Bud Shuster: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I share many of the same conservative beliefs that my colleague from…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I share many of the same conservative beliefs that my colleague from Florida has. This town is littered with agencies that don't belong here according to the Founding Fathers. Over time they have grown up, and the Federal Government has taken that power. But I do disagree with the gentleman from Florida on this issue. When it comes to transportation, the Constitution we have today, the breaking point of the Articles of Confederation, one of the breaking points, the biggest breaking point, was the transportation system. Maryland and Virginia couldn't come together on a treaty to navigate the Potomac River, so they realized that if they couldn't connect this Nation, then we would never be a nation. We would be 13 separate entities, 50 entities today. But the Founding Fathers came and wrote the Constitution we know today. Article I, section 8 talks about the role of the Federal Government, providing for the common defense, regulating interstate commerce, and establishing post roads. Those post roads today are the highways and the byways of this Nation. Mr. Chairman, I agree with the gentleman. Washington shouldn't be dictating. This bill does more to send back power to the States, to let the States drive the issues. But there is a Federal role, not to do it all, but to partner--to partner--with the States in building the infrastructure system that we have today.…”