[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6463-6464]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PASS A SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. 
Norton) is recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of 
the minority leader.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time is remaining in the 
hour?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia has 16 minutes remaining.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Garamendi spoke about the Eisenhower years, which 
gave us the present highway trust fund. Its lasting effects make it a 
monumental contribution to American law. Our generation has the 
obligation to move on, now that we have become so efficient that the 
highway trust fund, as set up 50 years ago, is obsolete.
  I remind the House that, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln built 
the railroad system. How could you do that during a time when the 
country is split apart, and in this House, we can't figure out a way to 
get a highway surface transportation bill passed?
  I looked up the latest figures--actually, 2015--on how our country 
ranks today. We ought to compare that to what Lincoln did, now going on 
150 years ago, and what Eisenhower did 50 years ago.
  We now rank 25th in the world for infrastructure quality. We are 
behind every last one of our allies, and now, we see some developing 
countries creeping forward. We better watch out for China. They are not 
in the top 30 now, but they are going to get there soon.
  I remind this House that the way in which this country became the 
heavyweight that it is in the world was through the development of its 
infrastructure. We had to somehow create a seamless infrastructure that 
would go from across the continental United States, from east to west 
and from north to south.
  With that, everything else became possible. Without that, we are 
simply going to be overtaken by nations that are far behind us now but, 
as I indicated are getting caught up.
  I wanted to say a word about at least one other section of the GROW 
AMERICA Act because it relates to transit systems which are under 
special strain and which, interestingly enough, are embraced by people, 
from big cities to the smallest towns.
  When I say ``transit systems,'' I am talking about everything from 
light rail and street cars that we have here in a big city like the 
Nation's Capital to rapid transit and buses that rural America depends 
upon and that are simply breaking down and unable to handle the 
traffic.
  There is a very special provision of $115 billion to invest in these 
transit systems. The reason that this investment would be so acceptable 
is that there is no part of America that it does not touch.
  I am not talking about, for example, subway systems of the kind we 
have in the District of Columbia and New York. I am talking about light 
rail and street cars and buses and rapid transit buses that small-town 
America uses and depends upon, and that is in the GROW AMERICA Act.
  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the Democrats on the Transportation and 
Infrastructure committee are having a roundtable where each member is 
going to discuss a project that is stuck because we have not passed a 
surface transportation bill. What we are trying to do at 2:30 p.m. 
tomorrow is put a face on what infrastructure means.
  What infrastructure means, for example, in the District of Columbia, 
is

[[Page 6464]]

the H Street or Hopscotch Bridge. I didn't take on one of the bridges 
that is simply falling down. There are altogether 31 projects in the 
District of Columbia that are awaiting funding. I have asked that the 
projects be put into the Record. Some of you would be interested if you 
were from the District, but it doesn't matter. You all have projects 
like this in your districts.
  Unless we raise the ante, unless we make this an offer that this 
House cannot refuse, we are going to keep patching this bill until 
there is nothing left to patch.
  This is a House that does not move, even in a crisis. We saw that 
with the Department of Homeland Security appropriation, that they 
simply would not give up. Finally, when the administration wouldn't 
change its immigration executive order, they simply had to let it pass. 
That is how we figured that one out.
  Surely, there is a more rational way to figure out a surface 
transportation bill. I am working--at least on my side of the aisle--
with 1-minutes this week, with the Special Order hour Mr. Garamendi has 
taken out, with social media, and with our work with the many 
organizations who have come here because this is National Highway and 
Transportation Week, as they have so declared. We are trying our best.
  In this case, we are not trying to reach a compromise. We are simply 
trying to get to a bill so that we can simply sit down and talk about 
it. If you don't want to talk about the GROW AMERICA bill, put your own 
version of a bill, but don't insult the American people by giving us 
nothing except another patch.
  I appreciate that, at least on my own committee, the Transportation 
and Infrastructure Committee, there is an earnest effort to find a 
solution to this crisis. I commend Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member 
DeFazio for working together in search of a solution. I call upon the 
Ways and Means Committee, through whom the funds must come, to do their 
job.
  Together, we can do this. We are not going to let this House rest; we 
are not going to drop this issue, even on May 31, when the funds are 
set to run out and we have to find a patch. We are going to keep coming 
to this floor so that the American people know that there are at least 
some Members of this House who are struggling to get a surface 
transportation bill, are earnest about it, and won't give up.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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