Political Quotes

“our great country faces yet another manufactured crisis. In just a few weeks from now, the end of July--and that is coming quickly--on July 31, the authority for the recent extension of the highway trust fund will expire. The U.S. Department of Transportation will not be able to make payments to our States for highways, bridges, railways. All transportation agencies will likely postpone or cancel roadwork during the busy summer construction season. Why? Because they have no money. They know the highway Surface Transportation Program has been stymied as a result of 33 short-term extensions forced upon us by the Republicans in the Senate--33. How can these agencies plan ahead? They can't. Before this crisis becomes full-blown, Democrats want to work with Republicans on a long-term reauthorization of the highway program. I know there are Members of the majority who want to do something about this. The Presiding Officer has a plan to take care of highways. Is it a perfect plan? Of course it is not perfect, but it sure is a good step forward to do something about this program, something that is long term. This crisis is about jobs, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of high-paying construction jobs throughout the country. That is why we challenged the Republican leader to move forward with a robust, long- term surface transportation bill ahead of that deadline.…”