Cord Byrd: “The Senate finds that-- (1) current law, as stipulated in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)…”

“The Senate finds that-- (1) current law, as stipulated in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), requires all federal gasoline taxes be deposited into the Highway Trust Fund; (2) current law, as stipulated in TEA-21, guarantees that all such deposits to the Highway Trust Fund are spend in full on the construction and rehabilitation of our nation's highways, bridges, and transit systems; (3) the funding guarantees contained in TEA-21 are essential to the ability of the nation's governors, highway commissioners, and transit providers to address the growing backlog of critical transportation investments in order to stem the deterioration of our road and transit systems, improve the safety of our highways, and reduce the growth of congestion that is choking off economic growth in communities across the nation; (4) any effort to reduce the federal gasoline tax or de-link the relationship between highway user fees and highway spending pose a great danger to the integrity of the Highway Trust Fund and the ability of the states to invest adequately in our transportation infrastructure.”