[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 9 (Tuesday, February 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S542-S543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HIGHWAY FUNDING
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, since the convening of this session of
Congress 2 weeks ago today, I have spoken on the Senate Floor numerous
times to convey the urgency of prompt action on the highway bill. We
were told that it would be among the first pieces of legislation
considered this year, and yet the bill is still not before us. This
inactivity is unjustified and, I think, it is inexcusable. The deadline
for passing highway reauthorization legislation is May 1--May 1 of this
year.
That deadline is set forth in the short-term highway bill that was
passed last November before the Congress adjourned sine die. It is very
clearly set forth in that legislation. After May 1, States will be
prohibited from obligating any Federal highway or transit funds.
After that date, states will be prohibited from obligating any
Federal highway or transit funds. As a result, many states will be
forced to delay road and bridge projects and thousands of highway
construction workers, as well as those in related industries, such as
gravel and asphalt manufacturers, highway equipment manufacturers, and
steel suppliers, may begin to be laid off. At the height of the highway
construction season, thousands of highway, bridge, and safety projects
will be stopped cold--dead in their tracks--and those who are employed
in relation to these projects could begin to be sent home and lose
their paychecks, while they await further action by Congress to enact
highway reauthorization legislation.
So the Senate has just 44 session days remaining, including today.
Those are days we have been told that the Senate will be in session. So
there are just 44 session days, including today, remaining in which to
avert this impending crisis. When the hour strikes midnight on May 1,
the time is up.
I want to take a few minutes to explain exactly what this May 1
deadline means to a number of the States.
The Road Information Program, TRIP, recently surveyed the State
transportation departments throughout the country to ascertain what
will happen after May 1 if a new highway bill has not been signed into
law by the President by that time. To date, TRIP has received responses
from 15 State transportation departments, and additional responses are
expected soon. Even with preliminary results, however, it is clear that
billions of dollars worth of highway projects and transit projects are
in danger of being postponed, and will be postponed until new Federal
funding is available. These are critical transportation projects--
critical transportation projects--projects designed to improve road
safety and reduce the number and severity of highway crashes, to smooth
the flow of traffic so we can improve air quality and lower the
pollution that Americans breathe every day and every hour and every
minute, and to reduce congestion so that Americans can spend more time
at work and more time at home caring for their children, more time with
their families and less time trapped in gridlock.
It may be edifying to my colleagues to hear some of the specific
projects in their States that will be delayed, according to their own
State transportation departments, if new Federal highway funding is not
available beyond May 1. Remember, these are just the 15 States that
have responded already to the TRIP survey.
The Road Information Program asked each State to list some of the
most critical transportation projects that would have to be postponed
during the 12-month period beginning May 1, 1998, if no new Federal
funding is available.
And so let us go down the list. The very first State that is on the
list is the State of Georgia.
In Georgia, the State transportation department will have to delay:
Improvements to I-475 from I-75 in Bibb County to I-75 in Monroe
County; improvements to the Harry S. Truman Parkway in Chatham County;
work on the Jefferson Bypass in Jefferson County; and improvements to
Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Gwinnett County.
The Indiana transportation department will have to postpone:
rehabilitating I-69 in Dekalb County; road and bridge rehabilitation on
I-465 in Marion County; and bridge rehabilitation on US 20 in St.
Joseph County.
In Kentucky, funds will dry up after May 1 for projects to: widen US
27 to four lanes from Lexington to Paris; reconstruct the Donaldson
Road interchange on I-75 in Boone County; and replace the Cumberland
River Bridge in Somerset.
Now, the Senators from these respective States, I am sure, are
talking with their highway departments. Those Senators will probably
have more complete lists than these that I am reading. But these are
just the first 15 that have been supplied to me by TRIP.
[[Page S543]]
In Maine, delays will occur on: The rehabilitation of the Carlton
Bridge on US Route 1 in Bath; the reconstruction of 4 miles of Route 9
in Devereaux; and the replacement of the Penobscot River Bridge on
Route 11 in Medway.
The Missouri transportation department will have to postpone, I am
told: the replacement or rehabilitation of seven bridges on I-70 in the
St. Louis area; plans to add left turn lanes on Route 61 at Lemay Woods
in St. Louis to improve traffic safety; the widening and resurfacing of
Route 39 in Barry County; and the replacement of two bridges over the
North Fabius River on Route 136 in Scotland County.
In Nevada, they will have to delay plans to: widen I-15 from two to
three lanes in West Las Vegas; remove and replace pavement on I-80 in
Reno; and widen US 95 to four lanes in Las Vegas.
In New Hampshire, our failure to enact a highway bill by May 1 will
mean the transportation department has to postpone: reconstructing exit
20 on I-93 in Tilton; safety improvements planned for I-93 in
Manchester; and replacing a bridge over North Branch River in Stoddard.
