Cord Byrd: “2 years ago Congress enacted landmark transportation legislation, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. In…”

“2 years ago Congress enacted landmark transportation legislation, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. In that legislation we restored the trust to the highway trust fund and we set forth highway funding levels that State and local governments could expect to receive over the 6-year life of TEA-21. There are efforts now to reduce the gas tax revenues going into the highway trust fund, thereby endangering the promises we have made regarding funding levels for the Nation's highways and bridges. This amendment puts the Senate on record in opposition to any efforts to repeal or to reduce gas tax revenues, either temporarily or permanently. In adopting this amendment, the Senate will confirm the position that it took in enacting TEA-21, that all gas tax revenues should go to the States for critical transportation infrastructure needs and that we meant it when we said we were restoring the ``trust'' to the highway trust fund.”