Byron Dorgan: “if I might make one additional comment, there are some areas where the mandate will require someone to pay more and take…”

“if I might make one additional comment, there are some areas where the mandate will require someone to pay more and take more time because there is a conversion and some areas where it will not. Let me give you an example with respect to the highway signs. The taxpayer is the one who pays for the replacement of the highway signs. Whether it is the taxpayer paying Federal taxes or State taxes probably has less importance to the taxpayer because they still have to pay the taxes. In August 1993, DOT announced in a notice in the Federal Register that ISTEA now permitted Federal aid to reimburse States for costs that will be incurred when they install the metric highway signs. What they said is we are now prepared to give you funds for converting those signs. They are not talking old signs or new signs. They are saying here are the funds available, and of course what they will do is find devices to say there are no funds, there is no cost to this mandate. But this is a mandate. Go do this. My point is I do not want the American taxpayers to have to be paying out of any pocket for any mandates that are not mandates considered by this Congress. And that is the reason I bring this to attention in this piece of legislation. The fact is they are paying for an activity the American taxpayer should not have to bear at this point. We do not have to take down perfectly good highway signs and put up new signs with kilometers.”