James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, this bill is one that has not only bipartisan but bicameral agreement among all the committees of…”

“Mr. Speaker, this bill is one that has not only bipartisan but bicameral agreement among all the committees of jurisdiction over the Nation's highways, highway safety and public transportation programs. Our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Senate Committees on Environment and Public Works, Banking and Housing and Urban Affairs and Commerce, Science and Transportation, all of us met, discussed, agreed on these technical corrections. In fact, in the last Congress, we were so much in agreement that we passed this bill five times in the House. They passed it a couple of times in the other body. But somehow it just never got to the point of being sent to the President. We took it up again this year. We were going to include it in the Water Resources Development Act, but at the last moment, technical glitches arose in the other body. So we are taking it up separately in this body in order to pass it and send it over to the other body. Hopefully, they will be able to act on it before the end of the week and send it to the President for the President's signature. There are over 400 technical corrections, really, truly technical in nature, waiting for 2 years to be adjusted and to be enacted. Tonight we can do that.”