[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF STEP 21

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Goode] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of STEP 21, and also 
commend the gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay] and the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Condit] for their leadership and work on this issue.
  There is an old saying in the Fifth District of Virginia that the 
best way to figure out where to build a new sidewalk is to look for the 
worn path through the grass. That saying applies equally well to the 
construction of roads.
  In my district, which is geographically larger than some States, 
there are barely 30 miles of interstate highway and what amounts to 
miles and miles of well-worn paths through the grass and across the 
creeks and rivers and through the mountains.
  Those well-worn paths are the roads that comprise the transportation 
network of the Fifth District of Virginia, a network that inhibits 
economic development, endangers our citizens who travel the roads, and 
were built for far less traffic than they are asked to handle today.
  Yet, in this fiscal year, it is estimated that Virginia will receive 
only 81 cents in transportation funds for every dollar in gas taxes 
that we pay to Washington. Last year that amount was 74 cents for every 
dollar paid.
  In fact, over the course of ISTEA, Virginia will receive an average 
of only about 83 cents for every dollar Virginians send to the Federal 
highway trust fund. And so today I rise in support of STEP 21. STEP 21 
is a bipartisan proposal. It adopts a funding formula to more equitably 
distribute the money that Americans pay as gas taxes. STEP 21 assures 
that every State will receive at least 95 cents on the dollar. STEP 21 
will make ISTEA's promise of funding fairness a reality.
  Mr. Speaker, as the House continues to consider ways in which to 
create an intermodal transportation network that will treat every State 
fairly, that will increase safety on the highways, and that will create 
opportunities for economic development, I urge my colleagues to support 
STEP 21, the ISTEA Integrity Restoration Act.

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