[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 40 (Wednesday, April 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1856-H1857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                GIVING HIGHWAY MONEY BACK TO THE STATES

  (Mrs. LINDA SMITH of Washington asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. LINDA SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, each day in every rural

[[Page H1857]]

community and in every bustling community across this Nation, families 
pull up to the gas tank, fill their tank with gas, and pay 18 cents a 
gallon to the Federal Government for transportation projects. But, 
unfortunately, each year Congress has allocated nearly a third less of 
the money than they have paid for the transportation projects.
  Many of us stood up against that last year, even in the budget. We 
would not vote for the general budget, and we would not vote for the 
transportation budget, because the plan was to take $65 billion out of 
the money that was to come back to the communities for their safe 
roads, and we held out.
  Today we are going to have a vote to put the money back. We are going 
to have a vote to put the money back into communities for safe roads. 
Anybody who says they are for families and does not do something about 
the transportation projects is dooming them to spending hours in their 
cars instead of being home with their families.
  The vote today is good. It is about the projects our communities 
need; about projects they need to keep their families safe and which 
will allow them to spend time with their families.

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