[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13221]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PATCHWORK EXTENSIONS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, 65 Republicans joined 54 
Democrats in voting ``no'' on the extension of the highway bill to 
register their disgust with 33 extensions while the Republican Congress 
then did zero work on a long-term bill.
  There are now four long-term Democratic bills and one bipartisan 
bill. However, today's 34th patchwork extension cannot be applied to 
even start on the Nation's backlog without assurance of funds to 
complete construction. Yet House Republicans have now fled for an early 
vacation.
  Eighteen States and the District of Columbia have passed State user 
gas fee laws without retaliation by the voters, but the federal share 
is more than half of the funds needed just to get started.
  The only way to stop the self-inflicted deterioration of our once 
magnificent infrastructure is to man up and pass a long-term bill.

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