Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issued the following statement after the Senate and House approved a bipartisan bill that reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program, prevents college student loan interest rates from doubling and creates or saves nearly three million jobs. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 74-19.

“This legislation proves that when Republicans decide to work with Democrats, we can do a lot to move our economy forward. Thanks to this bipartisan agreement, seven million college students will not see their education costs rise by a thousand dollars next year. Because of this compromise, millions of workers in the transportation and construction industries know that their jobs will not disappear.

“In the coming weeks, we should remain focused on legislation that creates jobs and helps our economic recovery. Wasting precious time fighting old legislative battles does not create jobs. I hope this bipartisan cooperation will continue as we move forward with a tax cut for small business owners that will spur job creation and boost the middle class.” ]]> http://democrats.senate.gov/2012/06/29/reid-statement-on-student-loans-and-transportation-bill-compromise/feed/ 0 http://democrats.senate.gov/2012/03/16/senators-boxer-and-johnson-call-on-house-to-pass-bipartisan-senate-transportation-jobs-bill/ http://democrats.senate.gov/2012/03/16/senators-boxer-and-johnson-call-on-house-to-pass-bipartisan-senate-transportation-jobs-bill/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:18:42 +0000 aaron http://democrats.senate.gov/?p=107875 Current transportation authorization expires March 31^st

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent today to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, called for the immediate passage of the bipartisan Senate transportation bill that saves or creates 2.9 million jobs and is fully paid for.  In the letter, Senators Boxer and Johnson cited the urgency of acting prior to March 31^st, when the authority for funding America’s surface transportation systems expires.

Senators Boxer and Johnson copied the letter to all Members of the House of Representatives including a state-by-state chart showing the number of jobs at stake.

The letter states:

March 15, 2012

Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor:

Enclosed is a chart that clearly shows the number of jobs in every state that will be saved or created by the bipartisan Senate surface transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century (MAP-21).

This legislation passed the Senate yesterday by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 74-22.  There is an urgent need to get this bill to the President’s desk, because nearly three million jobs are at stake if Congress does not act by March 31^st, when the current surface transportation extension expires.

Nationwide, MAP-21 sustains almost 1.9 million jobs, including over 55,000 jobs in Ohio and almost 40,000 jobs in Virginia.  MAP-21 also creates up to one million additional jobs through the expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, which leverages local funds to accelerate transportation infrastructure projects.

We ask you to immediately take up and pass the Senate’s bipartisan transportation bill.  The reforms included in MAP-21 improve surface transportation programs by maintaining current funding levels for highways and public transportation, consolidating over two-thirds of all highway programs, eliminating earmarks, establishing a national freight program, improving safety oversight of public transportation, and instituting performance measures and accountability for transportation infrastructure investments. This bill is also fully paid for.

The surface transportation authorization bill is by far the biggest jobs legislation the Congress will take up this year.  It is imperative that Congress pass and the President sign into law this bill by March 31^st, because the failure to act means that the nation’s surface transportation programs will be shut down.  The nation simply cannot afford these devastating job losses.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.  We stand ready to help.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer                                                 Tim Johnson

Chairman                                                         Chairman

Committee on Environment                         Committee on Banking, Housing

and Public Works                                             and Urban Affairs

cc: All Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

Fifty-six years ago, it took President Eisenhower a year to convince Congress – and the country – to make an unprecedented investment in America’s highway system.

After all, building 47,000 miles of interstate highways across the nation would require an unparalleled effort and an unprecedented investment.

The project required enough concrete to build six sidewalks to the moon. And it cost $50 billion – or the equivalent of almost half a trillion dollars today.

The project was hugely successful.

It created jobs. It connected farms and factories, tiny town and towering cities. And it allowed manufacturers and merchants to ship goods across the country for the first time in our nation’s history.

Looking back on his great effort to pass the first highway bill, President Eisenhower considered it a crowning accomplishment of his presidency.

“More than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America,” he wrote in his memoir. “Its impact on the American economy – the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up – was beyond calculation.”

Fifty-six years later, Congress is once again considering transportation legislation, and an investment in this country’s crumbling roads, bridges and train tracks.

But we have the benefit of history on our side.

We know from 56 years of experience that investing in America’s roadways and railways will create and sustain jobs.

And we have no doubt that building a world-class transportation system will help us rebuild our world-class economy.

That is why one of the most conservative members of the Senate, the Senior Senator from Oklahoma, and one of the most liberal members of the Senate, the Junior Senator from California, have joined hands to advance the bipartisan transportation bill before this body.

