[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 22, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1361-S1362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REAUTHORIZATION FUNDING

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes in 
morning business to speak about my priorities this year in Federal 
transportation funding. I think all Senators are probably aware that 
Congress must reauthorize the 6-year surface transportation bill in 
2003.
  As I travel around my State, I continue to hear frequently from 
citizens about the need to improve our basic transportation 
infrastructure, including highways and transit. Access to a high-
quality transportation system is an essential element in economic 
development, and I believe the Federal Government has an important role 
to play in helping communities build and maintain the basic 
transportation infrastructure that businesses need.
  Thus, the reauthorization this year of Federal transportation funding 
will be essential if New Mexico is to have the high-quality 
transportation system it needs to attract new jobs and businesses to 
our State. Safe and efficient highways and public transit are 
especially important for economic developments in the rural parts of my 
State. Basic transportation infrastructure is also vital to our 
communities, schools, and families, and helps support everyday life.
  The most recent 6-year transportation act, known as TEA-21, was 
enacted in 1998. TEA-21 has been a good piece of legislation for my 
State, and I was pleased to support the bill. One of the key 
improvements Congress made in 1998 was to establish a firewall that, 
for the first time, ensured all tax receipts deposited in the Highway 
trust fund were fully used each year for transportation projects.
  Under TEA-21, New Mexico has made substantial progress in upgrading 
key highways and transit programs in both urban and rural areas all 
across the State. As a result of the higher Federal highway funding 
provided under the act, in the past 6 years New Mexico has been able to 
complete a number of much-needed transportation projects.
  For example, Highway 285 was upgraded to four lanes between Carlsbad 
and Interstate 40; US 550 is now four lanes all the way from Bernalillo 
to Bloomfield; the Big I in Albuquerque was completely rebuilt; US 54 
is now four-lanes between El Paso and Tularosa; and the Santa Fe bypass 
was opened. In addition, US 70 will soon be upgraded to four lanes from 
Las Cruces to Texico, and work is now underway to upgrade US 84/285 
between Santa Fe and Poloaque. I do believe each of these projects will 
contribute significantly to improving highway safety and efficiency in 
my State.
  TEA-21 has also helped New Mexico improve transit services both in 
our cities and in rural areas. A number of communities have been able 
to obtain new transit vehicles and equipment with grants from the 
Federal Transit Administration. For example, the Alvarado transit 
center was opened in Albuquerque and Federal funds have been used to 
purchase new transit equipment and facilities in communities including 
Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Farmington, Taos, Angel 
Fire, Carlsbad, Clovis, and Los Lunas. In addition, Albuquerque 
initiated a study of a new high-capacity transportation system, and 
steps are being taken to preserve the Santa-Fe-to-El-Dorado rail line 
for future use.
  Throughout its history, New Mexico has played a key role in the 
transportation system of this country. The original Spanish settlers 
established the Camino Real between Santa Fe and Mexico City. In the 
last century, our Nation's first transcontinental highway, Route 66, 
passed through New Mexico.
  Today, New Mexico continues to provide a critical link in our 
Nation's interstate and international transportation network, including 
trade with Mexico. However, we are a State with limited financial 
resources to deal with the transportation needs of what is essentially 
our portion of a vast national system.
  Mr. President, in total land area New Mexico is the fifth largest 
state in the Union, but we have only 0.6 percent of the national 
population. At the same time, New Mexico has over 2 percent of the 
interstate highway system miles and slightly less than 2 percent of the 
total miles on the national highway system. Moreover, because of our 
vast land area and predominantly rural character, New Mexicans average 
more miles of driving per capita than the residents of every other 
State but one.
  Clearly, in light of its size and vast network of roads, the 
transportation needs of my State far outstrip the ability of New 
Mexico's sparse population to provide the funds needed to maintain and 
improve the State's critical piece of the national transportation 
system.
  Consequently, my top priority in the reauthorization of the highway 
bill will be to ensure that New Mexico receives its fair share of 
Federal transportation dollars for both highways and transit programs. 
The majority of the funding in the transportation bill is distributed 
directly to States and local governments under congressionally set 
formulas. I will be working to make sure the new formulae fully reflect 
New Mexico's transportation needs, including our extensive miles of 
important national roads and highways.
  Mr. President, another of my top priorities in the reauthorization 
will be to continue a number of the critical programs in TEA-21 that 
greatly benefit New Mexico. Two of these important programs are the 
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program, known as CMAQ, and the 
Enhancements program, both of which help manage some of the negative 
impacts of transportation on our communities.
  At the same time, I will oppose efforts to weaken rules that protect 
the environment. I will also oppose attempts to limit the ability of 
local communities to participate in the planning and development of 
transportation projects that affect them.
  In addition, I fully support reauthorizing the Scenic Byways program 
that helps communities in New Mexico enhance facilities for visitors 
traveling our rural highways. New Mexico now has 27 scenic byways, 
including six that have achieved the designation of National Scenic 
Byways.
  I also believe we should continue to make progress in improving the 
safety of our highways as well as in reducing the staggering number of 
traffic fatalities and injures caused by drunk drivers. I will be 
looking for ways to strengthen both of these important Federal programs 
when Congress debates the bill this year.
  In addition to supporting the continuation of a number of important 
programs already in TEA-21, I will be authoring a series of bills that 
I hope the Senate will include in the final reauthorization bill.
  First, I will reintroduce my bill to authorize a new Federal program 
to upgrade rural two-lane roads on the national highway system to four-
lane highways. This $1.8 million, 6-year national program targets funds 
to four-lane roads in New Mexico such as US 64/87 between Clayton and 
Raton, US 54 from Tularosa to Nara Visa, US 62/180 south of Carlsbad, 
and US 666 south of Shiprock.

