[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7287-7288]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRANSPORTATION FUNDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, after a rocky start this Congress, we 
have seen some signs of progress.
  Earlier this session, the House leadership allowed the process to 
work when all Democrats joined many Republicans to rescue Homeland 
Security from the potential disastrous shutdown by cutting off funds.
  Later, a decade-long struggle on the Medicare sustainable growth 
rate, the so-called doc fix, moved forward. An impasse that had lasted 
for years was broken, and the solution was overwhelmingly approved by 
Members of both parties.
  Well, now, we are facing yet another impasse, one that has haunted us 
far longer than a decade, transportation funding. The authority to 
spend for surface transportation programs expires May 31.
  Just as I predicted last summer, the stopgap approach that we 
approved then would put us right back in the same spot this spring, 
cutting badly needed transportation projects this summer and the jobs 
that go with them.
  America is falling apart and falling behind in part because you 
cannot pay for 2015 transportation needs with 1993 dollars, which was 
the last time we raised the gas tax. Thirty-two short-term funding 
extensions are evidence of a bipartisan failure for these 22 years to 
deal with the gas tax, and there is no meaningful alternative for 
transportation resources on the horizon.
  Ironically, the solution is clear, thoroughly studied and broadly 
supported: raise the gas tax for the first time since 1993. The House 
Republican leadership doesn't have to do anything extraordinary, just 
allow the Ways and Means Committee to follow regular order. Let's 
listen to the experts; invite the stakeholders that build, maintain, 
and use our transportation system.
  Listen to the heads of the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 
leaders in transit, truckers, AAA, bicyclists, all of whom agree with 
President Eisenhower, who used the gas tax to start the highway trust 
fund and the interstate freeway system, and President

[[Page 7288]]

Ronald Reagan, who increased gas tax a nickel, more than doubling it in 
1992.
  In fact, we can invite legislators from today. Six red Republican 
States have raised the gas tax already this year: Nebraska, Georgia, 
Idaho, Iowa, Utah, and South Dakota. State Senator Michael Vehle comes 
to mind.
  The key is to have real hearings, like Congress used to conduct. Have 
a full week devoted to solving the transportation funding crisis. Bring 
in the witnesses, grill them, test their thoughts and theories, discuss 
real solutions, not gimmicks or ideologically driven fantasies.
  Let's have serious work sessions and a markup. President Obama could 
help by establishing a marker that he will approve no further 
extensions past September 31.
  It will not be less complex, expensive, or easier politically in 
2016, 2017, or 2018. If this slides until 2016, which is the approach 
evidently favored by the Republican leadership, we will be struggling 
with this in the next Congress and the next administration.
  This does not have to be an exercise in futility. We are seeing the 
leadership exhibited all across the country with 20 States that have 
stepped up, and as I mentioned, six red States already this year.
  Now is the time for Congress to do its job. In fact, if we do our 
job, taking the solution that has been thoroughly vetted, studied, and 
widely supported by interest groups across the political spectrum, we 
are going to be able to solve this funding conundrum.
  We will be able to rebuild and renew America, putting hundreds of 
thousands of people to work at family-wage jobs, while Congress helps 
make our families safer, healthier, and more economically secure.
  I strongly urge that the House reject the approach that would simply 
dodge this problem for 2 more months, then slide to the end of the year 
and beyond. We should call the question now, establish the parameters.
  This is something that is long overdue, that all of us can embrace, 
and America will be the better for it.

                          ____________________