her role after 1921 when franklin roosevelt contracted polio. she would encourage franklin roosevelt to continue with his political ambitions.

>> now a senate panel examines the federal highway trust fund which is expected to run out of money in august of this year. chamber of commerce ceo thomas donohue told congress to gradually increase the gas tax to cover the shortage. afl-cio president richard trumka testified at this hour and 45 minute public works committee hearing. >> good morning everybody. it's so good to see you all here. this is such an important issue that we are discussing today. we are focusing on the maintaining federal funding for transportation, maintaining federal funding. that is what is at stake here for transportation. ensuring the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund and averting a major crisis later this year. we will hear from our witnesses who are national leaders representing businesses, states and workers who build, maintain and utilize our transportation

system. i am so pleased to once again welcome tom donohue from the u.s. chamber and richard sub one from the afl-cio. i at least feel when they are together we have a winning issue. they are joined by the honorable mike hancock secretary of the kentucky transportation cabinet and current president of ashto. dr. p. lane president and ceo of american roads and transportation builders and jay timmons president and ceo of the national association of manufacturers. i want to say to all who are here that there will be devastating impacts felt across our economy if the highway trust fund is allowed to run out of funds later this year. we must not let that happen. here are the sobering facts. cbo and d.o.t. estimate that the highway trust fund may run out of funds as early as september

2014 which would create cash flow problems for states during the critical summer construction season. due to the uncertainty leading up to that bleak scenario states are already beginning to develop contingency plans to prepare for reductions in federal transportation funding which includes cutting pending projects from their current funding plans. this is terrible. for businesses, for workers and for our nation. according to georgia's department of transportation is federal funding is cut quote we wouldn't be able to fund any new projects. officials from other states have made similar statements and the effects are very negative to say the least. as dates postpone putting construction contracts out to bid businesses will be more reluctant to invest and that impact will be felt throughout the entire economy. let me be clear, the pending highway trust fund shortfall must be addressed by an infusion

of funds read otherwise cbo estimatethat obligations for new projects in 2015 would need to be reduced to zero, zero. this would result in federal highway safety and transit funding being cut by $50.8 billion in 2015 with almost 1.8 million jobs lost. only old projects could be funded, no more new projects. again, this means that states will be unable to obligate any federal funds for any new projects perhaps as early as this summer. it is critical for nash and to continue investing in our aging infrastructure. therefore providing, sorry preserving the trust fund needs to be our number-one priority on this committee and other committees and in the senate and the house. we must work together to find a sweet spot for the dependable bipartisan source of funding for the highway trust fund

,-com,-com ma a strong transportation system is vital to ensuring the economic competitiveness of the united states of america and this requires maintaining federal investments in our transportation infrastructure. a report last year from the national association of manufacturers and i'm so happy they are with us today, found that 70% of u.s. manufacturers believe america's roads are getting worse and 67% believe that infrastructure is important enough to american businesses that all options to fund investments should be on the table. i think nam for that great roads and bridges are not democratic. they are not republican and i'm so proud of the bipartisan support on our committee from my ranking member senator vitter to every member on this committee and i have met with almost everyone of them. it is our intention to report on the bill and i'm hoping for a five or six year bill. i've begun discussions with

chairman wyden and ranking member hatch on funding the highway trust fund. they know they have that responsibility and i know we will all work with them. to all of our witnesses thank you for being here and for your advocacy for a strong transportation system. we need you now more than ever. you have been with us through these battles before and we won those battles because of our unity. whatever our differences may be in other areas and we know we have them, we don't have them here and being partners is critical to our success. with that i would turn to my ranking member senator sub three. >> thank you madam chair and thanks to of our witnesses. all we are very hopeful about that. we increasingly turn our attention to our next big

