Political Quotes

“I would like to respond just briefly to our friend who previously spoke in the well. First of all, this bill does not spend a penny more than the revenue paid into the Transportation Trust Fund by the American people, the traveling public from their gas taxes, not a penny more. In fact, over the 6 years of the bill, we spend approximately $3 billion less than the revenue paid in gas taxes. We do not spend any of the money that is currently in the Transportation Trust Fund, the $23 billion in the Highway Trust Fund, not a penny of it. In fact, we have agreed that the portion of that fund, which is not necessary to provide liquidity, will not be spent and will be turned back. That is approximately $10 billion in reduction in the national debt. Further, we have agreed that we will not count the interest paid on that balance in those trust funds, which means over 6 years that is approximately $15 billion in foregone debt. So with those two provisions, and I must tell my colleagues, many of us swallowed hard in these negotiations to give up those two principles, but because of that, it means that when we count the reduction in the national debt on the interest, and we count the reduction by foregoing the $10 billion balance in the trust fund, that is $25 billion. That accounts virtually for the increased spending by reducing the national debt.”