Tom Latham: “I thank the chairman for yielding time. And I, first of all, want to thank him for the great work, but also Ranking…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding time. And I, first of all, want to thank him for the great work, but also Ranking Member Dicks on the full committee; and then a special thank-you to the ranking member on the subcommittee, Mr. Olver, for all of his hard work. We've worked together as a team on this bill. And I thank the staff on the minority and certainly the majority staff for all their hard work that they put into this. This is a great day for two different reasons: one, we're going to get this bill done today; and, number two, it's on the Speaker's birthday, so this will be his present anyway. But I do rise in support of the conference report that's before us today, and I urge my colleagues to support it also. I know it doesn't make everyone happy, but it represents a compromise, and that's what a conference report really is all about. Overall, the THUD division of the agreement contains $55.6 billion in discretionary, a number that is $19.4 billion below the President's request--and again, $19.4 billion below the President's request. The agreement provides $39.9 billion for the annual spending for highways, the number that is contained in the latest extension of the Surface Transportation Act. This level will provide adequate resources for our State highway departments to address their needs. The THUD division contains various commonsense agreements that are universally important to the Nation.…”