On the recordDecember 3, 2015
The reputation of our committee is that we are the most bipartisan committee in the Congress, and I think we have shown it with this bill. I can't thank my partners enough--Mr. Graves you just heard from; Chairman Shuster; Mr. DeFazio, who is the ranking member; both good friends and, of course, the staff--for their countless hours, including missing Thanksgiving. I particularly thank the conference committee Members because this bill needed compromises on both sides if we were going to get it done this year, and that is what we have done. This bill was improved in conference in many ways. If you are in the States, you will probably say the most important way is that you are getting more funding than anticipated. There was a tradeoff, of course, because it is now a 5-year rather than a 6-year bill, and we needed the longest term bill we could get; but it does mean almost $13 billion more annually in funding for the States, and they were so starved for funds that, I believe, this 5-year tradeoff was most important for us and for them. The reason I have come to the floor with this chart is not to show you something about my own district, but because this chart is emblematic of what this bill will do for your district and for districts all over the United States. I chose it because one of my major projects is the H Street Bridge. I didn't just choose a bridge; I chose a bridge with intermodality at its vortex. This is the bridge that runs over Union Station.…
