On the recordMarch 29, 2012
I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I would like to emphasize that the extension the majority is bringing to the floor this morning is too long, and it will do nothing but continue the uncertainty that States and businesses-- small businesses, I might add--have faced since the expiration in the last long-term bill in August '09, 2\1/2\ years and eight extensions ago. Uncertainty is what we are continuing by the passage of this extension today, uncertainty among the small business community in this country. They need the certainty with which to plan contracts. This happens to be the springtime of the year, the time when contracts are let and when jobs are planned and when people need to know if they're going to be working or not--not 90 days from now. This is the contracting season with the work usually done during the summer and then concluded by the fall, and the bottom lines are added up. We have already heard stories of small businesses that have had to cut back from 80 percent of their budget to 40 percent or less because they don't know what the Congress is going to do in terms of a long- term transportation bill. To elaborate on what my colleague from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) had said, the impacts on our State DOTs of endless extensions and the inability to plan for current and future transportation needs are very real, very real.…
