Leonard L. Boswell: “I come as a newcomer, realizing that commerce has got to move across this country in order for us to compete, to compete…”

“I come as a newcomer, realizing that commerce has got to move across this country in order for us to compete, to compete with the elements of the Pacific Rim and European Union and we have got to do it. My colleagues, I really appreciated it when they pointed out that some of this increase is giving up the interest and other aspects that they pointed out, not to repeat them. So this is a doable thing, and this country will benefit from it. I often wonder what it would be like--the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) said it is the heartland, and we claim the heartland. So I will just claim the belt buckle, if I can, for Iowa. But I can imagine the embarrassment if commerce is moving back and forth across this country and they got to Iowa and we had to put up a sign that said, ``Excuse me. Slow down to 35 or 40 miles an hour because we cannot repair our bridges and fill in the potholes and make those improvements.'' We cannot do that. We are not 50 separate countries; we are 50 United States.”