Timothy Roemer: “Mr. Chairman, Indiana is known as the crossroad of America. It is nicknamed the crossroad of America not only because it…”

“Mr. Chairman, Indiana is known as the crossroad of America. It is nicknamed the crossroad of America not only because it connects the people to their communities, but because it is in central America and it connects the east to the west. This bill is an investment in Indiana's connection to its people, it is an investment to its communities, and it is an investment to the rest of America. This bill is important because it is about public safety, it is about an investment in our economy, it is about our security. These are very, very important measures that we consider today. People in La Porte and Michigan City and Rolling Prairie, Indiana, tell me that roads are the single most important issue to many of them; and we must spend money to repair our roads before we spend more and more and more money to repair our cars and our automobiles. This is a prudent investment. ... I strongly encourage them not to go into public education. As shootings go up in our public schools and test scores come down, it is cutting our nose off to spite our face, it is hurting our businesses if we take money out of public education for our children.”