Transportation

Roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure in Pennsylvania, and across the country, not only connect our communities, but also create the economic engines that transport the goods and services produced by our U.S. businesses, farms, and factories. U.S. products have long benefitted from transportation cost advantages that give our goods and services a competitive edge in the global marketplace.  However, Pennsylvania currently has more than 5,000 structurally deficient bridges, the highest amount in the country.   Additionally, Pennsylvania residents pay billions annually for additional vehicle operating expenses because of lost time and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion and crashes on inadequate roadways.  We need to invest in our roads, bridges, railways, and waterways.

As a Subcommittee Chairman on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a former small business owner of a pavement-marking business, I am committed to investing in American infrastructure today, because fixing our roads and bridges in the future will only be more expensive if we do not maintain them now.   

Therefore, in the 112th Congress, I supported legislation to reauthorize the federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit (MAP-21) until September 30, 2014.  This bipartisan bill implements key reforms such as, streamlining the transportation approval process, giving more project authority to states, and cutting the amount of federal red tape involved in completing projects. These critical reforms will ensure that we can move forward with transportation projects more efficiently, while saving both time and money.  Additionally, I introduced an amendment ensuring that the American people will know the safety implications of larger and heavier trucks and potential costs to states and localities. MAP-21 provides investment for surface infrastructure for 18 months or until September 30, 2014; however, I would have preferred that this legislation created a plan for the next five to ten years of infrastructure investment.  States and localities struggle to make plans if Congress cannot reauthorize our surface infrastructure programs for the long-term.  I will continue to work with my colleagues to find a new funding solution to shore-up the Highway Trust Fund, so that we can plan for the next five to ten years of infrastructure investment.