[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   SUPPORT NEW TRANSPORTATION FUNDING

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, America's roads are coming to a standstill 
because of ever-increasing congestion. The latest research shows that 
the average American wastes almost 2 full days a year in traffic. 
Measured in dollars, the cost of congestion is now $63 billion per 
year. My own hometown of Los Angeles is again ranked as the most 
congested city in America, with congestion delays and costs twice the 
national average.
  With this congestion causing such a drag on our economy, the American 
public might expect their Congress to be rushing to resolve such a 
problem. But we are now almost 2 years past the deadline for passing a 
new transportation bill, and the administration is still blocking 
Congress from passing new transportation funding. The issue is, as 
always, money. The President, after having racked up the largest 
deficits in American history, is fighting to block this needed 
investment in roads and transit.
  Mr. Speaker, my constituents are as fed up with government gridlock 
as they are with freeway gridlock. America needs transportation relief 
now.

                          ____________________