Sheila Jackson Lee: “I am offering this amendment on behalf of Congresswoman Sewell and myself. I wish to thank the Chair and Ranking Member…”

“I am offering this amendment on behalf of Congresswoman Sewell and myself. I wish to thank the Chair and Ranking Member of the Rules Committee for making this Amendment in order. I thank Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster and Ranking Member Peter A. DeFazio for their efforts to bring the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act to the floor. I thank them all for this opportunity to explain the Jackson Lee/ Sewell Amendments, which makes a good bill even better by ensuring that the national goals of strengthening our nation's transportation and infrastructure is aided by innovation. The work of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in bringing this bipartisan forward thinking bill to the floor is appreciated. This Jackson Lee/Sewell amendment improves this good bill by ensuring that the goals of improving transportation efficiency and safety take into consideration the topic of rest stop, and other parking and the topic of public safety. This Amendment seeks a public safety report to be provided to the House and Senate Transportation Committees on the security of locations that are intended to encourage public use of alternative transportation, as well as personal transportation parking areas. An essential part of the success of public transportation usage is the ability of automobile drivers to park their vehicles in safety. More than 1 in 10 property crimes occur in parking lots or garages.…”