[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CALLING FOR ISTEA'S REAUTHORIZATION

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, as we in Congress prepare to adjourn 
the 104th session, and we turn our attention to the next session and 
its business, we need to focus on the reauthorization of ISTEA. 
Citizens and local governments around the country are calling for the 
ISTEA reauthorization with enhancements programs and flexibility 
intact. Representatives from 118 cities asked me earlier this month to 
deliver to my colleagues a message that is signed, an open letter to 
this Congress.

                              {time}  1215

  We need ISTEA and the money that it brings. But more important, to 
deal with the problems of our increasingly mobile populations, is the 
flexibility that that legislation entails. More important than money is 
the local planning framework that is involved. And most important of 
all is the public involvement that is entailed.
  Our citizens, our constituents, know what they need. If we engage 
them in the process of planning for our future, they will respond with 
innovation and nontraditional solutions. We in Congress talk a lot 
about empowerment and doing more with less. ISTEA is a chance to 
deliver on that promise.

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