[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8416-8417]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




AMENDING TITLE 23, UNITED STATES CODE, REGARDING UNITED STATES ROUTE 78 
                             IN MISSISSIPPI

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4268) to amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to 
United States Route 78 in Mississippi, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H. R. 4268

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. UNITED STATES ROUTE 78 IN MISSISSIPPI.

       Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(j) United States Route 78 in Mississippi.--If any 
     segment of United States Route 78 in Mississippi from mile 
     marker 0 to mile marker 113 is designated as part of the 
     Interstate System, no limit established under this section 
     may apply to that segment with respect to the operation of 
     any vehicle that could have legally operated on that segment 
     before such designation.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Capuano) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill before us.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 4268, a bill to amend title 23, United 
States Code, with respect to United States Route 78 in Mississippi, and 
for other purposes.
  H.R. 4268 allows commercial vehicles currently operating on United 
States Route 78 in Mississippi, between mile marker zero and mile 
marker 113, to continue to operate after that segment is designated as 
part of the interstate highway system.
  This bill is similar to H.R. 2353, a bill which I sponsored, that 
provides a similar allowance for commercial vehicles operating 
currently on Highway 41 in the State of Wisconsin. That bill passed the 
House by voice vote on July 22, 2013.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 4268. It allows for 
commerce to continue in Mississippi in an orderly way. It would not 
involve any new use of the roads.
  The only thing that would change is the designation of the highway 
from U.S. to interstate. Otherwise, people that had special permits to 
operate or were operating under State law on the previous highway would 
continue operating. No new use would be permitted.
  I urge my colleagues to support this limited, basically technical 
piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of H.R. 4268. Very 
simply put, this is a State highway that already has an exemption to 
the weight limits pursuant to State law. They are changing the State 
highway into an interstate highway, therefore, requiring us to provide 
a waiver for this very simple item.
  As the gentleman before me said, it is a noncontroversial item, but 
it is a necessary step that we take.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my 
colleague from Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee).
  Mr. NUNNELEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for 
yielding. I too rise in support of H.R. 4268.
  In Mississippi, U.S. Highway 78 cuts diagonally through the foothills 
of the Appalachians to Memphis. This is the highway that our most 
famous native son, Elvis Presley, took as he made his way from his 
hometown and my hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, to find his way to Sun 
Studio in Memphis.
  While there were others whose careers may not nearly have been so 
visible, they made the same road. People came home from World War II, 
and they felt their only option in Mississippi was to leave to find a 
better way of life for their families, so they made their way to 
Memphis and then north.
  For the three decades following the end of World War II, they settled 
in and around the Great Lakes. There were small towns in Illinois and 
Wisconsin that had neighborhoods literally dotted with families from 
Mississippi, neighborhoods in Waukegan and Zion, Aurora and Kenosha and 
Racine; and you go on the streets, and you find people from Baldwyn and 
Marietta, Mantachie and Booneville.
  In recent years, we have had a renaissance of advanced manufacturing 
in Mississippi. This growth has been driven by regional cooperation 
among our local leaders, tough decisions that were made at the State 
level, but it has been primarily driven by the strong work ethic of 
those same people from Appalachia.
  In fact, a few months ago, I was visiting in one of the advanced 
manufacturing facilities involved in automobile manufacturing parts, 
talking to a man in Mantachie. He smiled, and he said: The great news 
about this job is I got to come home.
  In order to accommodate all this new growth, we found it important to 
upgrade U.S. Highway 78 and make it Interstate 22. A lot of work has 
been done by Federal, State, and local stakeholders.
  We are about ready to make that transition, but there is one more 
change that needs to be completed. A small tweak in the law is 
necessary.
  While advanced manufacturing is a very important part of our economy, 
agriculture is still a very important part of our economy as well.
  Under the existing law, ag products on the way to the market have to 
obtain a permit that they can carry an additional 5 percent weight on 
U.S. Highway 78. In the absence of that bill, that permit would not be 
available.
  To make it clear, this bill is no loss, no gain. The roadway that is 
in use today is the exact same roadway that will be used as Interstate 
22. The mile markers, as you have heard, are specified in the 
legislation. There is not one additional vehicle that can legally 
travel this road under this law that would be able to do so under a new 
law.
  That is why I urge passage of this bill. I want to thank the ranking 
member, I want to thank the chairman, and I also want to thank the 
senior member of the Mississippi delegation for his cooperation in 
making this possible.
  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.

[[Page 8417]]


  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the bill before 
us, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4268.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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