On the recordDecember 3, 2015
To not just celebrate the successes that we are having today, but to associate myself with my colleagues who say the next round of hard work begins tomorrow. There is a reason that we have the funding pay-fors that we have in this bill. It is not a lack of political courage. I have colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have courage to spare. It is a lack of trust. When my constituents back home send me a dollar's worth of taxes and get 50 cents worth of road out of it, they say: Rob, what is the deal? The streamlining that goes on in this bill grows that trust. The elimination of duplication, the focus on national priorities instead of pet projects, on and on and on, builds that trust. The time to build that trust is before the next highway bill, not at the end of a highway bill cycle. There is a lot of work for each and every one of us to do in a bipartisan way to go out and build that trust. I think about what my friend from Oregon said: We are going to squeeze a lot of efficiency out of our transportation system. The innovation title in this bill is absolutely going to allow us to do more with less, which is precisely why constituents are worried about an indexed gas tax that puts transportation spending on autopilot, because all of our experience is, if you raise it, someone will spend it. Balancing efficiency with productivity is a challenge that we all face that begins with trust generated back home, Mr.…
