[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12103]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE HIGHWAY BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I regret that yesterday's procedural 
vote on the multiyear bipartisan highway bill was not successful. It 
wasn't a vote to approve the bill; it was just a vote to agree to talk 
about it. We held that vote when we did because we wanted to give the 
House more space to work on it. But some Members said they wanted more 
time to review it before agreeing to talk about it, so we will take 
that procedural vote again later today. Because we are still determined 
to get this to the House in a timely manner, we expect to work through 
Saturday to ensure that we do.
  Here are the key components of the legislation:
  It is a bipartisan, long-term, multiyear measure that will fund our 
roads, highways, and bridges for longer than any transportation bill 
considered by Congress in a decade--and this highway proposal will do 
so without raising taxes or adding to the deficit.
  It will give State and local governments the kind of stability and 
certainty they need to better plan road and infrastructure projects 
into the future, while also providing them with more flexibility in 
pursuing those projects.
  It will instill real transparency and accountability into the funding 
process, so Americans can actually see where infrastructure tax dollars 
are going and how they are being spent.
  It will help break the habit of Washington always looking to hike up 
the gas tax to fund its spending instead of looking for spending cuts 
and efficiencies first. Here is what we know about the gas tax: It hits 
hardest those who struggle just to get by, and too many Americans have 
been struggling the past few years. It is not fair to hit those 
Americans again with yet another unfair policy from Washington.
  Some people might be a little shocked to see the Senator from 
California and me working across the aisle to put this bill together. 
Some might have been shocked to see President Obama and Republicans 
working together to pass important trade legislation for American 
workers or a Republican Senator from Tennessee and a Democratic Senator 
from Washington helping the Senate come to agreement on replacing No 
Child Left Behind. But my view is that if you can agree on a policy 
that is good for the American people, you should be willing to look 
past the ``D'' or ``R'' next to somebody's name in order to get it 
enacted.
  Senators from both parties know that a long-term highway bill, which 
we have all been talking about for literally years, is in the best 
interest of our country, so we are working together to get a good one 
passed. Thanks to the dedication of both Republican and Democratic 
Senators and their staffs, I am hopeful we will.

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