Byron Dorgan: “first, we are deliberating in the Senate about a highway bill. I appreciate the work the chairman of the committee and…”

“first, we are deliberating in the Senate about a highway bill. I appreciate the work the chairman of the committee and ranking member have done on this piece of legislation. It has been a long and tortured process to get this piece of legislation to the floor of the Senate. While I may not agree with every single line in the bill, I admire their work. I think their work is commendable, and it will advance this country's interests. For that reason, I intend to support the legislation. I think with respect to this country's future, its economy, future opportunities in expanding our economy, there is nothing that more quickly expands the country's economy or more quickly provides opportunity all across this country than the investment Congress makes in a program that provides for highway and bridge construction and road maintenance and repair. It is a sure way to put people to work immediately all across this country. This highway bill has been long delayed, but now while it is on the floor, I also want to not only commend the committee for its work, I want to offer an amendment that deals with something that relates to it. Let me discuss briefly the amendment and then describe why I want this amendment considered on this bill. My amendment simply deals with the price of gasoline and asks the FTC to, within 90 days of the legislation being enacted, conduct an investigation of gasoline prices in this country. Let me describe a bit of the background for this.…”