Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
John J. Duncan, Jr., Ranking Republican
The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is primarily charged with responsibilities relating to the construction of roads and transit facilities and the development of national surface transportation policy, including safety and research measures. As such, the Subcommittee has jurisdiction over many programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Link to Legislation Referred to the Subcommittee
Recent News
Mica: Minnesota Bridge Collapse Holds Lessons for Improving Infrastructure
Friday, November 14, 2008
Mica: No Pork in Stimulus II, Only Vetted Projects
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I-35W Bridge Reconstruction Provides Model for Transportation Projects Nationwide
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Jurisdiction
The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is primarily charged with responsibilities relating to the construction of roads and transit facilities and the development of national surface transportation policy, including safety and research measures. As such, the Subcommittee has jurisdiction over many programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
The foremost legislative product of the Subcommittee is the reauthorization of the Federal highway, transit and highway safety programs. Currently reauthorized approximately every six years, this legislation represents an investment in the nation’s infrastructure that translates into safer travel, more efficient commerce, and the creation of thousands of jobs.
An important feature of this legislation, first enacted in the 1998 reauthorization and continued through the 2005 bill, is the budgetary “firewalls” that place highway and transit spending in categories separate from all other domestic discretionary spending. These firewalls guarantee that gas taxes are used for their intended purpose – transportation projects – and not to fatten the Treasury in order to mask greater spending in other unrelated programs.
Issues and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee include:
- Federal-aid highway and Federal transit programs
- Highway and transit project planning and development
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
- Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
- Motor carrier and highway safety regulation
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
- Highway safety research and highway safety grants to states
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- Surface transportation research, administered by FHWA and FTA and coordinated through the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)
- Security and enforcement responsibilities of the above agencies, particularly FTA and FMCSA
- The Clean Air Act, certain provisions relating to air quality issues
Members
Republican Members of the
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
110th Congress
John J. Duncan, Jr., TN, Ranking Member
Don Young, AK
Thomas E. Petri, WI
Howard Coble, NC
Gary G. Miller, CA
Robin Hayes, NC
Henry E. Brown, Jr., SC
Timothy V. Johnson, IL
Todd Russell Platts, PA
John Boozman, AR
Shelley Moore Capito, WV
Jim Gerlach, PA
Mario Diaz-Balart, FL
Charles W. Dent, PA
Ted Poe, TX
David G. Reichert, WA
Charles W. Boustany, Jr., LA
Jean Schmidt, OH
Candice S. Miller, MI
Thelma D. Drake, VA
Mary Fallin, OK
Vern Buchanan, FL
John L. Mica, FL (ex officio)
Ranking Member Biography
U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. is the Ranking Republican on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. Duncan is leading the Republican Subcommittee efforts to address the congestion that plagues this nations roadways. Some other top priorities for Duncan and the Subcommittee are finding responsible ways to finance highway and transit infrastructure and improving safety on our highways.
With the conclusion of the 109th Congress, Duncan completed a six-year term as Chairman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, where he led the Committee in shepherding the Water Resources Development Act through the House and wrote legislation to address the nation’s fast-growing need for adequate wastewater infrastructure. Before taking the Water Resources and Environment Chair, Duncan served as Aviation Subcommittee Chairman
Duncan is currently serving his 11th term representing the Second Congressional District of Tennessee. Duncan’s efforts to cut government waste, reduce taxes, and limit bureaucratic red tape have been recognized by various organizations and national news media such as ABC News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and U.S. News and World Report. He has been named among the five most fiscally conservative Members of Congress by the National Taxpayers Union and is one of the few Members of Congress to receive the Citizens Against Government Waste Super Hero Award.
Duncan was raised in Knoxville, and after graduating from public school, he earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Tennessee. Duncan then attended the George Washington University National Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he earned a law degree in 1973. Duncan served in the United States Army National Guard, rising to the rank of Captain before completing his service in 1987.
In 1973, he helped establish a private law practice in Knoxville, was later appointed State Trial Judge in 1981, and served in that capacity until his election to Congress in 1988.
Duncan lives in Knoxville, and he and his wife have four children and three grandchildren.
John J. Duncan, Jr., Ranking Republican, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit