James M. Jeffords: “We have proved it can be done. The highway bill before the Senate is important for the Nation. It will authorize funds…”

“We have proved it can be done. The highway bill before the Senate is important for the Nation. It will authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs through fiscal year 2009. This bill will make our roads safer. This bill will reduce traffic congestion. This bill supports mass transit. This bill will create jobs. This bill will have an impact on every town, every city, and every State. The legislation includes a provision by Senators Grassley and Baucus that boosts funding in this bill by $11.2 billion or about 4 percent over what the White House has requested. That funding makes all the difference in allowing us to draft a funding formula that ensures that all States benefit in this legislation. That funding helps level the playing field for many States that feel they are being treated unfairly at the White House prescribed funding level of $284 billion. I urge President Bush to reconsider his veto threat against this legislation. It is a good bill that helps every Sate and will impact every American. There are no differences between the House and Senate versions of this bill that cannot be overcome with good, honest negotiation, and compromise. But we should not enter those negotiations with a proverbial ``gun at our head'' with the threat of a veto. The White House should not enter the negotiations with a ``my way or the highway'' approach. There is a storm brewing in the Senate of mammoth proportions.…”