Roy Blunt: “I want to talk about something that was overlooked late in the year as we passed the surface transportation bill--the…”

“I want to talk about something that was overlooked late in the year as we passed the surface transportation bill--the highway bill. It was called the Fix America's Surface Transportation Act or the FAST Act. It wasn't very fast. I am glad to see the President signed the law last month. It is one of the things people understand they can't do for themselves--along with defending the country--having a transportation system that works and taking advantage of who we are as a nation, being strategically located in as fine a place as you can be to do business, to create jobs and opportunity all over the world. The FAST Act in my State would provide $5 billion to Missouri over the next 5 years to improve our roads, bridges, and rail system. That is the amount of money we will send in over the next 5 years. We are either slightly a donee State or slightly a donor State. We might be better off if we kept all the money, but that is not what is happening right now. We are certainly better off if we know what the highway program looks like for 5 years. An effective transportation plan is good for the country, but it is particularly good where I live. If you look at any map of the river structure of the country or any railroad map of the country or any highway map of the country, a significant part of coming together of all three of those--rail, water, and highways--all happens right where we live.…”