Richard Shelby: “in putting together the Fiscal Year 1999 Transportation Appropriations bill, we were faced with the difficulty of trying…”

“in putting together the Fiscal Year 1999 Transportation Appropriations bill, we were faced with the difficulty of trying to adhere to the spending levels in the new highway and transit authorization bill and still provide adequate levels of funding for other transportation priorities. We have done that in this bill, and I think it represents a balanced approach to meeting our nation's transportation needs. I want to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Senator Stevens, for all his assistance and advice as we put this bill together and moved it through sub and full committee consideration. We have also worked diligently with the senior Senator from New Jersey, Senator Lautenberg, the ranking minority member of the subcommittee on transportation appropriations, and with the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations, Senator Byrd, to try to accommodate the requests of every Member of the Senate. No one got everything they asked for, but I think as Members look at the details of the bill, they will see that we did our best, with the limited resources we had, to accommodate everyone's request. I want to outline just a few highlights of the bill, if I may. The Airport Improvement Program is set at $2.1 billion for 1999, the highest level ever. This funding will expand the capacity of our Nation's airports, reduce delays and congestion, and, most importantly, it will improve aviation safety in America.”