[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 69 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3026-H3028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPLAUDING THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO KEEP AMERICA MOVING AND RECOGNIZING 
                      NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION WEEK

  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 420) applauding the men and women 
who keep America moving and recognizing National Transportation Week.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 420

       Whereas the United States transportation system is an 
     extensive, inter-related public and private network of roads, 
     airports, railroads, transit routes, waterways, terminals, 
     ports, and pipelines;
       Whereas millions of people and businesses rely on this 
     expanding system to get to work, embark on vacations, conduct 
     business, and ship goods within the United States and abroad;
       Whereas this system links regions and connects small and 
     large cities and urban and rural areas;
       Whereas transportation contributes to economic activity and 
     to a nation's global competitiveness as a service, an 
     industry, and an infrastructure;
       Whereas the transportation sector accounts for 11 percent 
     of the United States Gross Domestic Product;
       Whereas the transportation sector employs over 11 million 
     Americans;
       Whereas the average household spends about 20 percent of 
     its income on transportation, more than on any other expense 
     except housing;
       Whereas the President has proclaimed, by Executive Order, 
     May 16 through May 22, 2004, as National Transportation Week;
       Whereas Congress, by joint resolution approved May 16, 1957 
     (36 U.S.C. 120), designated the third Friday in May of each 
     year as ``National Defense Transportation Day'' and, by joint 
     resolution approved May 14, 1962 (36 U.S.C. 133), declared 
     that the week during which that Friday falls be designated as 
     ``National Transportation Week''; and
       Whereas National Transportation Week provides an 
     opportunity for the transportation community to join together 
     for greater awareness about the importance of transportation 
     and for making youth aware of transportation-related careers: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the 108th Congress--
       (1) applauds the men and women who keep America moving;
       (2) recognizes National Transportation Week by supporting 
     the goals of that Week; and
       (3) urges all Americans to become more aware of the 
     benefits and contributions of transportation to the United 
     States economy.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Porter) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. 
Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter).
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 420, introduced by the 
chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the 
gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), and the ranking member, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), recognizes the week of May 16 
through the 22 as National Transportation Week and applauds the men and 
women who keep America moving.
  Every Member of this body is well aware of the importance and the 
significance of our Nation's transportation system and its direct 
impact on the lives of everyone. According to the Bureau of 
Transportation Statistics,

[[Page H3027]]

