On the recordJuly 31, 2014
I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding. Madam Speaker, the House passed their version of highway funding more than 2 weeks ago. The Senate acted last night. Because of their rush, there was actually a drafting error in the Senate version of the highway bill that either creates a $2 billion hole in the deficit or only funds the program through early October. The House is not scheduled to be in session in October, so I would suggest to my friends that I think the best thing to do at this stage of the game is to accept this proposal and send the House bill back to the Senate, which does a couple of things: it certainly does not increase the deficit, as the Senate bill does, because of their mistake; but also, it gets us through May 31. I have committed to the distinguished gentleman on the other side that the Ways and Means Committee will have a hearing on transportation funding in September when we return, but this gives us the time to look at the competing proposals to finance our infrastructure. Those disagreements don't necessarily follow along partisan lines, as the previous speaker might have suggested. Not everybody agrees with the gas tax. Not everybody agrees with miles driven. Not everybody agrees with tolls. We are going to have to work through those alternatives and see what other proposals might be there to see where we can move forward.…
