[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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