[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 3, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7255-S7257]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BYRD:
  S. 1176. A bill to complete construction of the 13-State Appalachian 
development highway system, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation designed 
to fulfill an important promise made by the Federal Government to the 
people of my State and my region some 38 years ago. I am speaking of 
the promise to build and complete a network of highways through the 
Appalachian region known today as the Appalachian Development Highway 
System or ADHS. I look forward to working with my fellow Senators to 
have my legislation included in the measure to reauthorize the Federal-
aid Highway Program, one of the most important, if not the most 
important, pieces of legislation which will be considered during this 
Congress. The Federal-aid Highway Program is at the very core of the 
Federal infrastructure investment exercise.
  On September 30 of last year, our very capable Federal Highway 
Administrator, Ms. Mary Peters, testified before the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works on the condition and performance of our 
National Highway System. The Administration's Conditions and 
Performance Report has

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again reminded us that a great deal more needs to be invested in our 
infrastructure if we are not to fall further and further behind in 
stemming the deterioration of our nation's highways and bridges and 
alleviating congestion on our nation's roads.
  At the September 30 hearing, Administrator Peters testified that, 
even in the wake of the historic funding increase accomplished through 
TEA-21, congestion on our roads continues to worsen. An investment in 
our highway infrastructure by all levels of government will have to 
increase by more than 65 percent or $42.2 billion per year to actually 
improve the condition of our nation's highways. A funding increase of 
more than 17 percent or $11.3 billion will be necessary simply to 
maintain the current inadequate conditions of our highway network, 
where more than one in four of our nation's bridges are classified as 
deficient.
  Having served as both Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate 
Appropriations Committee, I have sought to do my part by championing 
the highest level of Federal highway investment for all fifty States 
that is possible under our budget constraints. Earlier this year, I am 
pleased to report that the Senate prevailed in the conference with the 
House on the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2003 and 
rejected every penny of the $8.6 billion cut in highway funding 
proposed by President Bush. And just last month, I was pleased to join 
with Senators Bond and Reid, the respective Chairman and Ranking Member 
of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, in sponsoring a bipartisan 
amendment to the Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2004 that boosted 
funding for our Federal-aid Highway Program by several billion dollars. 
That amendment commanded 79 votes on the Senate floor.
  While serving in the other body, I had the great privilege of casting 
my vote in favor of establishing the Interstate highway System back in 
1958. However, in 1964, it was recognized by the first Appalachian 
Regional Commission that while the Interstate Highway System was slated 
to provide historic economic benefits to most of our Nation, the system 
was designed to bypass the Appalachian Region due to the extremely high 
cost associated with building Highways through Appalachia's rugged 
topography. As a result, the construction of the interstates would have 
had the detrimental effect of drawing passengers and freight, and the 
accompanying economic benefits, away from the Appalachian Region.
  In 1965, the Congress adopted the Appalachian Regional Development 
Act that promised a network of modern highways to connect the 
Appalachian Region to the rest of the Nation's highway network and, 
even more importantly, the rest of the Nation's economy. Absent the 
Appalachian Development Highway System, my region of the country would 
have been left solely with a transportation infrastructure of 
dangerous, narrow, winding roads which follow the path of river valleys 
and stream beds between mountains. These roads are still, more often 
than not, two-lane roads that are squeezed into very limited rights-of-
way. They are characterized by low travel speeds and long travel 
distances and are often built to inadequate design standards.
  One of the observations contained in Administrator Peters' testimony 
back in September that especially caught my eye was her statement that 
``the condition of higher-order roads, such as interstates, has 
improved considerably since 1993 while the condition on many lower-
order roads has deteriorated.'' It appears that the pattern of road 
conditions is beginning to mirror the distribution of wealth in our 
country, whereby the rich are getting richer while the poor get poorer. 
That observation is most pertinent when you consider the challenge of 
completing the Appalachian Development Highway System.
  We have virtually completed the construction of the Interstate 
Highway System and have moved on to many other important transportation 
goals. However, the people of my region are still waiting for the 
Federal Government to live up to its promise, made some 38 years ago, 
to complete the ADHS. The system is still less than 80 percent complete 
and I regret to observe that my home State of West Virginia is below 
the average for the entire Appalachian Region with only 72 percent of 
its mileage complete and open to traffic.

