Transportation Infrastructure

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
Congressional Record: 114th Congress
July 10, 2015

[Page: H5084]

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(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, as you can see by this chart, the Federal gas user fee, at only $97 a year, buys drivers $515 in costs per driver because of bad roads.

Just released data also shows that up to 73 percent of the bridges in some States are deficient. Can you think of any other necessity, except the $97 gas user fee, that has not increased in 22 years? We are getting what we paid for in the hidden costs of bad roads and bridges.

The congressional response has been so disproportionate to the needs of the States that we are told that another short-term extension--that would be the 34th--12 legislative days from now could yield a veto.

The States say that these short-term extensions are useless. Only the next 2 weeks to get a long-term authorization is pushing it. Given the state of our bridges and roads, we have no alternative.