Kilmer Statement on House Transportation Bill
Washington, D.C. – Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) released the following statement after the House voted to approve a multiyear transportation bill.
“No one who lives in the Puget Sound region needs to be told that our nation is failing to make adequate investments in transportation. Whether it’s failing bridges, crowded highways and ferries, or a lack of transit options, we are not keeping pace with the needs of commuters – or of our economy. Unfortunately, rather than acting like adults and coming up with a long-term solution, Congress has voted more than 30 times for short-term transportation funding bills – seeking to fix our transportation issues with duct tape and plugging in three months of investments at a time. That’s no way to do business”
“Today we voted on a bill that extends current funding levels for three years, which is certainly better than another three month fix. While the bill isn’t perfect, it’s a start. It means we’ll see important transportation investments move forward in our neck of the woods and throughout this country. And it means we’ll have some semblance of predictability for local governments, contractors and workers who need to know whether funding will be available. With that in mind, I gave it my vote.”
“That being said, my hope is that Congress can continue to work on an approach that further steps up to our long-term challenges. No one should be happy with a transportation system that grades out at a D+. We should never accept bridges going down. Too many Americans are stuck in traffic rather than being able to make it to work or spend time with their families.”
“Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on addressing these long-term issues. In my last term in the Washington State Senate we dealt with our fiscal challenges and took strides to get our economy moving. Together we passed a balanced bipartisan budget, a bipartisan amendment to our constitution to reduce state debt, and passed a bipartisan construction bill that put more than 18,000 people to work. Congress can follow that example. Our transportation system needs to continue to move forward. But that means Congress has to continue to move forward too.”
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