  The rationale behind the completion of the Appalachian Development 
Highway System is no less sound today than it was in 1964. 
Unfortunately, there are still children in Appalachia who lack decent 
transportation routes to school; and there are still pregnant mothers, 
elderly citizens and others who lack timely road access to area 
hospitals. There are thousands upon thousands of people who cannot 
obtain sustainable well-paying jobs because of poor road access to 
major employment centers. The entire status of the Appalachian 
Development Highway System is laid out in great detail in the Cost to 
Complete Report for 2002 recently completed by the Appalachian Regional 
Commission. This is the most comprehensive report on the status of the 
Appalachian Development Highway System to date and I commend the staff 
of the Appalachian Regional Commission for their hard work on this 
report. The last report was completed in 1997 just prior to 
Congressional consideration of TEA-21.
  The enactment of TEA-21 signaled a new day in the advancement of the 
Appalachian Development Highway System. Through the work of the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works, the House Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee, and the Administration, we took a great leap 
forward by authorizing direct contract authority from the Highway Trust 
Fund to the States for the construction of the ADHS. Up until that 
point, funding for the Appalachian Development Highway System had been 
limited to uncertain and inconsistent general fund appropriations. By 
provding the States of the Appalachian Region with a consistent and 
predictable source of funds to move forward on its uncompleted ADHS 
segments, TEA-21 served to reinvigorate our efforts to honor the 
promise made to the people of the Appalachian Region.
  As is made clear in the Cost to Complete Report, this initiative has 
been a great success. States are making greater progress toward the 
completion of the system than they have in any five-year segment in 
recent memory. Since the last Cost to Complete Report, 183 miles of the 
system have been opened to traffic and we have successfully brought 
down the cost to complete the system by roughly $1.7 billion in Federal 
funds.
  Back when we were debating TEA-21, some questions were asked as to 
how committed the States would be to completing the unfinished segments 
to the Appalachian Development Highway System. I am pleased to report 
that the 13 States, to date, have succeeded in obligating just under 90 
percent of the obligation authority that has been granted to them for 
the completion of the system. A 90-percent obligation rate compares 
quite favorably to some of the other transportation programs through 
which the States were granted multiple years to obligate their funds.
  According to the ARC's Cost to Complete Report, the remaining Federal 
funds needed to complete the ADHS are now estimated to be $4.467 
billion. When adjusted for inflation over the life of the next highway 
bill, using the standard inflation calculation for highway projects, a 
total of $5.04 billion will need to be authorized to complete the 
system. That is a lot of money and I believe that figure deserves some 
explanation.
  The considerable cost of completing the last 20 percent of the ADHS 
is explained by the fact that the easiest segments of the system to 
build have already been built. Much of the costs associated with 
completing the most difficult unfinished segments are driven by the 
requirement to comply with other Federal laws, especially the laws 
requiring environmental mitigation measures when building new highways 
through rural areas. While the $5.04 billion figure may seem large to 
some of my colleagues, I would remind them the last highway bill 
authorized more than $218 billion in federal infrastructure investment 
over six years. It is my sincere hope and expectation that the next 
highway bill will authorize an even greater amount.
  Of critical importance to this debate is the fact that the unfinished 
segments of the ADHS represent some of most dangerous and most 
deficient roadways in our entire Nation. Often lost in our debate over 
the necessity to

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invest in our highways is the issue of safety. The Federal Highway 
Administration has published reports indicating that substandard road 
conditions are a factor in 30 percent of all fatal highway accidents. I 
am quite certain that the percentage is a great deal higher in the 
Appalachian Region.
  The Federal Highway Administration found that upgrading two-lane 
roads to four-lane divided highways decreased fatal car accidents by 71 
percent and that the widening of traffic lanes has served to reduce 
fatalities by 21 percent. These are precisely the kind of road 
improvements that are funded through the ADHS. In my state, the largest 
segment of unfinished Appalachian Highway, if completed, will replace 
the second most dangerous segment of roadway in West Virginia. So, even 
those who would question the wisdom of completing these highways in the 
name of economic development should take a hard look at the fact that 
the people of rural Appalachia are taking their lives in their hands 
every day as they drive on dangerous roads.

  It is time for this Congress, in concert with the Administration, to 
take the last great leap forward and authorize sufficient contract 
authority to finally complete the Appalachian Development Highway 
System. If we enact another six-year highway bill with sufficient funds 
to complete the system, we will finally pay the full costs of the ADHS 
almost 45 years after the system was first promised to the people of my 
region. The legislation I am introducing today, the ``Appalachian 
Development Highway System Completion Act,'' will provide sufficient 
contract authority to complete the system. Importantly, it will 
guarantee that the states of the Appalachian Region do not pay a 
penalty, either through the distribution of minimum allocation funds, 
or the distribution of obligation limitation, for receiving sufficient 
funds to complete the Appalachian system.
  I am very pleased that this Administration has taken on the goal of 
completing the ADHS. In her letter accompanying the Cost to Complete 
Report, Administrator Peters said ``the completion of the ADHS is an 
important part of the mission of the Federal Highway Administration. We 
consider the accessibility, mobility and economic stimulation provided 
by the ADHS to be entirely consistent with the goals of our agency.'' 
Ms. Peters further stated that the Appalachian Regional Commission's 
2002 Cost to Complete Report, ``provides a sound basis for apportioning 
future funding to complete the system.'' I thank Mary Peters and the 
entire Federal Highway Administration for their leadership on this 
issue and I look forward to working with Ms. Peters and her agency to 
ensure that this commitment is borne out in the transportation 
reauthorization legislation that is developed by the Congress.
  Completion of a new highway bill will be a mammoth task for this 
Congress. As I look back over the many years of my public career, one 
of the accomplishments of which I am most proud was my amendment 
providing an additional $8 billion in funding to break the logjam 
during the debate on the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency 
Act in 1991. Another was my sponsorship of the Byrd-Gramm-Baucus-Warner 
Amendment during the Senate debate of TEA-21 in 1998. That effort 
resulted in some $26 billion in funding being added to that bill and 
put us on a path to historic funding increases for our nation's highway 
infrastructure. I look forward again to working with my fellow Senators 
on completion of a bill that makes the necessary investments in our 
nation's highways, not just in the Appalachian Region, but across our 
entire country.
                                 ______