Nick Rahall: “Yesterday we passed a fourth extension of the highway bill that expired last fall. That is all fine and good, but no…”

“Yesterday we passed a fourth extension of the highway bill that expired last fall. That is all fine and good, but no longer can we leave the States holding the bag because of a veto threat from the Bush administration and a reluctance by the Republican leadership to lend the necessary investment that industry, commerce and the workers of this Nation want in our infrastructure. Investment in our infrastructure spells jobs. Tell me what is wrong with a bill that creates jobs. One would think that Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush would jump on a chance to create jobs. Since the first day the Cheney-Bush leadership took over in Washington, 9.9 million private sector jobs have been lost. Today, 8.2 million people are looking for work, and 4.7 million people are working part-time for economic reasons. Unfortunately, this highway bill has fallen victim to political differences within a divided Republican party. Even though we have had enough support to pass this bill since last year, the divided Republican party has held up passage of a fully funded bill for months. The President opposes congressional Republicans from both the House and the Senate. House Republicans are divided against each other. The President has even gone against his own Department of Transportation when they say what is necessary for investment in infrastructure in this country.”