Nathan Deal: “both gentlemen have adequately addressed this issue as to its purposes. I would simply like to elaborate that this is…”

“both gentlemen have adequately addressed this issue as to its purposes. I would simply like to elaborate that this is one of the oldest military parks in our country. It is on a major route that has been there for years. Unfortunately, U.S. Highway 27 goes through the middle of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Battlefield, and when the State was in the process of widening this very important transportation corridor, which it has designs to do all way from the Tennessee border on the top of the State of Georgia all the way to the Florida border on the south, it required that, in order to expand this route, to either do so in the middle of the national military park or to attempt to bypass it. The decision was made in 1987 to build a bypass around the outskirts of the national military park, and it is for that purpose that this authorization is here today. Mr. Speaker, the cost of the project has increased from its original estimate, and this bill is for the purpose of reaching the authorization level that is currently projected as the cost of the project. The State of Georgia has been more than willing to pay its portion, and had done so and will continue to do so. I thank both gentlemen for their support of this legislation, and I would urge this Congress to pass this bill so this important project, around one of the most important national military battlefields, can be completed expeditiously.”