U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

April 28, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

SEN. SALAZAR PUSHES RURAL BRIDGE REPAIR AMENDMENT

 

Washington, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar, in a floor statement today, introduced an amendment to the Transportation Bill that will ensure rural communities receive more funding to fix the growing number of structurally deficient bridges in rural America.

“In my travels in rural Colorado, no single issue comes up more than the transportation bill, and I am glad we are responding to the concerns of the American people by acting on it – this amendment makes a good bill an even better bill for rural America,” said Salazar. In Colorado, seventeen percent of our bridges are in disrepair, and many of these bridges are in rural areas – this amendment will help our rural communities keep the bridges that are their lifelines open and safe.”

Current law directs a minimum of 15 percent of funds from the federal bridge program for replacement and/or rehabilitation of ‘off-system’ bridges. Senator Salazar’s amendment would increase the minimum to 20 percent. Off-system bridges are bridges on non-Federal aid highways which make up over 80 percent of bridges across the country.

There are 307,000 “on system” bridges across the United States. 23 percent of those bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Meanwhile, there are 286,000 “off system” bridges – 30 percent of those bridges are deficient.

“We must ensure that our rural communities have the tools they need to ensure the safety and quality of life for their residents,” continued Salazar. “Our roads, our bridges, our transit system, our rail lines and our ports all need assistance to ensure that our Nation has a first-class infrastructure needed to reinvigorate our economy and make our country strong and competitive.”

The House version of the transportation bill has increased the ‘off-system’ bridge funding to 20 percent. The following organizations support the proposed increase, including: the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the American Public Works Association and the National Association of County Engineers.


Below is a transcript of Senator Salazar’s speech.

Mr. President, before discussing my amendment, allow me to commend the work of Senator Inhofe and Senator Jeffords and their staffs.

This is a vitally important bill on a vitally important topic. They have crafted a good and balanced bill. I thank them for their effort.

I also want to say how glad I am that we are taking up this bill. I understand that it should have been done some time ago. I can tell you that in my travels in Colorado, no issue comes up more than this bill, and I am glad we are responding to the concerns of the American people by acting on it.

This amendment, Mr. President, addresses a problem facing many states across our country – ensuring that rural areas receive adequate funding to fix the increasing number of structurally deficient bridges in rural America. I know it is a challenge in Oklahoma and in Vermont.

In my state of Colorado, 17 percent of our bridges are in disrepair, and many of these bridges are in rural areas. Currently, the federal bridge program apportions funds to states for the replacement and rehabilitation of bridges and, for over 25 years, the program has directed a minimum of 15 percent of these federal funds to be used on bridges on non-Federal-aid highways, commonly referred to as off-system bridges.

It is imperative that when addressing the needs of the transportation infrastructure in Colorado and across America we ensure that there is adequate funding going to address the needs in rural America.

Let’s make clear the scope of this problem:

In this country, there are 307,000 “on system” bridges. 23 percent of those bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

There are 286,000 “off system” bridges – 30 percent of those bridges are deficient

And consider this: across this great country over 80 percent of bridges are on non-Federal-aid highways.

We must ensure that these bridges in rural communities have the tools they need to ensure the safety and quality of life for their residents.

The House version of the transportation bill has increased this level of funding to 20 percent. I believe, along with the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the American Public Works Association and the National Association of County Engineers that we should do the same thing – and my amendment will do that.

Our roads, our bridges, our transit system, our rail lines and our ports all need assistance to ensure that our Nation has a first-class infrastructure needed to reinvigorate our economy and make our country strong and competitive.

Senators Inhofe, Senator Jeffords and their staff have worked to ensure that we have a comprehensive bill that addresses these needs.

This small fix improves an already good bill, and I hope my colleagues will join me in ensuring it passes the Senate and gets to the President.

I thank the President and the Chairman and Ranking Member, and I yield the floor.



 

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