infrastructure work which is the next highway bill. we are both excited to do that and are both actively doing that thanks to our witnesses. you represent a diverse group of interests but collectively you represent a strong and a common voice on this issue. our infrastructure is a critical component of our nation's economy and our quality of life. a first-class infrastructure is fundamental to connect people and communities and it's a critical building block for our economy. in 2011 alone the u.s. transportation system 17.6 billion tons of goods valued at almost $17 trillion. however as the chair suggested just like week -- last week cbo came out with their data updated projections for the highway trust fund and that trust fund is accelerating

towards bankruptcy faster than anticipated. action must be taken broker the end of the fiscal year to avoid with the chair described a nearly 100% drop in new federal funds in fy15. the economic impact of such a drop would resonate far beyond the lack of direct investment into our infrastructure. inaction would drastically disrupt the project delivery supply chain, the efficiency and cost of movement of our goods and our overall competitiveness. the highway trust fund was extended to not only facilitate the unique characteristics of funding transportation infrastructure but also to provide funding safe guards for the highest priority, projects. putting such a structure on a sound fiscal footing will restore the stability and certainty of the trust fund that is so vital to economic growth. i have to say some believe that for some reason it's a core

conservative principle to adhere strict way to our current flawed mechanism in perpetuity and that is all there should ever be to meet our infrastructure demands. i don't understand that at all and will be advocating for solutions that go beyond that. what i do understand his concerns about a net tax increase for cash-strapped middle-class families and i will be seeking a solution that fully addresses are highway trust fund needs while not imposing such a tax increase. when the trust fund structure was first established it was designed to build interstate highway system and it was structured a sans on the simple principle that at first you map out its and define a finally detailed plan and come up with the cost to complete that plan and then you build a user base financing structure to complete

that task. such thinking not only produced the certainty of a 13 year authorization bill but it also established good government accountability and trust from system users. however that type of thinking is almost unrecognizable in our transportation funding structure today. the actions of the last six years represent a significant departure from the intent of the highway trust fund into and a prolonged economic uncertainty not only in the direct investment of our infrastructure but also the type of long-term investment that draws economic development at home and makes us more competitive abroad. if we are going to be successful in restoring that type of structure we fundamentally have to put trust back in the highway trust fund. to me this means we can keep adding programs and eligibility to the trust fund that are

narrowly focused that don't build or maintain the infrastructure or do very little to benefit those who pay into the system. it means a trust fund needs to be even more transparent than before to build and rebuild that trust. we need to be able to show where taxpayer dollars are going and where future investments may or may not utilize on a project by project level. finally we must rebuild that trust by continuing to reduce the cost burden and impact of red tape and bureaucracy. this chair and i are hard at work putting significant reform ideas together in a new bill that can be dealt that trust and that can start the process and get the finance committee moving as a full partner on the finance peace. so we hope to be moving such a base bill through the committee to encourage the finance committee to take it up and address the finance peace as a

full partner. i very much look forward to your testimony and very much look forward to that work of rebuilding trust in the trust fund funds so that we can fully finance our clear infrastructure needs. >> senator thank you and i think this gives the signal that we are very much of one mind as to how to proceed which is very important. here is the situation. we have several boats at 11:30 so i'm going to ask members to keep their remarks to four minutes if you can your opening remarks and we will tend -- turn to senator merkley. >> this is a very important project that we pursue renewal of map-21. the oregon department of transportation is very nervous about the shortfall in the highway trust fund. of our states have delayed projects that results in much higher costs and it also results in an direct impacts on jobs

within the state. we anticipate we would have a challenge where we would lose at five thousand jobs during 2015. so i am very aware that america is spending 2% of its gdp on infrastructure. europe is spending 5% in china is spending 10%. the experience of going to beijing from bicycles to a bullet train in that time period. 2% can't repair the aging infrastructure we have from world war ii. we have to do more. let's get it done. it's terrific to have the chair and ranking member working together to take this project forward. it's extremely important to our economy and the infrastructure that will fuel our future economy. >> senator thank you for your support in your comments. i will turn to senator wicker. >> thank you madam chair and thank you ranking member of

vitter for this important hearing. bipartisanship is breaking out all over in the congress. it continues today and as we debate federal transportation reauthorization i hope we can build on this success. funding transportation infrastructure is the combined federal responsibility. we need to do better because the nation deserves better as senator merkley said. we need to pass a reauthorization that last longer than two years. earlier this congress committee held a hearing on the implementation of the provisions of map-21. most of these provisions have yet to be enacted. the state department of transportation needs the certainty of a long-term reauthorization to plan and maintain -- that said we should still proceed with caution. need to continue to let the states be the laboratories for the best practices.