[[Page S1362]]

  Second, I will introduce legislation to extend and expand the Indian 
Reservation Roads Program, which is so important to Indian communities 
in New Mexico. This program provides direct funding to tribes in 33 
states to improve transportation. My bill increase the annual funding 
for tribal roads from $275 million to $500 million, reestablishes a 
separate $15 million per-year program to repair bridges on tribal 
lands, and dedicates $20 million per year in new Federal funding for 
tribal transit projects.
  Third, I will introduce legislation to establish a new University 
Technology Center at New Mexico State University in collaboration with 
the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. The focus of 
the new center is on nondestructive methods to measure the wear and 
tear on highway bridges.
  Fourth, I will reintroduce a bill to designate US Highway 54 between 
El Paso, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas, as the SPIRIT High Priority 
Corridor on the national highway system. In New Mexico, the route runs 
for about 350 miles from the southern border with Texas, through 
Alamogordo, Carrizozo, Vaughn, Santa Rosa, and Tucumcari, to Nara Visa. 
This designation will help focus attention on the need to upgrade this 
heavily traveled highway to four lanes. The bill was cosponsored last 
year by Senators Roberts, Inhofe, Hutchison, and Domenici.
  Fifth, I will introduce legislation to reauthorize the special 
funding that goes directly to San Juan and McKinley Counties in New 
Mexico, as well as neighboring counties in Arizona and Utah, to help 
maintain roads used by school buses on the Navajo Reservation. In TEA-
21, Congress provided $1.5 million per year for 6 years to counties in 
the three States to help ensure that buses carrying children to school 
have passable roads. It is not acceptable when Indian children can't 
attend school simply because their school buses couldn't get through on 
the many poor quality roads in the region.
  Sixth, I will reintroduce my bill to authorize Los Alamos National 
Laboratory to continue its advanced computer-modeling project to 
develop the National Transportation Modeling and Analysis Program, or 
NATMAP. The program will provide a valuable tool for analyzing the 
national transportation system, including cars, trucks, railroads, 
barges and airplanes, as a single integrated system. The program will 
also be valuable in assessing the impacts of disruptions to any portion 
of the transportation network.
  I hope each of these bills will gain bipartisan support and will be 
included in the comprehensive 6-year reauthorization bill. I will have 
more to say about each of these six initiatives over the next few weeks 
as the bills are introduced.
  Finally, one of the other important parts of the transportation bill 
is the authorization of funding for individual high-priority highway 
and transit projects around the State. In 1998, I helped secure funding 
for a number of highway projects throughout New Mexico, including 
upgrades of highways 84/285 and 70, Unser Boulevard, Paseo del Norte, 
and the uptown and northwest areas of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.
  This year, some of the projects for which I intend to pursue funding 
include reconstruction of the access road from Interstate 40 to the 
Double Eagle II airport in anticipation of the relocation of Eclipse 
Aviation; construction of a new Paseo del Volcan on the northwest side 
of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho; reconstruction of the I-40 and Coors 
Boulevard interchange; construction of a new interchange on Interstate 
25 to serve Mesa del Sol; and expansion of the I-25 interchange in 
Belen.
  In the rural areas of New Mexico, I will be seeking Federal funding 
to complete four-lane upgrades of the Ports-to-Plains corridor along US 
64/87 between Clayton and Raton, US 54 from Tularosa to Nara Visa, US 
62/180 south of Carlsbad, and US 666 south of Shiprock.
  For transit projects, one of my priorities will be an authorization 
for the design and construction of a high-capacity transit corridor in 
Albuquerque. This effort was first initiated in 1998. The project has 
now been through the required preliminary studies and is ready to move 
forward with preliminary design for either a light-rail system or a 
system with dedicated bus lanes. In addition, I will be seeking an 
authorization to continue efforts to preserve the Santa Fe El Dorado 
rail line as a possible commuter route.
  In addition to funding for my priority highway and transit projects, 
a large number of additional projects will be funded directly by the 
State and local governments with formula grants funds provided under 
the 6-year transportation bill.
  I know reauthorizing the transportation bill is a massive effort. A 
number of committees here in the Senate will be involved, including the 
Finance Committee where I am a member. I look forward to working this 
year with the Environment and Public Works Committee, including 
Chairman Inhofe and Senator Jeffords, on the highway programs in the 
bill, and with the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, 
including Chairman Shelby and Senator Sarbanes, on the transit portion 
of this important legislation. I do believe that reauthorization of the 
transportation bill is critical to the citizens of New Mexico and to 
the Nation. I hope we can complete a bipartisan bill this year in a 
timely manner.

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