Political Quotes

“on another matter, the Senate has a lot to do before the recess for Memorial Day. We need to finish the Corker- Cardin Iran legislation. We need to wrap up work on the budget resolution. But in addition to those two important pieces of legislation, there are other pressing needs. Surface transportation expires while we are on recess. The highway trust fund runs out of money, and the authorization for the Federal highway program expires later this month. There are 63,500 bridges that are structurally deficient, and more than 50 percent of our roads are in disrepair. That is according to the Federal Highway Administration. Without reliable funding, our highways and bridges will only get worse, and that is an understatement. Six States already are delaying or canceling important transportation projects because of questions over future funding--Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wyoming. The ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, the senior Senator from Vermont, said today that in Vermont--this tiny State, area-wise and population-wise, with about 600,000 people in it--their construction timeframe is very, very narrow. They can't do construction during most of the year. They need to plan way ahead of time, and they can't do that if there is nothing to plan. States need certainty from Washington that they will receive their highway dollars before construction leaders put shovels in the ground. Nevada needs that certainty.…”