more than 30 states are considering or have considered increasing revenues for transportation infrastructure. over a dozen of these states have committed and pass these increases into law. we should allow and encourage these experiments to continue. let the states be the proving ground for some of the more radical or innovative proposals that have been brought forward. what may work in one state may not work for all states. there are other issues that need to be addressed. we need to examine the rig costs of our current situation. over the last two decades the buying power of the gas tax revenues has slowly declined no room -- not only as a construction costs but also as they're sold with increasing fuel efficiency. we need to ensure that all users shoulder and equitable burden for the wear and tear on our nation's roads. finally madam chair we need to save guard the integrity of the gas tax is a user fee.

we have an obligation to the users who are paying the fee an obligation to ensure that the revenues are going to their intended purpose in rebuilding and maintaining our nation's roads and highways. thank you. >> thank you so much sir and that we will turn it over to senator whitehouse and then senator inhofe. >> thank you chairman for calling this hearing. it has not been that long since when we were able to pass map-21 in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion and we did that because we recognize the value of investing in our transportation infrastructure projects that put americans to work and ensure that our goods and services can get efficiently to market. that bipartisan view is reflected in today's hearing which brings together groups that don't agree on many things but they do know that hoping roads and bridges can create jobs across the country and help our economy move forward. that is nowhere more important

than a mice home state of rhode island which suffers an unemployment rate of 9.1%. we have no shortage of transportation projects that could put rhode islanders to work. the i-95 corridor runs through capital city and the providence viaduct built in 1964 is showing its age. its debt is badly deteriorated in the steel girders are cracked. wooden planks have been installed to prevent concrete from falling off of the viaduct into cars crossing it below and similarly for the amtrak trains that go underneath it. happily with the help of the tiger grand and federal funds that project has broken ground and a replacement bridge on one way of the highway is under construction. but there is a lot more work to do on the northbound lane on routes six en route 10 converging with highway 95 there in that central location in

providence is just one example of how federal transportation programs are necessary and can help put people to work. less than two years ago he put map-21 into place with important reforms but the thing we were not able to get done is to solve the problem of the diminishing and soon diminishing and soon-to-be vanishing highway trust fund. so it's headed for zero and when it gets to see road that is going to be a real disaster for transportation and infrastructure so i'm particularly interested in hearing from areas where witnesses might find common agreement as to how we can address the central issue for the next reauthorization bill. i don't think just raising the gas tax is going to help as mileage increases electric cars emerge and hybrid cars also cut into the value of the gas tax as a source for highway infrastructure. i think the chairman and i think the ranking member who i

understand is next storm meeting with constituents and i appreciate the panel being here together even in some unusual pairings. >> senator thank you and in my opening statement i talked about how we began talks with senators wyden and hatch because it is their purview to fund this and i think they are excited with the challenge, not that it will be easy. nothing is easy. senator inhofe. >> thank you madam chairwoman. i do have a long and varied opening statement to give but i will listen to you and for the record just make a couple of comments. there's one paragraph paragraph in here that i do want to actually read. as i see we have four choices moving forward one based on cbo estimates if we don't lined in a new record in the trust fund we are looking at a 90% cut in the program and some data has the

figure at 100%. second we simply, something we will talk about later on transfer from the general fund and third raise revenue and for an absence of ads during the first three before a map-21 expires a series of short-term extensions. this is something i want to avoid and i have to say confession is good for the soul. our problem it seems every year and i have been involved in these every year since i was in the committee on the house many years ago is not so much with the democrats but with the republicans. there is this passion for some republicans could to get conservative ratings and when something big for spending comes along they use that as an example. that is the bad news in the good news is obama how site and i was privileged to go over and you can understand this and maybe you already knew this. i got all 33 of the house republicans on the t&i committee