The bill is comprised of four measures reported out of the Environment and Public Works, Banking, Commerce and Finance committees with bipartisan support. And both sides have agreed to a package of 37 amendments to this legislation.

But in today’s political climate, bipartisan support isn’t enough to keep good legislation alive.

In today’s political climate, 85 votes to begin debate on a measure aren’t enough to guarantee that measure will become law.

The transportation legislation under consideration is truly bipartisan. It will create or sustain 3 million badly needed construction jobs.

Yet, Republican leaders have wasted almost a month of the Senate’s time obstructing this valuable measure for political reasons.

Unfortunately, Democrats cannot keep construction crews working to repair 70,000 collapsing bridges across the country without Republican cooperation.

Without Republican cooperation, we cannot expand the nation’s mass transit system to accommodate tens of thousands of new riders every year.

And without Republican cooperation we cannot create and save 3 million jobs repairing crumbling pavement and building safer sidewalks.

It will take a bipartisan effort to advance this bipartisan legislation.

Frank Turner, a former Federal Highway Administrator, said work on this country’s transportation system “will never be finished because America will never be finished.”

Although the work is never finished, it is up to Congress to sustain the effort.

And unless Congress acts this month, work on highways and bridges and train tracks across the country will grind to a halt.

Unless Congress acts, the American economy will pay the price for partisan bickering.

So I am hopeful my Republican colleagues will join Democrats to put American jobs ahead of procedural games, and help us advance this vital transportation legislation.

A few potholes on the drive to work may be an inconvenience.

But for companies that ship $10 trillion worth of goods across the country each year, disintegrating roads are more than a nuisance.

A crowded train ride to the office or a broken escalator at the station may be a hassle.

But for 51 million Americans with disabilities – many of whom rely on public transportation to get around – outdated stations and overcrowded trains are more than a minor annoyance.

This country’s crumbling highways, roadways, railways and bridges are more than an inconvenience. They’re a drain on our economy.

Twenty percent of American roads don’t meet safety standards.

More than 70,000 bridges in this country need to be replaced or overhauled.

And our public transportation system can’t keep up with the pace of growing ridership.

Nine out of 10 Americans say rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges is important.

Democrats in the Senate agree. Modernizing our transit systems and rebuilding the roads American families and businesses depend on will help fuel our economic recovery.

This legislation is too important to be bogged down with unrelated, ideological amendments. Senate Republicans should not commandeer a transportation bill to try to take away women’s access to health services such as contraception, mammograms and other cancer screenings.

The Surface Transportation jobs bill the Senate is considering will create or save 2 million American jobs. And it has broad, bipartisan support.

I respect and appreciate the work done by Senator Boxer and Senator Inhofe on this legislation.

Unfortunately, our House Republican colleagues have gone in the opposite direction. Their bill is a love note to the Tea Party.

The House bill didn’t get a single Democratic vote in committee. The Senate bill, on the other hand, passed out of committee unanimously.

Even some Republicans don’t even support the way the House bill is paid for – by drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

And Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican, said the House legislation is the worst transportation bill he has seen in 35 years of public service.

There are plenty of reasons, but here are a few:

• The House legislation would gut public health and environmental protections.
• It would ax funding for pedestrian safety, even though a pedestrian is injured or killed by a car in this country every seven minutes.
• And it would starve our nation’s public transportation systems.

The House bill reverses 30 years of good policy of dedicating funding each year for mass transit. That policy was enacted in 1982 by President Reagan.

Many House Republicans don’t support the plan to shortchange millions of Americans – especially seniors and people with disabilities – who count on public transportation.

And everyone from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to AARP has come out against the drastic approach taken by the House bill.

On the other hand, the U.S. Chamber and hundreds of other national organizations support of the Senate bill.

I am disappointed that House Republicans have once again chosen the partisan path.

Rebuilding a transportation system our economy can rely on shouldn’t be divisive.

Given a choice between working with Democrats to create good-paying jobs for American workers and playing politics, House Republicans chose politics once again.

In the 1950’s, America embarked on the largest public works project in its history: a new web of interstate highways.

This unprecedented 47,000 miles of highways would, for the first time, connect businesses and communities from sea to shining sea.

President Eisenhower, a Republican, said the investment would pave the way for a new era of American growth.

“[America] will be a nation of great prosperity, but will be more than that: it will be a nation that is going ahead every day… The expanding horizon is one that staggers the imagination.”

As a young Major in the Army, President Eisenhower had been assigned to bring a caravan of vehicles across the country over rutted and dilapidated roads. It was a terrible experience, and something he never forgot.