the U.S. transportation system is composed of 46,747 miles of 
interstate highways, nearly 600 million airline passengers, 97,631 
miles of class-one freight railroads, over 160,000 route-miles by bus, 
26,000 miles of navigable waterways and over 69,000 miles of oil 
pipelines.
  Mr. Speaker, our transportation system is so important to our 
Nation's economic activity and to our Nation's global competitiveness 
as a service, an industry and an infrastructure that it is more than 
appropriate that we recognize and applaud the men and women who keep 
America moving.
  Our transportation sector accounts for 11 percent of the United 
States' gross domestic product and employs over 11 million Americans.
  In my home State of Nevada, we are absolutely dependent on 
transportation for our economy. Tourism is the number one employer in 
my district, and the number one, two or three employer in every 
district in the country. Without the 30 million people who travel 
through McCarran International Airport each year, or the millions more 
who drive to Las Vegas and Laughlin down I-15 and US-95, we would not 
be experiencing the unprecedented growth in our community that we 
currently enjoy today.
  I could go on, but I will conclude by saying I am encouraged every 
day by the new technologies that are constantly being developed to move 
us in ways that are faster, more efficient and environmentally 
sensitive. In Las Vegas, we are seeking to become the first community 
to deploy high-speed Maglev rail technology to better link us to 
southern California. We are also deploying Intelligent Transportation 
System technology known as the FAST system to warn us of traffic delays 
and Amber alerts.
  Again, it is important that we recognize the significance and 
enormous contributions that transportation makes to our Nation's 
economy. I urge the adoption of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. 
Res. 420, a resolution recognizing National Transportation Week and 
applauding the men and women who keep America moving.
  Although Congress established National Transportation Week more than 
40 years ago, this concurrent resolution provides an opportunity to 
acknowledge the great contribution of advances in transportation to our 
Nation's economic success and to salute the men and women who toil on a 
daily basis to improve America's mobility.
  Our transportation investments have paid enormous dividends and 
enabled our Nation to become the premier economic power in the world. 
For instance, over the last 2 decades, spending for transportation and 
logistics fell from 16 percent of gross domestic product to less than 9 
percent. We are moving more goods and more people far more efficiently 
than ever before. By reducing the portion of GDP that is dedicated to 
logistics, this 7 percent efficiency gain in our $10 trillion economy 
results in a savings of more than $700 billion per year.
  It is this great American success story that this resolution 
recognizing National Transportation Week celebrates, and I urge Members 
to support the resolution.
  But words without deeds are meaningless. The Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure on a bipartisan basis recognized that 
the beginning. Under the leadership of the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. 
Young) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), they worked 
together to craft a bill that would invest $375 billion over 6 years to 
improve our highways, transit systems and safety programs, the very 
level of investment derived from the Department of Transportation's 
report on our highway and transit needs. Moreover, the investment would 
create and sustain up to 3.6 million family wage construction jobs, 
including 1.7 million new jobs.
  Despite strong bipartisan support for this legislation in the House, 
the House Republican leadership, at the bidding of the White House, 
would not allow the committee to bring that bipartisan bill to the 
floor. Had the Bush administration not erected the roadblocks that 
prevented our bill from advancing through the legislative process, we 
could have celebrated National Transportation Week in a more meaningful 
way, pouring the concrete, laying the rail, and cutting the paychecks 
envisioned within the enactment of TEA-LU.
  In an effort to move the bill forward, the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure reluctantly reported and the House 
overwhelmingly passed a bill weeks ago with an investment level that is 
more than $100 billion less than our original bill, $100 billion less 
than what DOT's analysis shows is required to relieve congestion and 
improve the surface transportation system in our country.
  But even the significantly smaller House bill, authorizing $283 
billion and guaranteeing $275 billion is too high for the White House. 
The administration is still insisting that the total investment be no 
more than $256 billion over 6 years.
  So, let me be clear on what the administration's bill provides: Not 
one more dollar for highway and transit infrastructure, not one new 
job. Compared to where we are today, the administration's bill provides 
no increase for highway funding and no increase for transit funding for 
the next 5 years, not a single additional dollar. As a result, not one 
additional job will be created by this zero-growth investment.
  The administration's absolute insistence on flat-line investment for 
highway and transit infrastructure is unprecedented. In contrast, under 
TEA21, highway investment jumped from $21.5 billion in fiscal year 1998 
to $31.6 billion in fiscal year 2003, a 47 percent increase. Transit 
investment grew even faster, from $4.6 billion in 1998 to $7.3 billion 
in fiscal year 2003, a 56 percent increase. Even under very difficult 
budget conditions in the early 1990s, under ISTEA, highway investment 
still managed to increase from $16.8 billion in 1992 to $18.3 billion 
in 1997, a 9 percent increase.
  Under the President's bill, highway investment will have zero percent 
growth, from $33.6 billion in 2004 to $33.6 billion in 2009. Similarly, 
transit investment will have zero percent growth, from $7.2 billion in 
2004 to $7.2 billion in fiscal year 2009. Moreover, the President's 
proposal will cut the guaranteed transit investment to $5.9 billion, an 
18 percent cut from fiscal year 2003.
  Mr. Speaker, this country has worked too hard to put the current 
transportation system in place to allow the administration and this 
Congress to squander previous investments made over generations and 
allow that system to deteriorate. As we celebrate National 
Transportation Week, let us move beyond the rhetoric of congressional 
resolutions to a bill that honors the work of generations of 
transportation workers and a system that must remain the envy of the 
world.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 420.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume 
to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take 
this opportunity, while discussing National Transportation Week, to 
personally thank the 11 million Americans in our Nation's 
transportation workforce, especially those in Texas and the Dallas-Fort 
Worth area, for their hard work. They literally keep America moving, 
and I am pleased that we can recognize them all today.
  Mr. Speaker, moving people and goods quickly and efficiently is vital 
to keeping the United States globally competitive, and we need to break 
the impasse and complete a right-sized highways and transit bill. The 
needs are many, and many Americans need the work.
  Not only must we adequately invest in our transportation systems, but 
we must also continue to invest in transportation workforce 
development. Today's youth in America will be constructing and 
operating our future transportation systems, and we must encourage 
imagination, innovation and interest in transportation.

