Political Quotes

“throughout this debate of many, many months on the highway bill, I have expressed the need to raise the amount of money that had to be put forward to replenish America's infrastructure. And together with Senator Baucus, we cosponsored an amendment which lost by one vote in this Chamber to augment the spending under this bill. I felt a certain loyalty to that coalition which had joined with me and had fought so hard to get additional funding. Second, the formula that we devised in the underlying bill, ISTEA II, I now recognize, while it was essential in my judgment we establish that 90 percent return--thereby eliminating the donor-donee distinction that existed, I think most unfairly, for these 6 years, and we achieved that result--but I find, in consulting with many of my colleagues, that the transition is very abrupt to their States, those donee States in particular. This amendment, as proposed by the four of us, will help ease that transition.”