James Oberstar: “in Texas, for example, of the $305 million assigned to Texas under the 2006 rescission, a total of $241 million of their…”

“in Texas, for example, of the $305 million assigned to Texas under the 2006 rescission, a total of $241 million of their cuts came from CMAQ and transportation enhancements. That's 79 percent of the amount that Texas alone cut out of these very small proportion programs. Now, we should not allow States to just target certain programs. We have created a structure within the Federal-Aid Highway Program of categories of funding. We all voted for it. It's now law, and if they're going to cut, their cuts ought to be proportional across the board. The Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations supports our position, National Association of Counties, regional councils, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Surface Transportation Policy Partnership. The gentleman's amendment is unnecessary, it should not pass. States have enormous amounts of flexibility. We ought to defeat the amendment.”