[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[June 9, 1998]
[Pages 924-926]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Signing the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
June 9, 1998

    Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 2400, the ``Transportation 
Equity Act for the 21st Century.'' This comprehensive infrastructure 
measure for our surface transportation programs--highway, highway 
safety, and transit--retains the core programs and builds on the 
initiatives established in the landmark Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.
    This Act achieves our transportation goals while maintaining fiscal 
discipline. My Administration worked with the conferees to eliminate 
excessive funding that would have undermined key Administration 
priorities for the environment, child care, and education. The resulting 
compromise, which is paid for with real offsets, funds a record level of 
guaranteed transportation investment while preserving the budget surplus 
for Social Security first. The Act also includes a new budget method for 
surface transportation programs, ensuring that certain transportation 
authorizations may not be reduced in order to increase spending for 
nontransportation purposes. I support this change.
    I am deeply disappointed, however, that H.R. 2400 fails to include 
language that would help to establish 0.08 percent blood alcohol 
concentration (BAC) as the standard for drunk driving in each of the 50 
States. The experience of States that have adopted the 0.08 blood 
alcohol level shows that this stringent measure against drunk driving 
has the potential, when applied nationwide, to save hundreds of lives 
each year. Applying 0.08 nationwide is an important cornerstone of our 
safety efforts. My Administration will continue to fight for it. In the 
meantime, H.R. 2400 does establish a new $500

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million incentive program encouraging the States to adopt tough 0.08 BAC 
laws.
    I am pleased that H.R. 2400 adopts two complementary programs to 
further increase seat belt use: (1) a $500 million incentive program 
based on the medical cost savings to the Federal Government from 
increased seat belt use; and (2) an $83 million program that targets 
specific State laws and programs to increase seat belt and child safety 
seat use. The Act also promotes safety by adopting my Administration's 
proposal to restructure the motor carrier safety program. These 
provisions will allow the States to invest in areas where they determine 
the greatest safety payoff can be achieved. The Act strengthens Federal 
and State enforcement tools, provides innovative approaches to improving 
motor carrier compliance, and enhances the information systems that 
support motor carrier safety activities.
    The Act also ensures an appropriate balance between highway and 
transit spending. The share of guaranteed funding allocated to transit 
will increase from 17 percent this year to 20 percent in 2002. This Act 
also includes several provisions that are based on Administration 
proposals. It creates a new grant program to promote greater cooperation 
among transit, labor, and health services, and assists social services 
recipients in gaining greater access to jobs and training opportunities. 
It gives local transit operators the flexibility to use capital funds 
for preventive maintenance and for compliance with the Americans with 
Disabilities Act. It helps level the playing field between employer-
provided parking benefits and transit/vanpool benefits, giving transit 
and vanpool benefits comparable treatment to parking benefits provided 
under the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.
    This Act represents the only significant environmental legislation 
enacted thus far during this session of the Congress, and I am very 
pleased that it supports my environmental and natural resource program 
priorities. As I requested, the Act increases funding levels for key 
environmental programs to help communities meet national standards for 
clean air and support environmental enhancements to our surface 
transportation system. The Act also provides for a streamlined 
environmental review process for highway projects. In this regard, my 
Administration will ensure that the fundamental protections of the 
National Environmental Policy Act, which include environmental 
protection, public participation, and collaborative decisionmaking, are 
not compromised. The Act also increases funding for roads that serve 
Federal lands, helping to address construction and maintenance needs for 
our national parks, forests, refuges, and Tribal lands.
    I am also pleased that the Act extends the ethanol tax incentives 
through 2007. These are commonsense investments that will help protect 
air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create new economic 
opportunity for farmers.
    I continue to oppose strongly, however, the use of legislative 
riders on authorization or appropriation bills to address substantive 
environmental issues. Unfortunately, in the final hours of conference 
negotiations, efforts were made to add a variety of provisions that 
would have undermined environmental protection, and that were never 
debated or voted on during House or Senate consideration of the bill. 
Most such provisions were ultimately removed, although certain 
objectionable riders remain in the bill. For example, one rider could 
open the way for the use of motorized vehicles for portages in the 
Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness in Minnesota. A second rider 
provides funding for the consideration of a new transportation route 
into the heart of the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. I 
view the addition of these kinds of riders as an abuse of the 
legislative process. I call on the Congress to renounce this practice in 
the future and pursue environmental legislation through the regular 
authorization process with open debate and appropriate public scrutiny.
    I am very pleased that H.R. 2400 continues the Disadvantaged 
Business Enterprise Program contained in previous statutes. This program 
has provided an opportunity for small, disadvantaged businesses to 
compete in highway and transit contracting undertaken with Federal 
funding. The Act also continues vital labor protections for America's 
transportation and construction workers.
    The Act establishes a strategic planning process to determine 
national research and technology priorities and provides substantial 
funding for new and improved transportation technologies. It protects 
underground utilities, such as pipelines and fiber-optic cables, that 
transport critical energy supplies and information necessary to keep 
America's economy strong.

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    I am troubled by the many hundreds of special interest highway 
projects funded in this Act. I would have preferred a ``cleaner'' bill, 
with funds provided to States for projects of their choosing. Project 
selection decisions should be a State responsibility.
    I would also have preferred a stronger program to support 
implementation of a key Federal responsibility--control of our Nation's 
borders. My Administration will work with the Congress to secure 
additional funds, within existing highway funding totals, to ensure that 
the Government has the technology and infrastructure in place to 
expedite cross-border traffic while continuing our vital efforts to stop 
contraband, including illegal drugs, from entering our country.
    I am pleased that H.R. 2400 adopts the low student loan interest 
rate that the Vice President proposed in February on behalf of our 
Administration. I have serious concerns, however, about the subsidies 
that the Act would force taxpayers to pay to lenders on top of the 
payments made by borrowers. It is critical that we move toward a system 
that relies on market pressures, not political pressures, in setting 
subsidies for lenders and intermediaries. My Administration is committed 
to working with the Congress on a long-term, mutually acceptable 
solution that moves toward a market-based mechanism for determining 
lender returns.
    Regrettably and unintentionally, H.R. 2400 contains a number of 
technical errors related to veterans benefits and important highway 
safety programs. I urge the Congress to complete action on and send me 
promptly the House-passed technical corrections bill, H.R. 3978, which 
addresses these concerns.
    The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century represents a 
significant achievement in our efforts to meet our transportation needs 
in the next century. I commend the Congress for its diligent, bipartisan 
efforts to resolve differences and to pass this important legislation.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

June 9, 1998.

Note: H.R. 2400, approved June 9, was assigned Public Law No. 105-178.