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Sam Johnson rails on “delay and bailout” Congress for highway bill
Washington, Sep 11 -
Today U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) led the debate on the floor of the House against a highway trust fund bailout. Johnson delivered the following opening statement during the debate of H.R. 6532, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restore the Highway Trust Fund balance. The measure Johnson railed against passed by a vote of 376 to 29. Prepared remarks follow: “Today, just seven weeks after the House first considered this bill transferring eight billion dollars from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund, here we are, back again. I was one of 37 Members to vote against this bill when it was previously considered in the House. This bill simply kicks the can down the road just a little bit more until the Highway Trust Fund is again broke. “Delay and bailout. Delay and bailout. This Congress is elected to run this country, yet we delay action, wring our hands and lament that there are few good options available to address the nation’s problems and then bailout programs gone broke. Our delay only makes problems worse. Our delay only leaves us with fewer options once we are forced to act. The bill before us today just puts another temporary patch on a highway system that needs funding. Even with this eight billion dollar infusion of cash, the Trust Fund is going to be broke again before Congress acts to address the underlying problem! “When the House initially passed this bill on July 23rd, the balance in the Trust Fund stood at $4.2 billion. Now, we learn from the Department of Transportation that, in the span of just these few weeks, that balance has fallen all the way to $1.4 billion as of the beginning of this month. So today, the Administration has called upon Congress to approve this $8 billion transfer and to make it effective immediately, rather than on September 30th, because is likely to go broke sooner. “The highway funding system is based on fuel taxes that are declining at a time when the price of fuel is rising. Fewer people are driving because the cost of gas is skyrocketing. The Majority won’t let us debate an energy bill. The Majority won’t let America work toward more domestic oil and gas. Americans want, need and deserve a clear energy policy that uses American energy sources like oil and gas from offshore. Americans want, need and deserve an energy policy that develops new technologies and brings them to the market. Yet this Congress delays action and prevents debate. “If the Highway bills that this Congress has passed were not larded up with thousands of earmarks, then spending from the Trust Fund could be better regulated to match taxes with spending. A little bit of self control would solve this problem. Unfortunately, the bill that will pass the House today shows no self control, it is just another bailout.” ###