[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7895]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         HOUSE TO VOTE ON EXTENDING SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ACT

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today in a couple of moments the House 
of Representatives will vote on extending the Surface Transportation 
Act. The hang-up? The President's threat to veto a bill that is not a 
10 percent cut in transportation funding over the next 6 years, even 
though his own Department of Transportation says that we should be 
spending half again as much as he proposes.
  Earlier the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a 
bipartisan bill that would move us in the right direction. The Senate 
overwhelmingly approved on a bipartisan basis even a larger bill. This 
is supported by the broadest coalition in the history of infrastructure 
in this country, from the Sierra Club to the Chamber of Commerce.
  Now is the time for the House to reaffirm its strong support, resist 
calls for cuts that will set America back for the next 6 years, so we 
will not have to play catchup for a generation.

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