[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4351-S4352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE HIGHWAY BILL
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, yesterday the Senate voted overwhelmingly
to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the highway bill, the
highway bill we are now on. The amendment process has begun. It enjoys
strong bipartisan support, and I am encouraged by the bipartisan
commitment to both go to the bill and move this important bill forward.
Time is of essence. The current highway extension from last year
expires at the end of next month, on May 31. We are going to have to
work together to pass this legislation, then take the bill that we pass
to conference to join it with the House bill--I have a feeling there
will have to be fairly extensive negotiations at that point--and then
send that bill to the President for his signature.
This highway bill that is currently on the floor is a product of a
long bipartisan process. It is based on more than 3 years of hard work,
over a dozen hearings, testimony from more than 100 witnesses,
countless hours of negotiation, all of it supported by a deep
[[Page S4352]]
and broad coalition, from State and local highway authorities to
national safety advocates. It was last month that a very similar bill
overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 417 to
9. It is time to get this bill done.
This is what America sees, I know: While we engage in this endless
negotiation inside the beltway, outside the beltway people are
listening to that as they are sitting in traffic jams which are getting
worse and worse by the day. At the same time we are debating, roads and
bridges continue to deteriorate, and preventable traffic accidents take
the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year. I will come back
to that, because these lives do not have to be lost. The action we take
on the floor of the Senate will cause those lives not to be lost.
Car crashes, in fact, are the No. 1 cause of death for every age from
3 years of age to 33 years of age; crashes are their No. 1 cause of
death. According to national statistics reported just last week, 43,000
people died in car accidents just last year alone. More than 2.7
million people were injured.
I believe the key point is that one-third of all these traffic-
related deaths can be attributed to unsafe roads. One out of every
three deaths can be attributed to unsafe roads. In my home State of
Tennessee, over 1,000 Tennesseans lost their lives in traffic accidents
in 2003. Treasury Secretary Norm Mineta rightly says:
If this many people were to die from any one disease in a
single year, Americans would demand a vaccine.
We do have a medicine of sorts. In fact, we have a cure of sorts.
Passing the highway bill will save 4,000 lives each year simply by
making those roads safe, by improving those roads, as well as educating
the public about road safety. In Tennessee, where seatbelt usage is
among the lowest in the country, our State highway department is taking
action, but, like transportation departments all across the country, it
needs our help. The highway bill will provide Tennessee with more than
$3.8 billion over the next 5 years to invest in our State's highway
infrastructure.
Safety is a top priority of this legislation. Another serious goal is
to get America's highways back on track economically. America is
interlaced by nearly 4 million miles of roads and highways. Our
transportation infrastructure is worth about $1.75 trillion. Every $1
billion we invest in transportation infrastructure generates twice that
much--$2 billion--in economic activity and creates over 47,500 jobs.
The interstate highway system has often been called the greatest public
works project in history, and for good reason.
Our roads, ports, and railroads are vital to America's economic
success. We know that well in Tennessee, where we are home to companies
such as Federal Express, U.S. Express, Averitt Express. Unfortunately,
America's transportation infrastructure is deteriorating badly and
becoming painfully overcrowded. Our roads and highways are not keeping
up with demand. Just ask any American commuter--bumper to bumper
traffic all day long. Indeed, in our Nation's urban areas, traffic
delays have more than tripled over the last 20 years, and not just in
the big cities but all over the country. In Raleigh Durham, for
instance, commuting time has gone up 25 percent in 10 years. In
Charlotte, traffic congestion has added 39 additional commuting hours
per year. That is nearly an entire work week that has been added,
sitting in traffic. In Tennessee, traffic congestion has increased in
all of our major metropolitan areas. In Nashville, my hometown,
commuters drive an average of 32 miles per person per day. Metropolitan
planning organizations are struggling to meet demand.
Americans suffer the loss of more than 3.6 billion hours in those
traffic delays, and that translates down to 5.7 billion gallons per
year of fuel being wasted. These transportation delays ripple through
our Nation's economic sector and ultimately result in lost wages and
lost jobs and lost productivity.
Traffic congestion also generates more pollution. Cars that are
caught up in stop-and-go traffic emit far more pollution than they do
on a road that is smoothly flowing. The American Highway Users Alliance
estimates that if we could free up America's worst bottlenecks, in 20
years carbon dioxide emissions would drop by over three-fourths, and
Americans would save 40 billion gallons of fuel.
Time, money, and quality of life are being burned up in traffic jams.
The highway bill goes a long way to alleviating many if not most of
these problems. The key to that effort is the improvements it will make
in our mass transit system. The highway bill provides generous
provisions to improve our bus and rail systems that make our urban
centers thrive. In Tennessee, it will provide more than $240 million
over the next 5 years to improve our transit for our rural and urban
commuters. Taking the train or the bus will be more convenient and less
time consuming and more comfortable.
As we consider this legislation, keep in mind that oil prices are
climbing to historic highs, and the summer driving season is just
around the corner. For the sake of every family right now planning
their vacation for this summer, every commuter who parks and rides,
every minute we spend in a traffic jam, I do urge my colleagues to work
quickly to pass this bill.
One final note, and it is a note of caution: We need to stay within
our budget limits. We have a rising deficit. We have a President who
has clearly laid out his spending parameters, several of which will be
spelled out in the budget we will bring to the floor tomorrow. But I am
confident by working together we can get this done, and we can
demonstrate reasonable fiscal restraint.
Our vast and interconnecting highways are emblematic of our American
spirit. They represent what being American is all about. They represent
that spirit and love of adventure, our drive for the unknown. Our
highways, bridges, roads, trains, and ports are the physical, tangible
expression of the United States. I do urge my colleagues in the great
American tradition, in every sense of the phrase, to keep America
moving forward.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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