[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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