On the recordJune 4, 2015
My heart goes out to the chairman and ranking member for the task that they have been given. People have appropriately condemned and opposed many of the provisions. As people dig into the bill, the more they see, the worse it looks: slashing TIGER grant funding, no funding for high-speed rail, cutting Amtrak, and overall reductions. No wonder it has drawn a veto threat. But it is definitely not the fault of the committee. They have been given an impossible task. They have been requested to finance the Federal Government's transportation responsibilities in 2015 with 1993 dollars. Our country is falling apart while we are falling behind the rest of the world. We are of a generation when some of us can remember the United States having the finest infrastructure in the world. We had rail passenger service, airlines, superb highways and transit. Those days have long since passed. We are watching the deterioration of transit. The squabbling here over Amtrak is really dealing with a failing system because it is a symptom of our inability to invest in the future--just one, but a very glaring symbol. Sadly, Mr. Chairman, in the 55 months that my Republican friends have taken over Congress, we have not had a single hearing in the Ways and Means Committee, on which I serve, for our responsibility for funding transportation. We have not increased the gas tax in 22 years. Mr.…
