Highway and Transit Trust Fund

Floor Speech

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Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to offer my condolences to everyone who was affected by the derailment of Amtrak train 188 yesterday. The victims and their loved ones are in our thoughts and prayers today.

This week, Mr. Speaker, is National Infrastructure Week. I rise today to underscore the importance of a long-term reauthorization for the highway and transit trust fund so we can address the urgent responsibility to repair and rebuild our roads, bridges, ports, and transit systems.

There are just 6 legislative days remaining until the expiration of the highway trust fund. We are putting at risk 6,000 infrastructure projects and more than 600,000 jobs.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimates that my home State of Rhode Island could lose $200 million in Federal funding, $3 million in Federal transit funding, and 1,689 jobs, and 40 infrastructure projects are at risk.

Some on the other side of the aisle have suggested that we should pass another short-term patch rather than a long-term solution to the highway trust fund. If we are serious about rebuilding our economy, we need to be able to move goods, services, and information to compete in the 21st century.

It is critical that we pass a long-term reauthorization of the highway trust fund that provides the resources we need to rebuild our crumbling bridges, roads, and schools and helps create good-paying jobs for hard-working Americans. Our constituents deserve nothing less, and our economic recovery requires this.

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