Cord Byrd: “the important first step, as I say, which we 83 Senators sought in our letter has now been achieved; namely, the…”

“the important first step, as I say, which we 83 Senators sought in our letter has now been achieved; namely, the transfer of the 4.3 cents per gallon gasoline tax from deficit reduction into the Highway Trust Fund. I believe it was Senator Gramm who offered the amendment to do that. He offered that amendment in the Finance Committee and the Finance Committee adopted that amendment. So that was accomplished in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Unfortunately, the six-year ISTEA reauthorization bill reported by the Environment and Public Works Committee does not allow the use of one penny--not one copper penny--of this 4.3 cents gas tax for highway construction over the next six years. In effect, it allows these additional gas tax revenues to build up huge surpluses over the next six years. The time has come to put our money where our mouth is. We either mean it or we don't mean it when we write letters urging our leadership not only to place the 4.3 cents per gallon gas tax into the Highway Trust Fund, but also to take the next step and allow it to be used in the ISTEA bill before the Senate. Did we place the 4.3 cents gas tax into the trust fund simply so that the unspent balance of the trust fund could skyrocket to historic levels, while our bridges crumble, while our constituents sit in ever-worsening traffic jams, and while congestion chokes off the economic potential of our Nation? Is that what we meant?…”