[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4214-S4215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, this month we will celebrate the 50th 
anniversary of the creation of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway 
System. The Interstate Highway System was one of the signature 
accomplishments of the entire 20th century. If there was ever a list of 
the seven wonders of the United States, our Nation's highway system 
would be on that list.
  Consider the sheer size and complexity of our transportation system. 
The Interstate Highway System encompasses 50,000 miles of highways, 
bridges, and tunnels, and that doesn't count the railways. It connects 
East and West, North and South. A person can drive from Boston directly 
to Seattle, 3,020 miles, or from Laredo, TX, to Duluth, MN, 1,831 
miles, all on the Interstate Highway System. The Federal Interstate 
Highway System serves all 50 States and the District of Columbia.
  The Interstate Highway System is a central nervous system of our 
Nation's economy, creating vital corridors for goods and services for 
American commerce. In every community in our Nation, from our largest 
cities and our large metropolitan areas to the small rural communities 
that have just a few people--and I mean a few people--our interstate 
highways bear the name of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 
whose vision of a connected America resulted in the Federal Highway Act 
of 1956.

  How did this good man, Dwight Eisenhower, come up with this idea? 
Well, he was ordered, as a young officer in the Army, to bring a 
military contingent across the United States during World War I. It was 
awful. He never forgot that. There was no Federal highway system. There 
were barely highways. There were barely roads.
  With his experience as Allied commander of troops in World War II, he 
came back from that recognizing how important moving goods and services 
for the military around Europe was, and how he had tried that in the 
United States and it did not work. But he was going to change that. 
That is what he did. President Eisenhower, a Republican, understood 
that the interstate highway complex was an investment worth making. He 
realized the money spent on roads and bridges creates jobs--lots of 
jobs. President Eisenhower, with all of his military experience and 
background, understood that an interstate system was important to our 
national security.
  My friend talks about the security of our troops. Of course they are 
important. We so admire these men and women who protect us. But to have 
a safe and secure Nation, we also have to have things such as a good 
highway system.
  My friend the Republican leader fails to mention that. It is part of 
our national security needs, as evidenced by Dwight Eisenhower. I 
wonder what President Eisenhower would think of today's Republican 
Party and its lack of concern for the Interstate Highway System. I 
believe he would be greatly disappointed. Just a few weeks from now, as 
the month of July comes to a close, funding for the Federal highway 
program will be gone. It will expire. But you would not know that 
congressional Republicans are watching the same movie the American 
people are watching. Republicans in Congress have refused to work with 
us in making an adequate, long-term investment in our country's surface 
transportation system.
  Instead, the Republicans see the Federal highway program and trust 
fund as some sort of a hot potato. Stay away from it. It should never 
be dealt with

[[Page S4215]]

and only be kicked down the road, leaving millions of jobs behind. Even 
with the looming deadline, Republicans are showing no haste in forming 
a plan to address our Nation's crumbling roads, railroads, bridges, and 
transit systems.
  We have one of the most unique makeups in one of our committees that 
this body has ever seen. We have one of the most liberal Members of the 
Senate, Barbara Boxer, and her counterpart is one of the most 
conservative Members of this body, Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma. They know 
the importance. These two divergent political spectrums know that we 
have to do something about the highway system. They are going to put 
out a bill. They are going to authorize it. Then we need to figure out 
a way to fund that.
  Republicans don't seem interested in that. Even with its looming 
deadline, Republicans are showing no haste in forming a plan or to 
develop one for this system that we have to do something about. 
Congressional Republicans see no urgency to schedule hearings, to mark 
up a bill, to take testimony in other ways or to make the highway trust 
fund solvent. With every day that passes, our Federal highway trust 
fund inches closer and closer to insolvency.
  It is clear we will need to get to that reauthorization of the 
highway program either this week or next week. But we won't. Look at 
the schedule. It means we are left with July. Looking at the Senate 
calendar for July, assuming that the Republican leader will continue to 
keep the Senate out of session on Fridays, we will have, in reality, 15 
days to reauthorize the Federal highway system--15 days. Fifteen 
session days is precious little time, especially when Republicans don't 
feel any urgency to solve this problem. Of course, we all know how this 
is going to play out. This is straight out of the Republican's 
playbook--the manufactured crisis playbook.
  They have written the book, and they are adding chapters to it every 
week of this Congress. Republicans will drag their feet until the very 
last minute, refusing to work with us on a long-term solution to our 
Nation's infrastructure woes. Then, when the deadline is imminent, the 
Republican leader will offer yet another short-term extension to stave 
off another disaster of his own making.
  This is and should be unacceptable to everyone here. We already have 
had 33 Republican short-term fixes. We do not need a 34th. But that is 
where we are headed. That is too bad. What we do need is a Republican 
Party that sees the value of a robust, long-term investment in our 
Nation's highways. We need a Republican Party that sees what President 
Eisenhower saw 50 years ago--half a century--that investing in our 
infrastructure is a shot in the arm to our economy.
  There are hundreds of thousands of shovel-ready jobs just waiting for 
Congress to act. On the other hand, failing to meet our country's 
infrastructure needs will be catastrophic. The American Society of 
Civil Engineers predicts that our economy would lose $1 trillion unless 
we invest in surface transportation--$1 trillion. Let's not forget the 
safety implications of sitting on our hands. Half of our roads are in 
poor condition. Tens of thousands of bridges across the country are 
structurally deficient. Railroads are without important, lifesaving 
braking systems. They need to be refurbished and some parts of them 
reinvented. Doing nothing is not and should not be an option.
  The Republican leader should change course and abandon his policy of 
governing by crisis. We can get started on a long-term, bipartisan 
reauthorization of the Federal highway program today. All we need is 
for Republican Members of Congress and their leaders to focus on 
American jobs and the traveling American public's safety. They have not 
done that. This is too bad.
  Mr. President, there are a number of Senators on the floor.
  Will the Chair announce the business of the day.

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