[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14919]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE TRANSPORTATION BILL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 7, 2004

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the Transportation 
bill. As the remaining days until the August District Work Period tick 
down, it is looking more and more likely as though we are not going to 
get a bill finalized this year.
  This is a sad state of affairs. The White House clearly does not want 
us to finalize this bill in an election year, and the House Republican 
Leadership just follows the orders of the Cheney-Bush Administration. 
We should complete the bill, and if the White House wants to veto it, 
it can go ahead; there are clearly enough Republican and Democrat votes 
to override a veto and get the Transportation bill finished. But by 
doing nothing, the House Republican leadership is siding with the White 
House, and it is preventing Congress from carrying out its 
Constitutional role as a coequal branch of government.
  To add insult to injury, the Washington Post reported on July 3, 
2004, on page A9, that the White House has only spent $366 million of 
the $18.4 billion that it got Congress and the Republican Leadership to 
appropriate for Iraqi reconstruction. Why the Cheney-Bush White House 
won't now spend the money that it insisted it needed is anybody's 
guess. But this is money that could and should have gone to 
reinvestment in America rather than into Iraq in the first place. 
Instead, it lies unused and serving no purpose.
  Under the Constitution, as my dear friend Senator Byrd has noted so 
many times, it is the responsibility of the Congress to decide how 
federal funds should be spent; it is not the White House's role. Yet, 
this White House has insisted on investing in Iraq rather than America, 
and it has gotten its way even if it doesn't know what it wants to do 
with the money.
  States like my home state of West Virginia have been waiting for far 
too long now to see just what, if anything, they could expect to 
receive from the federal government in order to finance important 
highway and transit projects, to focus on congestion mitigation, and to 
provide good-paying jobs that are sorely needed in this uncertain job 
market.
  Mr. Speaker, I have an editorial from a distinguished newspaper in my 
district, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, which I would like to submit 
for the record to accompany my remarks. This insightful viewpoint from 
yesterday's paper demonstrates quite clearly the problems with which we 
are saddling the states due to Congressional inaction. The article 
reads as follows:

        Funding Setback: House Delays Highway, Streetscape Work

       Not only did the U.S. House's extension of the federal 
     highway funding bill last week cause a slow down on financing 
     new or continued construction on I-73/74 through the West 
     Virginia coalfields area, it also causes problems for 
     existing programs that rely on the bill.
       One such project is the downtown Streetscape project in 
     Bluefield.
       The program is ready for Phase II, a refurbishing of 
     Chicory Square between Bland and Federal streets.
       The city earlier received funding for an extensive project 
     in downtown that involved sidewalk replacement, new lighting 
     and the installation of high-tech communications 
     infrastructure. Phase I got underway in 2003.
       City officials said the Coal Heritage Authority has three 
     projects that can't be started until a new highway bill is 
     approved.
       Bluefield officials were hoping for a smooth transition 
     between the first two phases of the downtown Streetscape 
     project with the passage of a new six-year federal highway 
     administration spending bill.
       But, for the fourth time, the majority party in the House 
     has decided to use its power to delay consideration and 
     passage of the bill.
       Needing even more funding, the King Coal Highway 
     Association, which joins Tolsia Highway in the 1-73/74 
     project through the southern coalfield counties from 
     Huntington to Bluefield, is awaiting millions of dollars to 
     carry through with work already planned on the $2 billion 
     undertaking. They had hoped to be able to move forward with 
     those projects this summer.
       Most political observers think there will be no action on 
     the new federal spending act until after the November 
     presidential election. That means communities like Bluefield, 
     Kimball, Mount Hope and all those anticipating construction 
     jobs for I-73/74 have lost a year in financing.
       Maybe voters should find out which Representatives are 
     holding up the bill and remember them in November.

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