[[Page H3028]]

  Mr. Speaker, National Transportation Week could not have come at a 
better time. I urge the administration to allow us to proceed with a 
highways and transit bill that will create good jobs for Americans and 
provide resources to deal with the bottlenecks, crumbling bridges, the 
need for more light rail construction, intermodal terminals, trade 
corridors, transportation security, and safety programs.

                              {time}  1430

  I would like to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and 
ranking member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), for being 
some of our Nation's biggest advocates for safe and efficient 
transportation systems. I look forward to continuing to work with them 
to address our Nation's infrastructure needs. I thank the gentlewoman 
from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) for leading this discussion.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, a little more indepth history of the southern Nevada 
challenge in transportation, I think, today with Transportation Week it 
would be appropriated.
  As you know, Nevada is one of the fastest growing States in the 
Union. We are growing at 5 to 7,000 people a month into the southern 
Nevada area. You can imagine the challenges that we have before us as a 
community that has almost doubled in the last 10 years, literally 
creating communities the size of 60 or 70,000 people every year.
  Fortunately, over a decade ago, members of the Clark County 
Commission, local governments across the valley, decided to get 
together and create what is called the Regional Transportation 
Commission. The Regional Transportation Commission in concert with five 
local communities in southern Nevada worked together for the betterment 
and improvement of the southern Nevada area. As I mentioned, with the 
massive growth, the transportation needs are extreme. Fortunately, with 
the passage of this bill we will see additional funds to help us with 
this growth. And I applaud leadership and I applaud the chairman and 
the ranking member for their leadership.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my support for H. Con. 
Res. 420, a bill that designates May 16-22, 2004 as National 
Transportation Week. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of 
Transportation, and more than 30 other transportation industry 
organizations, National Transportation Week is an opportunity to 
highlight the functions and accomplishments of the transportation 
industry.
  There are nearly 4 million miles of roads in the United States. 
That's enough to circle the globe 16 times, travel round trip to the 
moon 8 times, or take 800 round trips between New York and Los Angeles. 
Since 1982 our population has grown almost 19 percent, the number of 
registered motor vehicles has increased 36 percent, and vehicle miles 
traveled has ballooned 72 percent. In spite of this growth, we have 
failed to keep pace with the increasing demands on highways and transit 
systems. Over the last 20 years we have added less than five percent to 
road capacity and even less to public transit.
  Transportation is about people, and about providing them with the 
opportunity to lead safer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. 
Moreover, our country's economic strength, our ability to improve 
productivity, and our capacity to create jobs are all dependent--to a 
great extent--on the health and vitality of our transportation system 
and its infrastructure. In 2003 the value of imported goods and goods 
designated for export that were carried on our Nation's transportation 
system amounted to nearly $2 trillion--that's $1,259 billion in imports 
and $724 billion in exports.
  According to the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of 
Transportation forecasts, by the year 2020: Annual vehicle miles 
traveled in the U.S. will increase 51 percent--from 2.8 trillion in 
2000 to 4.2 trillion in 2020; the driving age population in the United 
States will increase 21 percent by 2020; and truck freight volumes will 
nearly double from 9 billion tons in 2000, to almost 17 billion tons in 
2020.
  I am stating these statistics because I am very concerned about the 
inadequate funding of our Nation's transportation system and this 
Committee's transportation bill. Without increased investment we will 
suffer both socially and economically. For every $1 billion invested in 
Federal highway and transit spending, 47,500 jobs are created or 
sustained. Our Nation's deteriorating infrastructure and congestion, 
along with safety and economic problems warrant our strong and 
immediate response. Hopefully, during National Transportation Week, by 
acknowledging how heavily we rely on our national transportation system 
and the essential role in plays in our social and economic health, we 
will agree on a funding figure that adequately supports our need to 
keep America moving.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 420.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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