Tom Latham: “I thank the gentleman very much. I just want to talk about the subject that the gentleman from Massachusetts brought up.…”

“I thank the gentleman very much. I just want to talk about the subject that the gentleman from Massachusetts brought up. The Secretary of Transportation came before the subcommittee. We were talking about the difficulty we were having as far as trying to write an appropriation bill with no new authorization. The Secretary on several different occasions said he would not entertain and they would strongly oppose both an increase in the gas tax and vehicle miles driven, and I'm sure that the gentleman from Massachusetts remembers that testimony very clearly. I would just suggest that maybe someone should talk to the administration about finding sources for funding because the Secretary has taken every possibility off of the table to fund a new highway bill. And now we're apparently looking at a reauthorization that's finding other unique ways of funding rather than user fees or gas tax or miles driven or registration fees, whatever, they have taken off the table. So I would suggest the gentleman from Massachusetts would maybe visit with Mr. LaHood at the Transportation Department.”