Cord Byrd: “The reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, or ISTEA II as it is often referred to…”

“The reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, or ISTEA II as it is often referred to, will set the authorization levels for the next 6 years for major portions of our national transportation system. And I congratulate the distinguished majority leader, Senator Lott, for his decision to take up this 6-year bill rather than the 6-month extension proposed by the other body. In the end, however, the committee did not report a bill that in my view provides sufficient highway funding authorizations for either the Appalachian Development Highway System or the entire National Highway System. The levels reported were constrained by the allocation of budget authority provided to the Committee on Environment and Public Works by the budget resolution. And that allocation does not allow anywhere near the levels of highway authorization that can be supported by the highway trust fund revenues over the coming 6 years, nor the levels that are seriously needed to prevent further deterioration in our National Highway System.”