President Eisenhower said a new highway system was essential to our economy, our safety and our progress as a nation. That’s just as true today as it was in 1954.

Today America depends on more than four million miles of roadways to keep our economy humming.

We use those roads to take the kids across town to school and to take products across the nation to market.

But the system of highways, roadways, railways and bridges upon which the American economy depends – and in which we invested great resources during the last century – has fallen into disrepair.

More than 70,000 bridges in this country are “structurally deficient.” They need major repairs or to be replaced completely.

Every month in America, enough pedestrians are killed to fill a jumbo jet. Many of those deaths could have been prevented by proper sidewalks and crosswalks.

Bus and train ridership grows every year, while public transportation dollars shrink.

And one of every five miles of American roads is not up to safety standards.

Crumbling infrastructure is a terrible drag on our economy. But this crisis is also an opportunity.

By rebuilding our transportation system, we can put 2 million Americans back to work and boost our economy right away.

The Surface Transportation jobs bill on the floor this week is one of the most important pieces of legislation we’ll consider this year.

It will help modernize our transit systems, rebuild America’s roads and bridges and create or save millions of middle-class jobs. And it will do it in a fiscally responsible way.

Democrats and Republicans agree that making America’s transportation system great again will bolster our economy.

President Reagan called a world-class transportation system “an investment in tomorrow that we must make today.”

So it’s no wonder this strong, bipartisan Surface Transportation legislation passed out of committee unanimously.

I am cautiously optimistic that spirit of cooperation will hold this week.

And I hope the Junior Senator from South Carolina did not speak for the majority of Republicans last week when he said this: “We don’t have shared goals with the Democrats.”

I would like to believe Republicans share our goal of strengthening the economy and creating millions of jobs for Americans workers.

I would like to believe they share our goal, as Eisenhower and Reagan did, of rebuilding a world-class transportation system to support a world-class economy.

This week, Republicans have an opportunity to prove they share those goals.

The Surface Transportation jobs bill is too important to get bogged down with ideological amendments. Unrelated legislation that would limit women’s access to health care has no place on a transportation bill.

Let’s stay laser focused on our most important task: putting 2 million Americans back to work rebuilding our roadways and railways.

Together we can keep this nation, as Eisenhower said, moving ahead every day.

“I applaud all the stakeholders who worked to avert a work stoppage that would have hurt our nation’s economy just as the holiday season gets underway. It is Congress’ constitutional duty to ensure the unfettered flow of interstate commerce, and to protect the nation’s economic well being. I am pleased with this outcome and congratulate all sides, including the White House and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, for their effort to find common ground that protects our economy and keeps it on-track.”

Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN), Joe Manchin (WV), Barbara Boxer (CA), Chris Coons (DE), Bill Nelson (FL), Richard Blumenthal (CN), Diane Feinstein (CA), Carl Levin (MI), Robert Menendez (NJ) and Sherrod Brown (OH) are all co-sponsors.

Called the Rebuild America Jobs Act, the bill is based on President Obama’s jobs plan, and would invest $50 billion in roads, rails, and runways across the country.

Additionally, the bill would invest $10 billion to establish a National Infrastructure Bank that would mix private and public sector money to support construction projects across the country — without adding a penny to the deficit.

The legislation would be paid for by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a small 0.7 percent surtax on their income.  This would affect less than one percent of Americans.

Everyone who has traveled past his or her front door knows our infrastructure needs work. There are 150,000 miles of roadway, 4,000 miles of train tracks, and 150 miles of airport runways in need of upgrades and maintenance nationwide. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives America’s infrastructure a “D.”

We need a top-notch infrastructure to compete in the global economy, and this bill would put Americans back to work building it.

Seventy-two percent of Americans and 54 percent of Republicans agree it’s time to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure. Even Senate Republicans have supported government investments in infrastructure in the past.

That is why Senator Reid has said it is time for Republicans “to put their political motivations aside and work with us on this common sense bill to create jobs.”

LOCAL NEWS IN OKLAHOMA REPORTING ON COBURN’S OBSTRUCTION—160 WORKERS IN HIS OWN STATE WOULD BE TAKEN OFF THE JOB IF COBURN FORCES FAA SHUTDOWN

Coburn Blocking FAA/Highway Bill In Order to Get Pet Provision Slipped Into the Bill.  Senator Tom Coburn is objecting to proceeding to the FAA/Highway bill, insisting on having a provision of his slipped into the bill without a vote or a hearing on the issue.  Coburn said he would use “all procedural tools at his disposal.”  [Tulsa Oklahoman, 9/15/11; Bloomberg, 9/13/11]

