Vernon Ehlers: “I wish to speak about honesty and integrity, and this bill is a bill of integrity. I have been concerned, unhappy, and…”

“I wish to speak about honesty and integrity, and this bill is a bill of integrity. I have been concerned, unhappy, and upset for almost 30 years now, since transportation funding was placed on budget, surpluses were allowed to accumulate, and the money was used to shield the size of the national deficit from the American taxpayers. That is wrong, and I am pleased that this bill ends that practice. Mr. Chairman, the money that the public pays for gas taxes, under this bill will be used for the purpose for which it was intended, and that is transportation funding. No longer will it be used to disguise the size of the deficit. Some people have called this bill a budget buster. If it were a budget buster, then we should reduce the tax. But, Mr. Chairman, there is a good reason it is not a budget buster. Section 1001 makes it very clear that if the expenditures in this bill exceed the budget guidelines, spending will have to be cut back or offsets will have to be found, and we will take care of that through the budget process. One other important issue of equity. I come from a donor State.”