[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17340]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 DISAPPROVAL OF THE RADEWAGEN AMENDMENT TO THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION 
                                  BILL

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my disapproval to the 
Radewagen amendment to the surface transportation bill, which was 
ultimately defeated last night, 113-310.
  This amendment would have required the Secretary to change the 
allocation program funds made available to the territories. This 
amendment would have potentially harmed my district, the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, and Guam, by possibly taking already minimal funds away from 
these two territories.
  The funding provided in the transportation bill is yet another 
example of this Congress' inability to address the real needs of the 
U.S. territories, whose economies have not recovered and require 
additional support.
  And, while I certainly recognize and empathize with the frustrations 
of some of my colleagues from the territories, it is the limited 
funding within this bill which has created an environment where we are 
literally fighting over scraps.
  The proposed funding in the bill barely provides any increase of the 
historically low allocation for the territorial highway program.
  I would like to thank both the chair and ranking member of the 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Shuster and Mr. 
DeFazio, for not supporting the amendment and for recognizing that this 
is not an amendment that enjoyed the full support of all the four 
smaller territories.
  I would also like to thank the dean, Congresswoman Bordallo, of the 
territory of Guam, for her efforts and engagement on this very 
important issue.
  I look forward to working with Transportation and Infrastructure 
leadership and staff and my fellow Delegates from the insular areas and 
working together on resolving our problems.

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