next 10 years. Federal inaction and short-term extensions create uncertainty at the state and local level, and hinder needed transportation investments.
Americans deserve better. They deserve a long-term solution from this Congress that provides certainty for states and local communities and construction workers alike, and that addresses our nation's overwhelming infrastructure needs. We must acknowledge that our nation's transportation infrastructure requires reliable and sustainable funding. Funding the Trust Fund through the end of the year will maintain the pressure on this Congress to reach that long-term solution.
Given that the majority's legislation is using the same offsets used to pay for the bipartisan Senate-passed unemployment insurance extension and since Speaker Boehner has demanded that any such action be attached to a jobs bill, I once again urge House Republicans to take this opportunity to extend assistance to America's job seekers.
The bill before us today is a jobs bill, but the Republicans continue to refuse to act, to allow a vote on the floor of the House.
In the more than six months since Republicans first blocked an extension of unemployment insurance, more than three million Americans have been cut off benefits.
Despite the improvement our economy continues to make -- with 52 consecutive months of job growth -- long-term unemployment is well above where it has been during every previous recession since the Great Depression. Without unemployment benefits, which require claimants to actively search for work, more of the long-term unemployed will give up looking for work, causing long-term harm both to them and our economy.