[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H392-H393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    STRONG AMERICAN SUPPORT FOR BIKE/PED-ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, last week the Republican leader went 
on CBS to state that the American people don't want beautification 
projects or bike lanes in the economic stimulus program. Instead, Mr. 
Boehner felt American families want larger and expanded highways.
  He's just wrong on the facts. A 2009 survey by the National 
Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America reported that three-
quarters of Americans believe that smarter development and improved 
public transit are better long-term solutions for reducing traffic 
congestion, better than building new roads. An overwhelming 80 percent 
believe it's more important to repair existing highways and public 
transit rather than build new highways.
  The transit, bike, pedestrian and road repair work are more labor 
intensive and are ready to go in all 50 States, supporting local 
engineering and construction firms.
  The Republican leader is wrong; the American public is right. Bikes, 
transit, fixing-it-first projects make communities more livable, put 
more people to work faster, and make our families

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safer, healthier, and more economically secure.

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