in one room. this was after we pass this out of the senate and i told them about the guys that were demagoguing is on the floor. i know a lot of you guys are conservatives so that gave them my pitch as to the liberal vote would be to vote for extensions. extensions that we had nine extensions cost 30% off the top. that is not something conservatives should be doing. i'm not saying it's my influence there but all 33 of them voted in favor enthusiastically supporting it so i think we are making headway there. again i look at the, i look at the trust fund and you can't tell me that maintaining unused vacant federal are pretty at $25 million a year is more important than reask arising a highway bill. there are a lot of things that come out of the general fund and i think we will have to look at that and we may end up having to do that anyway like we did last year. if you read the constitution

article section 8 says clearly the main thing we are supposed to be doing here is defense and infrastructure. my case rests. we will go after it. >> uis make a very good case. i want to point out in addition to talking to the tea party members i had tea with, or coffee with quite a few of them and i enjoyed it actually and we did get tremendous support. remember senator wyden and hatch are going to decide how this is paid for in their committee. senator gillibrand. >> i can tell you how grateful and that you pull together this distinguished panel of witnesses to discuss the importance of investing in our nation's infrastructure and our transportation systems. this is an issue obviously that unites labor and business because the united states cannot maintain our competitive local edge without a strong network of roads bridges and rail to move people and products safely and

efficiently forward. it is as simple as that but with deadlines looming to reauthorize map-21 and new funding to shore up the highway trust fund we run the risk of doing real damage to our economy if congress fails to act. there will be serious consequences for each of our states for businesses both large and small as well as for working families who depend on our transportation networks to get to school, to get to work and to get home safely and reliably. we all know that the highway trust fund is projected to become insolvent by the end of the summer. the effect would have severe impacts and my state of new york. new york has 628 federal aid highway projects for 2015 which requires approximately $2 billion for the funding. 40% of these projects are bridges that are in need of construction or repair. without the new funding from the highway trust fund to start these projects next year new york state would have to begin restricting the use of roads and bridges that are no longer safe

or can no longer handle the capacity for which they were originally designed. this would result in detours, delays, problems getting things that need to be brought into our commerce. it means more time and money loss for businesses and families who are just struggling to make it in this tough economy. new york state is by no means alone. this will hurt every single one of her states and ripple your role -- whole transportation system so we can't afford delays by congress. we have to make sure the congress acts now. we risk falling behind other countries that are making these investments and sending businesses and jobs overseas instead of bringing them here and keeping them here where they belong. the long-term consequenconsequen ces of inaction in my view are extremely costly. thank you madam chairwoman for holding this hearing and i look forward to the testimony the witnesses. >> thank you so much senator. now we turn to senator fisher. >> thank you madam chairman and

ranking member vitter for holding this hearing. there's no doubt that our roads and bridges are essential to the economic health of our nation. in nebraska are agricultural industries especially reliant on efficient transportation system to move goods from farm to market. investment in infrastructure is the key to expanding and strengthening commerce and promoting opportunities or business growth. with the highway trust fund again on the brink of insolvency it is clear that it is time for congress to put infrastructure and investment back on a sustainable course. i believe limited government should focus its resources on meeting its core duties. infrastructure including highway maintenance and construction is one of those important responsibilities. as we work on the next highway reauthorization bill i am hopeful that this committee will

continue to work toward policy reforms that will ensure that the federal dollars we are investing are devoted to tasks that truly add value to the projects and are not wasted on piling up paperwork that only serves to fulfill bureaucratic requirements. while map-21 make needed improvements to accelerate tragic delivery there is still much work to be done. i look forward to the hearing today and again thank you. thank you madam chair. >> thank you senator fisher. senator cardin. >> madam chair thank you for conducting this hearing. we have a very distinguished panel before us in his eyes a pleasure. i remember the last time we had mr. donohue and mr. trumka together a similar bill so it's nice to see van tiner panel together both labor and business recognizing the importance of long-term surface transportation reauthorization. i want to stress that madam chair. i think it's critically important that we do a long-term surface transportation reauthorization to give it its

