[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             INFRASTRUCTURE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, fixing our Nation's crumbling 
infrastructure to boost the economy and increase transportation safety 
should not be a partisan issue; yet Republicans in Congress continue to 
show neglect and indifference towards the Nation's infrastructure and 
transportation safety needs.
  The 2-month extension of the highway trust fund they offered in their 
unacceptable T-HUD appropriation bill is the latest example. The T-HUD 
bill shows a dangerous disregard for safety measures on America's 
highways at a time when we well know transportation safety should be a 
priority.
  It allows massive, double 33-foot tractor-trailers to travel at high 
speeds on America's Interstate Highway System, and it suspends Federal 
safety guidelines aimed at eliminating trucker fatigue, allowing long-
haul truckers to work more than twice the average workweek for 
Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, the short-term highway trust fund does not solve the 
problem of deteriorating roads and bridges; it simply puts a Band-Aid 
on it.
  Republicans kicked the can down the road, but it got stuck in a 
pothole. Now is the time to fix the infrastructure in our counties, and 
we need to put people back to work in order to do it, but what we 
really need is a robust, long-term commitment.

                          ____________________