Byron Dorgan: “one issue I want to visit is the need to reauthorize the ISTEA program or the highway program in this country. It is…”

“one issue I want to visit is the need to reauthorize the ISTEA program or the highway program in this country. It is important for States like North Dakota. I notice the Senator from Alaska is on the floor. He will, I am sure, have the same feelings about this that I have. We are large States in land mass, small States in population. We have a need to construct a network of highways still across our States for interstate commerce and for a whole range of needs, but we have a very small tax base with which to do it. We have seen developed in this discussion who are the donor States and who are the donee States with respect to highway moneys. Well, that is largely irrelevant to me. If they want to ship fresh fruit and frozen fish from Boston to Seattle, do they want to ship them on gravel roads through North Dakota and Wyoming? I do not think so. We want to maintain and develop a National Highway System that works for everybody. That means that we need, as small States in the debate on this highway system, fairness for the highway needs for our States. I will just say that as we work through this debate in the coming weeks and months, those of us who come from States like North Dakota and Wyoming and Alaska and others are going to be working very hard to make sure that we are treated fairly in this reauthorization.”