Kilmer Statement on Passage of Transportation Bill
Washington, D.C. – Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) released the following statement after voting to approve a five-year transportation bill agreed to by both the House and Senate.
“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 sent the President a bill that gets us closer to solving our long-term challenges. It means we’ll see important transportation investments move forward in our neck of the woods and throughout this country. And it gives more certainty to local governments, contractors and workers who need to know whether funding will be available. That’s good news for jobs, businesses that need to get their products to customers and folks who routinely face traffic pile-ups.”
“That being said, we still have some work to do. In light of increasing fuel efficiency, Congress shouldn’t wait to find a long-term means of dealing with transportation funding. With this bill we can continue to move our transportation system forward. Congress should continue to build on the progress we made today.”
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