ability to our transportation program in this country. we can't plan transportation needs on a one-year or two-year basis. you have to have the five or six your reauthorization bill in order to do the types of modernized transportation that we have in this country. as many members of this committee appointed out and as our panel have pointed out this will create jobs for our economy not only the direct jobs related to construction of our transportation needs but also establishing the way in which we can attract economic activities in our community that modern transportation provides. it's also important for livability. it took me two hours coming in this morning from baltimore. that is not unusual. the traffic around walter moore and washington, every car we can get off the road into transit

believe me helps everyone not just the person who is a much better experience being able to get to work that also allowing the commerce of our highways to be able to move for more efficiently with less cars on the road. all of that is critically important. i can put a plug-in right now met in chair. we have four major transit projects in maryland that we would like to get funded. obviously without having long-term reauthorization is hard to see those programs before it and i can tell you they are critically important to our national economy to the federal government but also for all of our communities. it's also a matter graham bierman and we have heard that many times before. modernizing our transportation system we provide a much more efficient way to deal with our energy needs and friendlier towards their environment. so why are we doing this? we have got to make the tough

decisions. the tough decision has to be made in conjunction with our colleagues on the senate finance committee and all the members. i happen to serve on both committees that we need to have the revenues necessary to support a long-term surface transportation reauthorization. we have to recognize the realities of the current revenue flow into the transportation trust fund is inadequate as it's based on the gasoline tax in the gasoline tax has been effective in bringing down the volume with regards to the use of gasoline and more efficient engines, alternative ways so we need to look at ways that we can have an adequate source. i've hope we will be open to things such as carbon fees or other ways to get the revenues necessary. i know that transportation is a bipartisan issue. senator inhofe has been one of the great leaders moving forward

on infrastructure. senator vitter strongly supports this so let's try to find a way to pick the revenues that are adequate so we can have the transportation reauthorization that is befitting of the record of this committee and our country. >> senator thank you and you raise a good point. a few of our members to sit on finance which is going to be extremely helpful working with senators wyden and hatch who both have expressed interest in working with us. now i will turn to senator sessions and i want to remind everyone we have four votes, i believe it's four votes at 11:30. >> madam chair thank you for the hearing. it is important to infrastructure situation is finance -- facing a financial challenge in the future and we are all worried about it. i believe it represents a valid legitimate expenditure of federal dollars. a lot of things we do around here are not valid and

legitimate federal interest that certain infrastructure projects are. we have the director of office management testified before the committee yesterday. for example today he testified that last year interest on the debt that we pay out of our revenue that comes in was about $230 billion. he projected last year at the end of 10 years that would rise to 800 $30 billion. this year he says in 10 years from today the annual interest payment will be $890 billion in 2024. this is a stunning diversion of money from unproductive use, from productive use to unproductive use. the result and a big part of the problem is the huge deficits we have been running up in the last

few years. we have almost doubled double the deficit in a few years we will have double the deficit since 2007. i know everybody wants to spend money and i know you all have projects you want to spend that mr. elmendorf told us that we are on an unsustainable path. you will hear the deficits are going down and they will go down for the next two years but after that they start on an uncontrolled steady increase every year and the deficit in the tenth year will be a trillion dollars. so we are in a real difficult place. i would just say to you everybody comes before us with good projects they want to spend money on. those who believe in highway and infrastructure should never forget how you were taken to the cleaners in the stimulus bill. we spent $840 billion on the

stimulus bill. only 40 of that winter roads and bridges. it went into every kind of social program and mr. elmendorf told us when it passed that you will see an increase in gdp in the short-run but over 10 years carrying and another trillion dollars in debt will actually reduce gdp over 10 years. so i would just say to you all colleagues and to the witnesses today we have got a big challenge before us. if we don't watch it we can put us in a position where we have another financial crisis and mr. elmendorf warned us that could happen. we are in a danger area. our debt situation is in the red zone so madam chair the bill we passed last year i think we stayed within reasonable limits in the budget. i know you tried to do that in senator vitter worked hard on and senator inhofe.

