Grace Napolitano: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Johnson amendment, and I thank my…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Johnson amendment, and I thank my colleague from Texas for offering it. This amendment would allow unused TIFIA funds to be reprogrammed into--in other words, to be put back into--the TIFIA account. The L.A. Metro, in my region, is one of the biggest recipients of the financing from TIFIA. TIFIA is an incredibly important tool in Los Angeles County that allows us to use our two transportation sales tax measures to complete projects in 10 years instead of 30 years. Speeding up project construction saves money in the long run, and it allows our transportation users the benefits of an improved multimodal system. I understand the need to reduce TIFIA from $1 billion to $200 million for transportation funding in the underlying bill in order to provide for other important programs, such as a freight program. This amendment would help reduce the burden that decreased TIFIA funding will have on local communities. Madam Chairman, I support the Johnson amendment.”