Thomas E. Petri: “we are here once again to extend funding for our nation's highway, transit and safety programs. This bill will complete…”

“we are here once again to extend funding for our nation's highway, transit and safety programs. This bill will complete funding for the fiscal year and ensure that state transportation programs continue to receive the necessary federal funds to maintain and build our Nation's critical infrastructure. We are here today because we still are unable to reach an agreement on a level of spending that will meet the various demands that have been placed on us: Provide growth in funding for all states; improve the rate of return for donor states; ensure that donee states do not take too much of a hit; provide significant funding to build new corridors to meet emerging trade traffic; provide help to states that are overwhelmed by massive but critical projects that each can reach up to $1 billion in costs; and produce a conference report that will be signed by the President. This seems to be an impossible situation, but I believe House and Senate conferees have been making a good faith effort to resolve this impasse--but we are not there yet. I know that there is strong support in the Congress for a good, robust transportation program. We know that transportation spending from the Highway Trust Fund is a good investment that is necessary in order to maintain and build a first-class transportation network.”