[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4050]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRANSPORTATION JOBS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, tens of thousands of bridges--70,000, to be 
exact--and millions of miles of roads across the country are in a state 
of disrepair. But rather than putting Americans to work fixing these 
roads and bridges--and, of course, repairing the crumbling train 
tracks, highways, and sidewalks across this country--House Republicans 
are pandering to the tea party. They cannot do a bill. They cannot do a 
bill. They have tried. They cannot do a bill. They are now not fighting 
us, they are fighting among themselves. As if putting the tea party 
ahead of efforts to repair our Nation's crumbling infrastructure was 
not bad enough, House Republicans are risking almost 3 million jobs in 
the process.
  I was very disappointed last week to hear that the House Republican 
leaders hope to pursue a 3-month extension of the highway bill. That 
is, at this stage, without any suggestion that they would go to 
conference with us. It would seem to me that is the most practical 
thing to do--have a short-term extension and during the process work to 
see what we can come up with, working together. I know this is foreign 
language to what has gone on in the House in the last year and a half, 
but that would be a good idea--to try that, to work together to come up 
with a bill, a 2-year bill, a 3-year bill. Working together, we could 
do that on a bipartisan basis, as we did here. Their short-term bandaid 
bill is no solution. Communities and contractors need certainty--
especially going into the summer construction season. We want to make 
sure projects do not grind to a halt in 3 months because the House once 
again refuses to act.
  The American people certainly know at this stage whom to blame 
because of the problems over there. It is a crisis. It is a chaotic 
place we find over there. They are looking to cost us 3 million jobs. 
One week remains until these projects around the country lock their 
gates and lay off their workers. It is time for House Republican 
leaders to do what is responsible: take up the Senate-passed 
Transportation bill and pass it. The American people are watching and 
time is wasting.

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