Political Quotes

“I will also support H.R. 4219 today, but I am extremely frustrated with this process. Here Americans are again, more than two months later, still waiting to see how many crumbs this Administration is willing to throw to our Nation's transportation infrastructure. The fact that Congress must approve another temporary extension of the Highway Trust Fund programs shows the lack of concern in the White House for America's transportation. I support H.R. 3550, the Transportation Equity Act, a Legacy for Users, the product of the hard and tireless work of two well respected members of the House, Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young and Ranking Member Jim Oberstar. I supported H.R. 3550 at the full authorized level of $375 billion through 2009. Chairman Young did pull that out of the air. That number came from the non-partisan career staff at the U.S. Department of Transportation. $375 billion requires indexing the gas tax for inflation, an idea I have supported since my days in the Texas State Legislature. I support that proposal only if every cent we pay at the pump to the Federal government goes to transportation.”