John Spratt: “I support more funding for highway and mass transit. My district needs it, and my constituents want it. And the…”

“I support more funding for highway and mass transit. My district needs it, and my constituents want it. And the committee has kindly provided some funds for my district. But we have provided a substantial plus-up in transportation spending already. In the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997, transportation was the only function of the budget funded at a higher level than the President requested. In the appropriation process, we went even further. In highway programs alone, we appropriated $23.3 billion in fiscal 1998. That is $2.3 billion above the level appropriated in fiscal year 1997. In terms of outlays, it is $3.5 billion more than fiscal year 1997, an increase of 19 percent. This bill goes far beyond even those increased levels. BESTEA is $40 billion above the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997, and outlays is $26 billion. If we pass this bill, transportation will trump the rest of the budget. We will have to pare back priorities that we have already committed to and preclude ourselves from doing initiatives in other areas. What does that mean? Education will take a hit. Housing is in jeopardy, NIH and biomedical research, other infrastructure, the Corps of Engineers. Exactly what offsets we will make we do not know, because this bill does not identify them. It says elliptically that no funds can be obligated under this law until offsets have been identified.”