"Having consistently fought to increase investment in critical infrastructure projects that create jobs, I am pleased that the President now agrees that new transportation infrastructure legislation is urgently needed to get our economy back on track and improve our roads, railways, and aviation systems. Since the beginning of last year, I have been calling on Congress to pass a multi-year transportation reauthorization bill that will put people back to work immediately as well as provide a solid foundation for future economic growth by moving people and goods more quickly throughout Chicagoland and the country as a whole. The long-term surface transportation funding bill would not be a new program or an emergency stimulus, but rather a regularly-scheduled reauthorization of a paid-for program that ran out a year ago and is limping along with temporary extensions. I pushed hard for more transportation infrastructure investment in the stimulus bill, but when less than 6 percent of the bill was targeted for transportation I could not support it because I knew it would not help put enough people back to work. While I believe the President should have pressed for action a long time ago on the bill we passed out of the Highway and Transit Subcommittee in June last year, the proposal he announced on Labor Day has some laudable goals. I look forward to reviewing a detailed plan and ensuring that it is fully paid for and helps create the jobs we need both now and over the long term."

(September 7, 2010)

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