[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page E1647]]

    INTRODUCTION OF THE HIGHWAY AND NATIONAL DEFENSE INVESTMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 3, 1997

  Mr. DINGELL, Mr. Speaker, today I have introduced a piece of 
legislation which will help Congress finish a job it started earlier 
this summer when we passed the tax portion of the budget reconciliation 
package: unleashing the windfall created by the restoration of all 
Federal gasoline taxes to the Federal highway trust fund.
  The legislation I offer today would effectively make possible two 
very important goals: First, a long-overdue renewal of our national 
commitment to sound infrastructure; second, a means to do so while 
meeting the letter, the spirit, and deadline of our commitment to 
balance the Federal budget by 2002.
  When this body agreed to the 5-year budget agreement in July, it 
accepted a provision added by the other body which redirected into the 
trust fund the 4.3 cents-per-gallon Federal gasoline tax formerly 
dedicated to deficit reduction. it was estimated that this would add 
between $6 and $6.5 billion in additional trust fund revenue each year. 
This provision was accepted not only to end a disingenuous Federal 
accounting practice, but also to make possible the spending of 
additional revenue on our Nation's deteriorating infrastructure. While 
Congress improved a growing problem, it did not solve it: the money is 
now going to the right place, but it is still trapped and cannot be 
invested in our roads.
  By some estimates, we need to invest nearly twice as much as we do 
today just to fall no further behind. In my home State of Michigan, 
roads have deteriorated to the point of being deplorable. The State 
legislature recently enacted a State gas tax increase to help increase 
needed highway investment. Meanwhile, Michigan ranks near the bottom in 
the amount of Federal money invested for roads on a per capita basis. 
In May, both houses defeated a measure to substantially increase road 
investments, each by a single vote, after a lot of persuasion to those 
trying to hold together a budget deal which provided practically level 
funding for transportation. By considering the legislation I am 
introducing today, my State and all of our States would realize a 
considerably greater return on their Federal gas tax contributions.
  I would like to remind my colleagues that when Federal investment in 
our roads grew substantially in 1956, President Eisenhower let the 
Nation know that a completed interstate system was vital to our 
national defense. Maintaining a reliable and safe transportation 
infrastructure is still recognized as important to our national 
security, and addressing these needs is explicitly recognized in the 
National Highway System. With our Nation at peace and our economy 
strong, we have the ability today to make wise choices to preserve the 
transportation linkages on which all Americans have come to depend. 
This can only happen, however, if our highway spending keeps pace with 
the amount of money our drivers pay at the pump in Federal fuel tax.
  In the current budget cycle, this House already has contemplated 
holding defense spending to the levels of the current fiscal year. I 
believe that such a proposal is warranted if domestic needs can be 
identified which clearly would serve our national security interests as 
well. That is why the legislation I am introducing makes possible an 
override of the firewall established between defense and discretionary 
spending. Once this procedural barrier is removed, Congress would be 
able to liberate $6.2 billion of the expected boost in highway trust 
fund revenue without delaying a balanced budget. How? By choosing to 
slow the growth in defense spending, and instead investing in a part of 
our national defense network which also supports our everyday 
interests: Traveling to work and school, shipping more efficiently 
between points across the Nation, and by upgrading our national road 
network to improve the safety and mobility of our citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, the passage of the Highways and National Defense 
Investment Act would definitely create the demand for some tough 
decisionmaking during the next appropriations process. However, our 
Nation finds itself in a unique position which not only allows, but 
demands a new investment: we are at peace, the economy is strong, and 
we are on a fixed course to balance the budget. When the cold war ended 
a few years ago, there was much talk in this body about a peace 
dividend. Budget balancing problems never gave us much of an 
opportunity to invest that dividend. However, that was before the 
budget deal. Now we have the chance to finish the job that deal 
started, and that is show the American people that the highway trust 
fund is more than a gimmick for a balanced budget. Instead, that trust 
fund is a tool for growth.

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