Jim Inhofe: “I commend the Senators from Montana and Iowa for their vigorous support of the highway trust fund. Because of their…”

“I commend the Senators from Montana and Iowa for their vigorous support of the highway trust fund. Because of their efforts, the measure pending before us, the trust fund, will recoup an additional 2.5 cents per gallon of ethanol currently being deposited into general revenue. The Senator from Montana has also been very aggressive at trying to make the trust fund whole with respect to the current 5.3-cent per gallon ethanol subsidy. Although he and I do not agree on how to best address this issue, we are in agreement that the highway trust fund should not pay to subsidize any fuel source. Our surface transportation infrastructure needs are such that we cannot afford to forego any revenue source. Certainly one of the key factors in the economic engine that drives our economy is a safe, efficient transportation system. If our economic recovery is going to continue to expand we cannot ignore the immediate and critical infrastructure needs of highways, bridges, and State and local roadways systems. I believe this issue is best resolved through the reauthorization of the surface transportation program next year. Furthermore, it is my hope that the final result will be one that can be embraced by all sides in this debate. Thus, I will be pulling together a working group of the highway community, the renewable fuels community, the refiners and the agricultural community to begin discussions on how we can make the highway trust fund whole.”