Secretary Anthony Foxx

Washington, DC • January 28, 2015

Oral testimony as prepared for delivery

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Boxer. We appreciate your service. I also  want to thank the entire committee for having me here today.  We are in a NEW year, with a NEW Congress. But I’m here to discuss an OLD issue: the need for a NEW transportation bill – a multiyear transportation bill with funding growth and policy reforms focused on America’s future.

America is in a race. Not just against our global competitors. But against the high standards of innovation and progress our nation has upheld over generations.

We are far behind in that race. And when you are behind, you must run faster and do more than just keep pace.

The transportation system itself does not care about the political challenges of addressing its needs. From its perspective, and from mine, we are either meeting those needs – or we aren’t.  

In the past year, I’ve been to 41 states and over 100 cities. Mr. Chairman, you were kind enough to invite me to Oklahoma, where we saw a stretch of I-44 just south of Tulsa that needs to be widened. But the funds just aren’t there.

There are a thousand miles of highway projects that the Oklahoma DOT has said are “critical” – but they either aren’t getting built or aren’t getting repaired.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma is not alone. I’ve visited the Brent-Spence Bridge that connects Kentucky with Ohio. It’s well over 50 years old and is carrying more than twice the traffic it was designed for.  Chunks of concrete are now falling from the bridge’s ramps on the cars parked below. It must be replaced. 

But there is no real plan right now on how to pay for it. 

You could also look at Tennessee. The state DOT there has actually postponed $400 million in projects, and the thousands of jobs that come with them, because of – quote – the “funding uncertainty” here in Washington.

Now, Tennessee is not the only state to slow and stop projects. But it may be the first to tell the unvarnished truth about what’s happening to our transportation system– about how gridlock in Washington is now creating gridlock on Main Street.  

Last year we sent you a comprehensive multiyear proposal – the GROW AMERICA Act – which included 350 pages of precise policy prescriptions and substantial funding growth, all focused on the future. 

What America received in response was a ten-month extension with flat funding, which – while averting a catastrophe – falls short of meeting the country's needs.

It was not the first short-term measure that has been passed. It was, by my count, the 32nd in the last six years. And as former mayor, I can tell you these short-term measures are doing to communities across America what the state DOT says they’re doing in Tennessee: killing their will to build.

At this point, we must concern ourselves with the cumulative chilling effects of these short-term measures and this policy uncertainty. I urge you to make a hard pivot now, from the rearview mirror to the front windshield. Look at our aging system.

Look at the opportunity we have to grow jobs and the economy. Look at our own children and grandchildren.

In order for the system to be as good as the American people, we must do something dramatic. To hell with the politics.

This is why we sent you the GROW AMERICA ACT last year, and why we will send you a new and improved GROW AMERICA Act this year.

We certainly know that the GROW AMERICA Act is not the only approach to solving the infrastructure and mobility challenges of the future.  We look forward to engaging fully with this Committee and with others on both sides of the aisle to chart this path together.  

But we believe there are some essential principles any bill must have:

First, we’re going to need a substantially greater investment. We’re also going to need a greater level of investment over time – not just 6 months… or even 2 years.  If we want communities to build big projects that can take, in some cases, 5 years or more, we need to ensure funding for roughly that same amount of time.

There are important policy changes that need to be dealt with, too like streamlining the permitting process so projects go from blueprint to steel in the ground as fast as possible. We believe we can do that while ensuring even better outcomes for the environment.

We believe in opening the door to more private investment – and in giving communities, MPOs and freight operators a louder voice in what gets built.  

We believe in strengthening our “Buy America” program to make sure the American taxpayer dollars are being invested in American projects built by American hands with American products.

And we believe we must do everything possible to keep Americans safe as they travel in 2015 – and that includes obtaining the resources and the authority we need to combat threats we might not expect in this new century.

In the end, both I and my entire Department have great respect for what this Committee has done, including getting MAP-21 passed. It was a huge achievement. And now is the time to build on that work.

When I was sworn in, I took the same oath that you did to “protect and defend,” and for me, that means protecting and defending Americans’ fundamental ability to move – to get to work, to get to school, to get goods from the factory to the shelf.

But I can’t do that… they can’t do that… and we can’t do that… unless we take bold action, and take it now.

So I’m here to work with you. And I’m looking forward to your questions.