Sheila Jackson Lee: “A senior member of the Homeland Security, I rise to speak on H.R. 3996, Surface Transportation Extension Act II of…”

“A senior member of the Homeland Security, I rise to speak on H.R. 3996, Surface Transportation Extension Act II of 2015,'' which reauthorizes federal-aid highway and transit programs for two weeks through December 4, 2015. Mr. Speaker, instead of this 14-day temporary extension, I would have strongly preferred that we were debating a final Conference Report on H.R. 22, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015, which provides for what used to be the customary six-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs to provide certainty and stability to the needed effort to repair, rebuild, and revitalize the nation's crumbling infrastructure. The Senate Amendment to the Conference Report on H.R. 22, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015, passed by a vote of 65-34, nearly a two-thirds majority, while the version of the bill passed by the House version of the bill, which included two Jackson Lee amendments, passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 363-64. Mr. Speaker, I reluctantly support this emergency but temporary measure because as the Department of Transportation has reported, if we do not act now highway trust fund balances will reach dangerously low levels by November 20 and result in a reduction of payments to states by an average of 28 percent.…”