On the recordJuly 15, 2015
I will vote for H.R. 3038, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, because our nation cannot afford a surface transportation shutdown. There are still upwards of 15 million Americans either unemployed or underemployed, and a lapse in highway funding--however brief--would jeopardize thousands of Americans' livelihoods. My hope is that Republicans will stop careening toward crisis and finally pass a long-term measure to fix our aging infrastructure and put Americans to work. I am proud to support such a solution: today's Democratic Motion to Recommit aimed to allow a vote to re-authorize a long-term Transportation Bill to provide 6 years of funding for states and localities to repair crumbling roads and bridges. The time has come to stop governing by crisis and start making long-term investments to build a full employment society.
