James Oberstar

It is not the airlines. It is the air travelers who are paying for this system through their ticket tax.

You remember my calling the Vice President of IBM in this hearing room and telling him, I am going to nail your shoes to the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for staying close on the hide of all these participants in NextGen.

They do. They have been through Accelerated Public Works in 1963, Accelerated Public Works II in 1965.

I want to thank you and your staff throughout the country of staying on top of things.

We have seen that in the Federal Highway Program with the States getting bids back 25 percent on average lower than final design estimates.

It is very important for us to continue this process of hearings on the Recovery Act and holding Federal and State agencies accountable for the Recovery Act funds that we crafted into the recovery program.

I have enormous respect for county engineers. I have 17 counties in my district.

The principle thrust of the Federal legislation is to provide the capital assistance to transit agencies to buy the equipment.

I think there is a lesson here. It is going to take much longer for the private sector to enjoy recovery.

I have said several times that what we need is not a council of economic advisors, but a council of engineering advisors to get the Country back on track; get those economists, put them off in a corner someplace.

Sustainability is the important element of the surface transportation program and I don't expect there will be another Recovery Act.

I have traveled to so many recovery sites. Not as many as the Secretary because I have to stay here and vote.

We need a sustained program.

The Recovery Act is accounting for callbacks, restoring jobs for contractors.

I really don't have any sympathy for States at this stage who come in and say, well, we didn't know this was happening. Baloney.

In February of this year, President Barack Obama traveled to Elkhart County, Indiana, to announce a bill before Congress, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The infrastructure is aging. As I mentioned, over 20,000 buses are over 12 years old.

The need is great and I appreciate again your support for the six-year bill.

Our Nation's transportation infrastructure must be a top priority, with all the stakeholders working together to build a transportation network of the 21st century.

To sustain and build on the Recovery Act and re-energize the long-term growth potential of the United States, we need Congress to take on the six-year surface transportation authorization bill at the $500 billion level.

The ARRA is doing what Congress intended: Federal funds are being obligated at a rapid pace.

We are getting there day by day. Things are better.

So we want to help them do that.

Just get them out fast, put people to work.