Cord Byrd: “the Senate has now turned to consideration of the conference report accompanying the Transportation and Related Agencies…”

“the Senate has now turned to consideration of the conference report accompanying the Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002. The bill includes a combination of appropriations and obligation limitations totaling $59.643 billion. That is $1.526 billion or 2.6 percent higher than the level provided for fiscal year 2001. This is the ninth of the thirteen appropriations conference reports to come before the Senate. It is the ninth conference report that is within its 302 (B) allocation and it is fully consistent with the $686 billion bipartisan budget agreement on discretionary spending for the thirteen bills. When the President signed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, he placed into law a provision I and my colleague from Texas, Senator Gramm, championed here in the Senate. That provision served to guarantee that we appropriate every year on our Nation's highway system the funds that are received into the Highway Trust Fund through fuel taxes at the pump. I'm pleased to say that this year's Transportation bill, like every Transportation bill enacted since TEA-21, honors that commitment. Indeed, this year, for the first time since 1998, the Transportation bill provides more money for highways than was assumed in the highway guarantee--$100 million more.”