James Oberstar: “The gentleman's amendment is well intentioned but mal-aimed. It should be an initiative on this floor to fully fund the…”

“The gentleman's amendment is well intentioned but mal-aimed. It should be an initiative on this floor to fully fund the Clean Fuels Formula Grant Program that was established in 1998 under our TEA-21 bill. If that were fully funded, California would benefit enormously by vastly cleaner air. Los Angeles and other urban areas around the country are being robbed, and Congressional appropriators are holding the gun. The City of Angels is famous for its smog. Every day, the exhaust gases emitted by cars, trucks, buses and industry hang over the city like a dirty brown blanket. But LA is not alone. Denver, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, even Duluth in my home district in Minnesota and many other cities large and small across this country are fighting the smog each and every day. Federal and state programs have been put in place to help Los Angeles and these other cities address their air quality problems. One such federal program would help reduce pollution through the purchase of transit buses that burn cleaner fuels, but not all the money allocated for that purpose is reaching those cities in greatest need.”