On the recordJuly 15, 2015
I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with the chairman of the committee more. I personally think that it is time to stop pointing fingers. There is enough bipartisan blame to go around. We didn't quite do the job when the economy was in free fall. We would have, a number of us--I know the ranking member would have--written the Recovery Act differently, but the point is we are here now with the challenge to fund it. Six States, six Republican States have increased the gas tax already this year. I have got a proposal that is ready to go that could be passed in 2 weeks, and the committee could have the resources to actually fund the bill, but there could be other options. I know the ranking member has a barrel tax, a proposal to index the gas tax and bond against it. I don't care what it is that we do. I do care that we don't continue to stall. It was exactly a year ago today we were standing here on this moment saying: Don't spill this to the end of the year; we need to get on with it because we will be right back here a year from now. And we are. It is time to act.
