On the recordMay 12, 2016
I rise to join Senator Collins in support of the fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. I want to join her in commending Chairman Cochran and Vice Chairwoman Mikulski for their great work, but I particularly want to commend Chairman Collins for her extraordinary work, her thoughtfulness, and her diligence. All those aspects are evidenced in this bill. She has, once again, developed a balanced and thoughtful bill that includes priorities for Members on both sides of the aisle. This bill allows for our Nation to continue moving forward by investing in critical transportation and housing initiatives, and, suffice it to say, without her leadership, we would not be here today with a bill that not only merits our attention, but also merits our support. This bill includes policies and funding that will grow our economy, improve the safety of our national transportation system, create jobs, and preserve affordable housing for our most vulnerable citizens. Working within a tight allocation, this bill makes important contributions to the development and safety of our national transportation system. For example, the bill provides $16.4 billion to fully fund the needs of the Federal Aviation Administration, including $1 billion for NextGen modernization activities, which will bring our aviation system to a new level of performance and safety.…