In North Dakota, congressional inaction will mean the postponement of
plans to: reconstruct South Washington Street in Grand Forks; improve
I-94 from Eagles Nest to Geck; and widen US 52 from Drake to Harvey.
The Oklahoma transportation department will have to shelve plans for:
interchange reconstruction and resurfacing on I-35 in Oklahoma City, a
project designed to relieve congestion; widening 50 miles of US 183
from Cordell to Snyder in western Oklahoma to provide four lane access
to I-40, designed to foster economic development in the region; and
building shoulders and a passing lane on US 283 in Beckham County to
improve highway safety.
In South Dakota, failure to meet the May 1 funding deadline will mean
the delay of plans to: reconstruct I-29 in Minnehaha and Moody
Counties; improve Benson Road in Sioux Falls to provide access to the
Joe Ross Field Airport; and improve the interchange at the Haines
Avenue exit on I-90 in Rapids City.
The Texas Department of Transportation reports that the following
projects scheduled for Spring 1999--all designed to relieve
congestion--would be delayed without new Federal funding beyond May 1:
widening to eight lanes a 4.3 mile section of Route 1960 in Harris
County; widening to eight lanes a 3.9 mile section in Fort Bend County;
and widening to four lanes a 6 mile section of US 67 in Johnson County.
In Utah, the following projects--all related to preparations for the
2002 Winter Olympic Games--would be delayed: The reconstruction of the
Kimball and Silver Creek Junctions on I-80; the construction of the 1.5
mile Winter Sports Road; and the reconstruction of the interchange at
I-84 and US 89.
In Vermont, our inaction will mean delay in the planned resurfacing
of 200 miles of State highways; the rehabilitation or replacement of
three State highway system bridges and five local highway system
bridges; as well as the reconstruction of four miles of US 7 in
Shelburne and South Burlington to increase capacity and improve traffic
flow.
In my State of West Virginia, the lack of new Federal highway funds
after May 1 would mean postponement of the renovation of the
Shepherdstown Bridge on West Virginia 480 in Jefferson County; the
widening of a segment of West Virginia 2 in Ohio County to improve
traffic flow--by the way, it was on Route 2 that my former colleague in
the Senate, Senator Jennings Randolph, and I had an accident in 1957--
1957 or 1958. We had an accident in that county. We ran head on into
another automobile, killing the driver of the other automobile. That
was Route 2. So we are talking here about the widening of the segment
of West Virginia 2 in Ohio County to improve traffic flow, and the
replacement of the Easley Bridge in Princeton, Mercer County. Mercer
County, that is where I first started school in a little two-room
schoolhouse over 70 years ago.
And finally, in Wyoming, the Senate's failure to act by May 1 would
mean delaying reconstruction and bridge work on I-80 in Rock Springs,
Rawlins, and Laramie Marginalal; as well as widening and rehabilitation
projects on I-90 from Buffalo to Gillette and from Moorcroft to
Sundance.
So, Mr. President, I urge Senators to call their transportation
departments, if they have not already, and find out what a prolonged
delay in Federal highway funds would mean for their States. The list I
have just read is, obviously, not exhaustive; but it is indicative of
the serious problems every State, or almost every State certainly will
face if Congress does not act before midnight May 1. When Senators
start to realize what this May 1 deadline means for their States, and
how few days we have left to move a highway bill through the Senate, it
should become obvious that we will have no choice but to bring up the
highway reauthorization bill.
We have just 44 days, 44 session days. That does not count days like
Saturdays and Sundays or other days when the Senate is not expected to
be in session. Only 44 session days, including today, remain through
the hour of midnight May 1. After that hour of midnight, then those
States can obligate Federal aid highway program funds for any Federal
highway project, after the hour of midnight on May 1. Now, that is by
law. That was a part of the law that Congress passed last November when
it enacted the short-term highway bill. It is in there. Bridge
replacements, traffic decongestion projects, and road widening efforts
all mean safety, time, money and jobs to our people. Further delay
makes no sense. A commitment was made to bring up the highway bill
after the President's State of the Union speech. The State of the Union
speech has come and gone and there is still no highway bill here in the
Senate. Further delay makes no sense and the Senate should consider the
highway bill promptly.
How much time remains, Mr. President?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 13 minutes remaining.
Mr. BYRD. I yield that remaining time to my friend, the distinguished
Senator from Kansas, Mr. Roberts. I thank the Chair, I thank all
Senators, and again thank the leader for making possible the time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent notwithstanding
the previous order for the Senate to stand in recess at the hour of
12:30, that I may be permitted to speak for up to 40 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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