[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3743-3744]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRANSPORTATION NEEDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, this is the March Madness season on 
Capitol Hill, when we in Congress greet thousands of our constituents, 
many who are here to talk about transportation. It is something that 
every one of our constituents cares about.
  Yesterday, I was able to greet hundreds of cyclists from around the 
country, and then leaders of America's counties; already this morning 
I've visited with people from the preservation community and a large 
delegation from Oregon.
  Next week, I will start all over again with the American Public 
Transit Association. These people are all desperate for a 6-year, fully 
funded transportation bill, with stable, non-general funded money. They 
are standing on the edge of a cliff due to Congress' refusal--I almost 
said inability--to provide necessary funds, if not to do it right, at 
least to do it adequately.
  I came to Congress shortly after the Clinton administration and 
Congress last raised the gas tax. That was 21 years ago, when gasoline 
was $1.08 a gallon--and I wonder if Barack had even met Michelle--and 
there it has remained for 21 years.
  Due to inflation and fuel economy increases, the average cost per 
mile that the American motorist pays to the Federal transportation 
program has been cut in half.
  I went on the Budget, and the Ways and Means Committees for the last 
8 years in order to deal with this issue. Frankly, I am tired of 
waiting. I introduced a gas tax increase, phased in over 3 years, to 
fully fund a 6-year reauthorization. I was pleased to be joined by 
friends supporting my bill's introduction--by the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce, the AFL-CIO, American Trucking Association, AAA, contractors, 
transit, local government, environmentalists, road builders.
  I find it somewhat ironic that people say this will be a heavy lift, 
because there is little support for it. When Chairman Camp offered $150 
billion last week in his tax reform bill or President Obama suggested 
$300 billion, where was their broad base of support? Maybe that is why 
both proposals were declared dead on arrival in the newspapers the next 
day.
  I had a chance to make my case for both short and long-term funding 
last week in an amazing conference on America's infrastructure 
challenges at Harvard Business School. After my presentation, I was 
followed by the president of the AFL-CIO, Rich Trumka, and the 
president of the U.S. Chamber, Tom Donohue, who said--you know, they 
don't agree on much--but they both agree that it is time to raise the 
gas tax.
  One of the best examples of leadership was Bill Graves, the president 
of the American Trucking Association, who has been eloquent and 
forceful, including when he was Governor of Kansas and raised the gas 
tax, saying his industry wants their taxes raised.
  The AAA issued a strong statement in support, even though their 
members are not wild about it, because it is needed.
  We run out of money September 30 because we have drained the trust 
fund. Therefore, the United States Department of Transportation is 
going to stop shipping out money this summer, which means that we are 
going to start having local governments holding back on their contracts 
this spring.

[[Page 3744]]

  While the truckers and AAA have taken a strong leadership stand--not 
because it is popular, but because it is needed--I hope we in Congress 
will stop stalling or dealing with short-term fixes. Let's take a stand 
to raise the gas tax, have an adult conversation with the American 
public about how to pay for rebuilding and renewing our communities, 
put hundreds of thousands of people to work, to improve the safety and 
morning commute for all Americans.

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