Coburn Twice Voted For Highway Reauthorization Bill That Contained Program He Now Insists on Cutting.  In 2005, when Republicans were in control of the Congress and the White House, Coburn twice voted for the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill.  The bill Coburn voted for contained the provision that he is now holding the Highway/FAA bill up over. [Vote 220, 7/29/05; Vote 125, 5/17/05]

When Given an Up or Down Vote on His Amendment it Failed 39-59.  In September 2009 Coburn was given a vote on his amendment to end TE funding.  Coburn’s amendment failed 39-59. [Vote 277, 9/16/09]

COBURN FEELING THE HEAT BACK HOME:

VIDEO: Local KWTV in Oklahoma City Says Coburn’s Objection Could Put Thousands of Workers Out Of Jobs” “Well the FAA facing the threat of another partial shutdown thanks to the objections of Oklahoma US Senator Coburn. … If the measure does not pass by tomorrow the FAA’s current operating authority will expire forcing a partial shutdown, putting thousands of workers out of jobs and depriving the government of $30 million dollars a day in uncollected airline ticket taxes.” [KWTV, 9/15/11]

VIDEO: Local KOCO In Oklahoma City Says Senator Coburn’s Objections “Force Thousands Of Airport Employees To Stay Off The Job” “And Senator Tom Coburn’s objections to a bill could force thousands of airport employees to stay off the job” [KOCO, 9/15/11]

VIDEO: Local KOTV in Tulsa Says The FAA Is Facing the Threat Of Another Partial Shutdown “Due to the Objections Of Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn” “The FAA facing the threat of another partial shutdown, and that is due to the objections of Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn. Senator Coburn refuses to give his consent on the stopgap transportation bill as it is now written because he would like to change parts of it…current operating authority is going to expire, and that would force another partial shutdown, which would put thousands of workers on furlough and deprive the government of $30 million a day in uncollected airline ticket taxes” [KOTV, 9/15/11]

VIDEO: Local TV Station KJRH in Tulsa Said Coburn’s Objection Could Force Another FAA  Shutdown By Tomorrow. “An objection from Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn and a procedural tie-up could force another partial shutdown of the FAA by tomorrow.” [KJRH, 9/15/11]

The Oklahoman Said Coburn’s ‘Line In The Sand’ Could Mean Another Partial Shutdown Of The FAA” “Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn’s ‘line in the sand’ could mean another partial shutdown of the FAA if situation isn’t resolved by Friday. Coburn on Wednesday blocked fast-track consideration of a bill to keep money flowing to the FAA and the nation’s highway departments.” [The Oklahoman, 9/15/11]

AND FROM FELLOW REPUBLICANS

Republican Senator Hutchinson Criticized Coburn for Holding up FAA Bill. “I’m hoping that Sen. Coburn will understand the urgency of where we can address his concerns to let him have a vote.  I don’t think you can ever require acceptance of something in a 100-person body  I don’t think he can ask for the amendment to be accepted without a vote. I want FAA to pass without any delays. It’s too costly.”[ Politico, 9/15/11]

COBURN’S MOVE THREATENS JOBS IN HIS OWN STATE:

If Highway Bill Expires, More Than 22,000 Jobs Would Be At Risk in Oklahoma. If the Surface Transportation bill expires this month, approximately 22,454 jobs would be at risk in Oklahoma alone. Nationwide, more than 1.8 million jobs will be at risk if this bill expires. [EPW, 9/1/11]

If Federal Aviation Administration Shuts Down, 160 FAA Employees Would Be Furloughed in Oklahoma Alone, With Thousands More Construction Workers Forced Off the Job.    [Federal Aviation Administration]

Nearly 1/3 of Oklahoma’s Bridges Are In Desperate Need of Repair. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 32% of Oklahoma’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and 40% of Oklahoma’s major roads are rated in poor or mediocre condition. In addition, 150 of Oklahoma’s 4,427 dams are in need of rehabilitation to meet applicable state dam safety standards.  [ASCE Report Card]

Last Partial FAA Shutdown Delayed “Critical” Piece of Infrastructure, Impacting More than 13,000 Jobs. “With the partial shutdown of the FAA, the government is not collecting the excise tax on tickets, [Tulsa International Airport Director] Mulder said. ‘That hurts us long term. The runway project is a $70 million project and the lack of federal funds means it will take six years to reconstruct the runway instead of one year.’  The runway is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in northeast Oklahoma, Mulder said. More than 13,000 jobs are directly and indirectly affected by the airport. ‘It supports all those jobs here. It is a critical piece of infrastructure,’ Mulder said.” [Journal Record, 7/27/11]