we were able to maintain a minimal level of funding so i would just say that is an even bigger challenge this year and i look forward to working with you. >> senator, same here and i happened to be here when we did balance the budget and i think we can do it again if we are smart about it that the important thing about highways is we have that self-sustaining trust fund which is so critical. i have always supported that. that is operational, spend what you take in. we have to be smart about it. i agree with you. of course we have long-term problems we have to do is so it is my pleasure to talk -- call him the ranking member of the subcommittee that's going to work so hard on the senator barrasso. >> thank you dedham chairwoman and ranking member vitter for holding the hearing. i share your commitment to ensure the highway bill program continues. i want to thank our panel for being here today to testify. we can but -- get this business and labor

communities at the same table that sends a strong message to all members of congress to the hardees at this program must continue. the highway reauthorization is truly a jobs bill. we need more red white and blue jobs in states like wyoming california louisiana and across the country. setting up roadblocks on construction projects with red tape doesn't create meaningful jobs that we need around america. for state department of transportation and contractors the highway program is already complicated enough. program that cuts down on burdensome paperwork and puts people back to work. the highway trust fund needs a solution that is reliable and responsible. the question before us is how do we accomplish this in a fiscally responsible manner in order to meet the system's national needs rural states must have flexibility to use federal dollars that serve the national interest. we need to protect the taxpayer and ensure states can continue to ask cute there transportation

plans. wyoming like any of our other rural states is a bridge state and it's critical we maintain our nations rich states that moved the float commerce across america. madam chairwoman i hope this committee will hold mayor more hearings on the implementation of map-21 and is ranking member of the transportation infrastructure subcommittee i look forward to bringing the rural for specter that as we write the next reauthorization bill. thank you for your leadershileadershi p and holding the hearings. >> thank you and thank you for your leadership as well. now a short time so let's get right to it. we are very pleased with this panel and we call on tom donohue to begin. president and ceo. >> thank you very much chairman boxer and ranking member vitter and the distinguished members. as many of you said this morning the reauthorization of map-21 promises to be difficult to

fight but it doesn't have to be. in fact there is a broad consensus on a number of fundamental principles. we all agree that our infrastructure system is a critical national asset that it drives growth, jobs mobility trade and enhance global competitiveness. we all agree that we are running out of money to fund the system. we all agree that the federal government must take a leading role in making sure our infrastructure system contributes to a strong economy. we all agreed we needed to take the bull stable and growing source of revenue for today and an immediate funding solution for tomorrow and a long-term we need an expanded system. when you look at the big picture the simplest most straightforward and most

effective way to generate enough revenue is by increasing federal gasoline and diesel taxes. remember it's 19 years or 20 years since we increased the federal diesel tax. the gas tax and this is what i was going to say has not been increased since 1993. cars are more fuel-efficient and trucks are more fuel-efficient. i know something about that you remember. people are driving less and inflation is eating into purchasing power. as a result the highway trust fund is simply going bankrupt. we are our ready borrowing billions of dollars from the general fund. next year will be a 13 billion-dollar cash shortfall and by 2020 it could be as much as 100 million dollars and even here that's a lot of money. a moderate increase in the gas tax phased in over time would provide the necessary funding, preserving important user pays

principle and provide needed stability. how do we do that? >> first let's start by having some courage and showing some leadership. for once let's do what's right, not what is politically expedient. second let's educate the public and your fellow lawmakers. polls show opposition to gas tax increases are significantly overblown. the san jose university researcher recently found that 58% of the public would support a gas tax increase if they knew where it was going and how it was going to be spent and it was going to be applied to building roads and bridges and transit systems. voters want to know where the money is going and that it's not going to be wasted. far too many people are unaware of the important reforms that eliminated earmarks and pork barrel spending long associated

