Political Quotes

“The amendment increases highway and transit investment by $37.8 billion, a level of funding equal to the Senate/House-passed TEA 21 reauthorization bill, includes the Senate-passed Highway Trust Fund financing mechanisms, which includes no tax increases, and fully offsets these investments by cracking down on abusive corporate tax shelters, such as those enjoyed by Enron, and prevents American corporations from avoiding paying U.S. taxes by moving to a foreign country, and by extending customs user fees. The amendment is paid for by drawing down from the highway trust fund and eliminating subsidies such as ethanol. We should continue to promote the use of ethanol, but we should keep the highway trust fund for truly highway-related activities. A recent national survey found that transportation construction contractors hire employees within 3 weeks of obtaining a contract. Employees begin receiving paychecks within 2 weeks of hiring. In addition, this infrastructure investment will increase business productivity by reducing the costs of producing goods in virtually every industrial sector of our economy, which results in increased demand for labor, capital and raw materials and generally leads to lower product prices and increased sales.”