[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 15, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 IN OPPOSITION TO THE RULE ON H.R. 5021

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 15, 2015

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following 
statement I made last year on the Rule on H.R. 5021:

       I listened carefully to what you said, and you are right--
     this closed rule is a disservice. My respected friend from 
     Florida, I think, is just wrong.
       Mr. Speaker, this is not a solution, and it is not a 
     deliberate, thoughtful process. We have not had a single 
     hearing on transportation finance in the Ways and Means 
     Committee all year. We didn't have one the year before that. 
     We haven't had a hearing in the 43 months that Republicans 
     have been in charge.
       This is a perfectly predictable problem that was created by 
     the halfhearted bill that they passed last Congress. We knew 
     this was coming for months. Now we are here.
       With all due respect, I, too, am disappointed that we have 
     a rule that does not make in order broad discussion and 
     amendment. We have been unable in this Congress to deal 
     meaningfully with the looming transportation crisis.
       The gentleman is on the Transportation Committee. He 
     doesn't have a bill. We are almost through this Congress, and 
     we don't have a bill. America is falling apart. America is 
     falling behind. We have failed to give America's communities 
     the resources and a robust 6-year reauthorization plan.
       We have done it before under the chairmanship of Bud 
     Shuster and Ranking Member Jim Oberstar, and I was happy to 
     have played a small role. That bill made a difference.
       If we fail to come to grips with the funding level and, 
     instead, in approving this rule and the underlying bill, this 
     Congress is giving itself a ticket out of town to adjourn and 
     pass it on to not just the next Congress but to the Congress 
     after that. Make no mistake. In May 2015, you are not going 
     to be in any different a place. It is going to be May 2017.
       Congress has legitimate policy differences. I appreciate my 
     friend from New Jersey. Some people think that the Federal 
     Government should get out of the partnership that we have had 
     and reduce or eliminate the Federal gas tax.
       They are willing to give up on the successful partnership 
     and let each State decide what to do, when it wants to do it, 
     or what it is able or not able to do. They would abandon all 
     sense of a national vision and the ability to shape 
     transportation policies. That is rejected by the mayors, 
     rejected by county commissioners, rejected by State 
     transportation officials. They want that partnership.
       Frankly, there are some people who feel the gas tax ought 
     to be adjusted to deal with inflation and increased fuel 
     economy as well as the demands of a growing Nation with an 
     aging infrastructure.
       Some people are comfortable with the Republican budget, 
     which will have no new projects for 15 months and will doom 
     us to a 30 percent reduction over the next 10 years.
       Those are legitimate policy differences, but we are not 
     dealing with them here on the floor. We are shrugging our 
     shoulders, passing them on to the next Congress and, frankly, 
     to the Congress after that.
       I agree with the people who build and maintain and use our 
     transportation infrastructure. We should address this 
     infrastructure question head on. American infrastructure used 
     to be the best in the world and a point of pride, bringing 
     Americans together. It is now a source of embarrassment and 
     deep concern as we fall further and further behind global 
     leaders.
       We ought to reject this rule. We ought to allow full debate 
     and, by all means, resolve the funding question now so we can 
     go forward. America deserves no less.

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