Max Baucus: “The National Highway System authorization bill repeals the national maximum speed limit. This is a commonsense feature.…”

“The National Highway System authorization bill repeals the national maximum speed limit. This is a commonsense feature. Repeal removes the threat of Federal highway dollar sanctions if a State does not post its roads at a 55- or 65-mile-per-hour speed limit. The current standard of 55 or 65 miles per hour may make sense in some States--especially in urban, congested areas. However, for big, sparsely populated States like Montana, it may make sense to change that standard. And there is no need for Washington to decide for us. Mr. President, the point is that the States should have the ability to set their own speed limits. The citizens in each State should have a say in these decisions without the threat of a Federal highway fund sanction. I spend a lot of time walking the roads in Montana. I have walked from Livingston to Bozeman along I-90; down Route 93 from Missoula to Hamilton; up from Butte along the road to Missoula; and this summer I hope to spend a lot of time on the Hi-Line. And I can tell you first-hand, those are easy roads to walk and they are easy roads to drive. They do not get a lot of traffic. People stop and talk.…”