Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am pleased to be here as a conferee to the conference that worked to resolve the difference between the House and Senate versions on the surface transportation reauthorization. A huge thank you goes to Chairmen Shuster and Graves and Ranking Members DeFazio and Norton and their committees and personal staff for all the work that was put in to get us to this 5-year authorization. The fact is that America is literally falling apart. I am glad that we are going to be sending the President a long-term authorization this week. Making our infrastructure work and work for us smarter is really critical. {time} 1000 The bill does a lot to support research, development, and the deployment of transportation technology. I am pleased with the overall research title, including specific investments in hazardous materials, R&D, and traffic congestion mitigation, but I do have a couple of concerns with oversight. The Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office was moved out of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and into the Federal Highway Administration. We have to be vigilant that this move doesn't undermine the multimodal coordination of ITS research and development. A new deployment program was funded through a large tax on existing R&D programs.…”