I am not going to keep going back to the American people and a gas tax.

The WMATA system is stretched. It is strained. It is old.

Just to make it clear so that we do not send a mixed signal from the Chairman and the Ranking Member, we plan to mock up a clean extension, for 18 months, the week of the 20th of July.

It is my intent to work with the Administration the day after we resolve the short-term crisis.

I hope that we can work together as you meet with these various groups.

Under Bill Clinton, we got a balanced budget, we got a surplus, and we got that debt going down.

I, in good conscience, as the Chairman of this Committee, do not feel that I can move forward at this time of fiscal stress and strain with that type of a bill without being able to pay for it.

I want a short-term fix.

I, too, favor this short-term extension, this 18 months, because we have so much work to do across party lines.

We need to figure this out. So, I am very glad you raised the issue of our ports.

I salute a recommendation that says, look, let us just make sure that we keep this traffic moving

A lot of us on this Committee want to find a way to fill the Highway Trust Fund and do it in a way that makes sense.

Well, my belief is that an 18-month extension shows our commitment to continuity.

The difficulty here, Madam Chairman, and I just want to point this out because the Appropriations Committee will be meeting shortly and going over the transportation appropriation for next year.

I am not ready to find that solution.

the difference I have with him is strictly on the timing, it is not on what he said.

I want to get to that transformational bill. But I recognize...we have to figure out a way to replenish it.

We will do both. We will solve our short-term crisis and we will have a long-term bill that everyone is going to be proud of.

the reason is we have a crisis in the Highway Trust Fund and we have no consensus on how to fund a transformational bill.

I would prefer to see 18 months because it gets us past the politics.

We need to invest and expand transit options because they are more convenient and more energy efficient

I stood shoulder to shoulder with my colleague trying to get three times more funding into the Stimulus Bill for highways and transportation.

we have to stand up and make sure we do the right thing for the American people, for the environment, for our future.

The job before us is urgent.

I do not think they will buy it. They are struggling right now.