Max Baucus: “I first want to give by deepest respects and thanks to the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee…”

“I first want to give by deepest respects and thanks to the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Chafee. He has put together a bill that has passed our committee unanimously 18 to 0. Not many committees can come up with a unanimous vote on major bills. But since that bill passed the committee, it has become quite apparent that some Members want us to improve upon it. So we are going to try to do that with this amendment. So, I am going to give five reasons why I think the amendment offered by Senator Gramm, Senator Byrd, Senator Warner, and myself is such an improvement to this bill. First, as has been pointed out, the dollars we are discussing are trust fund dollars. I would point out that the American motorist who pays these fuel taxes expect those dollars to go into transportation, including highways. Second, despite what some are going to state on this floor later, this amendment does not break the budget. Let me repeat that. It does not break the budget. Third, despite what some might say later, this amendment does not take one penny--as Senator Byrd mentioned, "not one thin dime"--from any other program. Fourth, this amendment is needed to meet our infrastructure needs. We are not spending enough in America to maintain our transportation system and our highways. We certainly are not spending at the level of other countries.…”