[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 22 (Thursday, February 26, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                               SPEECH OF

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 11, 2004

  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on February 11, 2004, I supported 
H.R. 3783, legislation to provide an extension of the transportation 
programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund pending enactment of a 
reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(TEA-21).
  The fact that Congress had to approve yet another temporary extension 
of the Highway Trust Fund programs clearly shows the leadership of this 
Congress has misplaced priorities.
  I am a cosponsor of H.R. 3550, the Transportation Equity Act, a 
Legacy for Users (TEA-LU), legislation which is the product of the hard 
and tireless work of two well respected members of the House, 
Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young and Ranking Member 
Jim Oberstar. I call on my colleagues to enact this legislation at the 
full authorized level of $375 billion through 2009.
  Their legislation is being held hostage by ideological interests in 
the White House and House leadership who are apparently blind to the 
number one issue in my community of Houston, Texas: mobility.
  While transportation reauthorization is stalled in Congress, 
residents in my community are idling away an average of 37 hours and 60 
gallons of gas this year in congested traffic. We lose $2.1 billion, 
every year, in productivity and fuel, and congestion has been getting 
worse. These figures are according to the Texas Transportation 
Institute's 2003 Urban Mobility Report.
  Texas mobility is also impacted severely by the fact that 10 cents of 
every dollar we pay in gasoline taxes goes to other states. I strongly 
believe that Texas deserves at least 95 percent of Texas gas tax 
revenue for Texas transportation projects and have cosponsored 
legislation, H.R. 2208, to that effect. But it will be much, much 
easier to increase our slice of the pie and get to that 95 percent 
level, if we fully fund H.R. 3550 and have a larger, total pie.
  The gasoline tax funds our public highways by tapping revenue from 
those who benefit from them--motorists and truckers. Every cent we pay 
at the pump to the federal government goes to transportation. How else 
should we pay for our unavoidable road, bridge, and transit 
construction? The current gasoline user fee method is simpler than 
having to stop every 5 miles or so and dig around for change in our car 
seats to pay a highway toll.
  Unless we can fully fund H.R. 3550, our constituents will be stopping 
to pay a lot more tolls in the future. The amount of funding generated 
by the static $0.18 per gallon federal gasoline tax has significantly 
eroded over the last several years due to inflation. To allow for 
necessary highway construction the federal gas tax should be indexed to 
inflation, as proposed by my respected colleagues Chairman Don Young 
and Ranking Member Oberstar. 
  It is frustrating to be confined by inadequate transportation funding 
during tough economic times because infrastructure investment brings 
major employment and development benefits. Each billion spent on 
infrastructure creates 47,500 American jobs, with 3.5 million jobs to 
be generated and sustained through 2009 under H.R. 3550, including over 
200,000 jobs in Texas.
  Inadequate transportation investment leads to lost hours spent in 
traffic, lost job opportunities, and lost lives from unsafe road 
conditions. I call on my colleagues to fully fund H.R. 3550 at the 
bipartisan level of $375 billion.

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