Expiration of the Highway Trust Fund

Congressman Mike Quigley
Congressional Record: 114th Congress
July 15, 2015

(Mr. QUIGLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, we are 16 days away from the latest expiration of the highway trust fund. This is nothing new. Over the last 6 years, Congress has passed 33 stop-gap funding bills to extend transportation funding. Today we will vote on the 34th.

Congress has repeatedly failed to provide the long-term investments in transportation that we so badly need. Without serious long-term investments, we simply will not be able to compete in today's global economy. Europe now invests twice as much as we do in transportation. China invests four times as much.

Our crumbling infrastructure, rated a D-minus by the American Society of Engineers, is slowing our economic growth. State and local governments are being forced to cut back on their construction projects. Private sector companies are being forced to stop hiring workers and investing in capital.

It is time to provide American businesses and American workers with transportation funding certainty. It is past time to pass a long-term transportation bill that will grow our economy and create jobs.