Reid Ribble: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, once again, the Congress has offered Members the classic Sophie's…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, once again, the Congress has offered Members the classic Sophie's choice. Either vote ``no'' on the transportation bill and guarantee no reforms to road and bridge building happen, or vote ``yes'' and get reforms necessary to save money and streamline construction, but do it without actually paying for it and keep racking up the national debt. While many of my colleagues are sure to rush to the floor in the next few hours to pat themselves on the back for accomplishing this marvelous, transformational highway bill, we should not be popping champagne. There is no backslapping deserved. While I am encouraged by the fact that in many ways the policy related to surface transportation takes a significant step forward, I am deeply discouraged by the phony pay-fors. Mr. Speaker, during the upcoming debate on this legislation, you and the American people are going to hear repeatedly that this bill is fully offset and fully paid for, essentially that new revenue and savings will keep the cost of this bill from adding to our national debt. This is, plain and simple, not the case. Most of the offsets are from general fund transfers. Now, it would take a magician of miraculous skill to transfer money out of a fund that has a negative balance of $400 billion.…”