[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 176 (Monday, December 7, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 22, SURFACE TRANSPORTATION REAUTHORIZATION 
                         AND REFORM ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 3, 2015

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, the passage of H.R. 22, Fixing America's 
Surface Transportation Act, is a significant accomplishment. It ends 
the embarrassing string of 37 short-term extensions. It provides five 
years of certainty with modest, but important, increased spending 
levels. There are provisions that deal with safety, innovation, and 
integrating passenger rail into overall surface transportation, among 
many other notable items.
  I am pleased that a number of provisions that I have authored and 
championed have found their way into the final version of this 
legislation. One of the unheralded provisions potentially has the most 
significant, far-reaching consequences--the expansion of work on an 
alternative user-fee to replace the gas tax. This reflects legislation 
I have introduced that builds upon the Oregon pilot project on road 
user charges. There is also a specific title dealing with innovation. 
The next five years will see unparalleled changes in transportation 
practices and technology that can have a transformational effect on our 
way of life, and this bill embraces this.
  Unfortunately, Congress continues to refuse to address a Highway 
Trust Fund that is inadequate and losing purchasing power by the month. 
Refusing to increase the gas tax for 22 years or to have any other 
source of revenue has complicated passage of a long-term bill. Instead, 
the collection of budget gimmicks paying for the legislation are, in 
many cases, questionable. For example, using private bill collectors to 
hound low-income taxpayers who run into financial difficulty is a money 
loser, as well as ineffective and unpopular. This is one of many ways 
the bill is paid for, basically to disguise the use of the Treasury's 
general fund instead of the traditional user fee model.
  I am hopeful that we can use the next five years to build upon the 
positive framework of the legislation and for Congress to accept the 
overwhelming consensus of the people who build, maintain, and use our 
surface transportation system. They want to increase user fees to 
adequately fund transportation, and so should we as well.
  I will vote for this bill because the positive policy features are 
compelling and because it gives us an opportunity to use this five-year 
period of stability to get it right. I will spare no effort to do so, 
and I hope I'm joined by my colleagues so that the next reauthorization 
truly enables us to rebuild and renew America, put millions of 
Americans to work at family wage jobs, and strengthen communities from 
coast to coast.

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