Alan Grayson: “This amendment would prohibit any funds appropriated by this bill from being used for the purpose of establishing a toll…”

“This amendment would prohibit any funds appropriated by this bill from being used for the purpose of establishing a toll on any existing free lane of Interstate 4 in the State of Florida. I-4, as we call it back home, is the most traveled road in the central Florida region. Thousands of my constituents, each day, commute to and from work using the road. To use their hard-earned tax dollars to implement a new fee on our commutes just seems wrong to me, and that is why I am offering this amendment. I don't think Floridians should be treated any differently in this bill than, frankly, Texans are on pages 31 and 32 of this bill. My constituents would like to keep their freeway free, and I don't blame them, particularly when ground has been broken on new toll lanes that will run right down the middle of I-4. Local authorities are free to build new lanes and expressways, as is the Federal Government, and provide for construction as they see fit, but I am here to make sure that the existing free lanes on I-4 remain untolled. I urge support for this amendment. After all, a toll is very much like a tax, as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle should recognize. I yield back the balance of my time.”