with infrastructure funding. let me say parenthetically occasionally it helped get a vote but with that not here we will have to have some really good arguments. let's also be clear, i often thought after the committee decides what all of the issues are going to fund than the members up to be able to pick one out before they get to go home but let's get into that another day. let's also be clear about the consequences of decreasing these investments here it means higher costs to goods more congestion and increased accidents as well as reduced mobility and reduce competitiveness. business is absolutely committed to aggressively pursuing this education effort and third let's get busy building political support. on this panel and you have the combined support of business, labor construction shippers

regulators and in addition to rockers. yesterday at a meeting with the leaders of the american trucking association and the leaders of the aaa. they would significantly support a modest and thoughtful increase in the gasoline tax and add that to the people here. this is getting to be a rather supportive group. it's interesting to note that last year six states three with republican governors and three with democratic governors enacted those to increase their overall state fuel taxes. the sky didn't fall and their economies have not collapsed. both republican and democratic presidents have improved modest gas tax increases so it can be done. increasing the gas tax and the fuel tax is the right answer. it is tough but it's doable. let's keep in mind that public

honey is only part of this equation. we must increase private investment as well. the private sector is prepared to pump as much as 205th seed billion dollars and a public by the partnerships or p3's of only certain barriers would be removed. we also must continue to aggressively root out waste in the system which members indicated is underway much of it caused by permitting delays and obstacles as well to make sure funds are spent on genuine priorities. long-term the chambers willing to entertain different proposals for new and additional public funding mechanisms however currently we don't see any way to support any proposal that all emanates the federal role, undermines the user pay principle or unfairly singles out specific industries to foot the bill. very quickly one couple quick

thoughts in conclusion. scaling back or eliminating the dedicated source of federal funding means greater congestion higher transportation costs, more accidents and poorly maintained roads. if we give up on the highway trust fund and rely on the general fund we will never be able to execute long-term capital projects. we would have to cut other programs and engage in more deficit spending and he would have to debate funding every single year. so i believe madam chairwoman that we will lose our national system. none of these approaches supports a growing sustainable source of hunting and we'd need to pass a long-term authorization and the people at this table are ready to help you. thank you very much. >> we greatly appreciate that and it's my honor to introduce mr. richard trumka president of

the afl-cio. >> thank you chairman boxer and ranking members that are for having us appear before your committee today. three years ago tom and i appeared before this committee asking for reauthorization of the surface transportation bill and since then he and i have spent more time than either one of us would like to admit trying to get this done. while we are not quite ready to schedule vacations together yet we really are willing to come together and anxious to come together to get this important issue solved for the good of the country. reauthorization of the surface transportation bill has been the most important jobs legislation that congress considers and it's a very big priority for us. while the economy has improved job creation remains sluggish.

the construction sector alone is down 1.6 million jobs from prerecession level. so we not only need jobs but good jobs and it's estimated that each billion dollars of federal investment in transportation creates 35,000 well-paying jobs. the type of career jobs that can support a family, a child's education a secure retirement in a middle-clmiddle-cl life. these investments not only create jobs bitsberger economic growth ensure our country's long-term economic bubble competitiveness and improve the quality of life of our citizens. now for those in congress still pushing an austerity agenda when it comes to infrastructure let me just say this. if your house has a leaky roof, not fixing it won't save you any money and like the leaky roof,

delaying needed infrastructure investments will only cost us more in the long run, not less. i recently traveled to china and i was stunned that the speed at which their largest competitors were progressing. china has been investing heavily in its infrastructure and the results are pretty dramatic. during my trip to shanghai i visited the deep water board the world's largest and busiest container shipping port. the port like the high-speed trains that took me quick lee and efficiently between china's cities is a key investment in china's effort to upgrade its infrastructure and it helps them keep up with the country's growth of exports. to get to the port i traveled on a six lane bridge. that was 20 miles long. from shanghai to the islands

where the port is located and the ridge was completed in two and a half years. 20 miles of six lane bridge over the china sea to an island in two and a half years. it employed literally thousands of workers. prior to the project nothing was there but a sleepy fishing village with some islands off in the distance. the first phase of the project opened in 2004 and by 2013 china had accomplished its goal of having the worlds largest port. i might say the same thing about high-speed rail. we both the read that we would do high-speed rail of a few years ago. right now the u.s. has not one single mile of high-speed rail and the chinese moved more people than our entire domestic airline industry by high-speed rail right now. so america can do it.

