On the recordFebruary 15, 2012
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, this bill is a tragic exercise. It's a waste of time, and here's why. This is probably the only chance for a jobs bill this year, but it destroys almost 600,000 jobs. This bill is the only chance for every State to start on its backlog of projects for roads and bridges and transit, but it has cuts for every State except for five States. This bill is the only opportunity for Federal funding for mass transit across the country, but the bill defunds the Federal allocation for mass transit funding that began with Ronald Reagan. This bill is the only major piece of Federal legislation that has paid for itself with user fees, but this bill uses Federal employee pensions from hard-pressed middle-income workers to subsidize roads for almost 300 million Americans. This bill was the only chance this year for a bipartisan bill based on the long history of bipartisan Transportation and Infrastructure bills, but it is rife with poison pills that guarantee that it will be stillborn. Historically, the Transportation and Infrastructure bill has been our most popular bill. Even before coming to the floor today, this bill has received thumbs down across the Nation. That's what it should get here, too.
