Max Baucus: “what is at issue is very clear. I hope my colleagues pay attention. The issue is whether this Congress is going to break…”

“what is at issue is very clear. I hope my colleagues pay attention. The issue is whether this Congress is going to break the trust the American people have in the highway trust fund. That is the issue. Dollars going into the Federal highway trust fund are locked in. There is a trust that those dollars are then distributed back to the States. The revenue in the trust fund goes back to the States. It is a trust, an understanding. That is why we have a highway trust fund. We cannot go down the slippery slope of opening up the trust fund and replenishing it with general revenue or using general revenue to pay for highway allocations because once we start down that slippery slope, we will then have broken the trust. We will have sprung a leak, which will grow into perhaps a creek or a river, and will drain the highway trust fund, as the trust is broken. It is that simple. I very much thank the Senator from West Virginia for drawing this to the Senate's attention. Not only is it the resolution before us, but it is also any potential revenue matters that might come up in this body. The essential point is the linkage. I strongly urge my colleagues to continue the trust this Congress made with the American people when it passed the last highway bill, TEA-21. That bill was heralded as a landmark piece of legislation, overwhelmingly passed by both bodies.”