we can do it and we can do it better. now i didn't come here to rehash all the data regarding our nation's infrastructure needs. quite frankly the facts have been reported. they have been studied and they have been discussed to death. the conclusions are always the same. infrastructure investments are vital to job creation, economic growth and global competitiveness. what remains to be determined is whether that information will be acted on. what kind of country we will leave to our children and our grandchildren. the highway trust fund is at a crossroads. failure to act will mean our transportation system will decay further. construction workers will stay on the bench, supply chain and transit workers will lack steady work and their economic and

global competitiveness will be diminished. many funding ideas have been proposed but few of them have been acted on. other proposals have limited application and that leaves the fuel tax or some variation of it as the main source of funding. raising the revenue will not be easy regardless of where it comes from. but to be blunt we can afford to bury our heads in the sand. a bridge that is deficient today will not need any better tomorrow. congress must come together to enact a robust and a long-term authorization. if business and labor can come before you united on this issue, and we are united on this issue, despite our sharp disagreements on a friday of other matters, i think that should tell everybody something until it very loudly.

we need to beat the america that can, not the america that can't. we are ready to help in a bipartisan way get that done because it is so absolutely essential for the well-being of our country and its economy. thank you very much i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much mr. trumka. our next speaker i want to say congratulations as the new president of the american association of state highway and transportation officials and he is also the secretary of the kentucky transportation cabinet so we are very pleased to meet you mr. hancock traded. >> good morning chairman boxer boxer ranking member vitter and distinguished members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity on behalf of ashto in the state d.o.t. to share her views on the importance of robust federal investment in surface transportation. the potential near-term impacts of the cash shortfall in the highway trust fund and the

longer-term impacts associated with uncertainty and instability of the highway interests fun. i have to say i'm encouraged by their marks i've heard this morning. i would like to share two points with you. first the threat to the states construction industry and the overall economy is real and it's even closer than originally estimated. we could face serious economic disruptions as early as this summer if we delay reimbursements to the states for active projects underway. second unless congress acts to increase the highway trust fund revenues or provide additional funds the states will be unable to obligate any new federal funds in fiscal year 2015. in both cases there will be immediate and wrecked impacts to the states economies with lost jobs and permanently shuttered as this is an there will be substantial additional economic social and environmental costs associated with canceled or

delayed projects. if congress does not act the states even with local and private partners simply cannot generate sufficient funds to fill this infrastructure funding gap. the federal highway program for portions $40 billion a year to the state d.o.t. for roads and bridges. however actual federal dollars are not provided upfront but rather when the work is completed and the state submits a request for reimbursement. reimbursements to the states are made daily. on january 15 u.s. d.o.t. secretary fox announced the highway trust fund highway account is likely to run out of money in august. to prevent insolvency fhwa may stop reimbursing states on a daily basis and begin reimbursing once a week, once every two weeks or even once a month. december slowdown reimbursement as happened in 2008 forcing the states to delay payments to contractors. will congress to care the issue fighters to go with the general funds transferred states are concerned with the impact in the

same situation happening again as early as this summer. if a similar scenario this year the contractors who many rely on trumped payments from the state may be unable to pay their employees subcontractors and suppliers. for some construction businesses and suppliers which survived the recession that are still operating on the slimmest of margins this could simply be the last straw. when ashto testified before this committee last september we thought highway trust fund would stay solvent through the end of fiscal year 2014 but it now appears that congress will have to act before the august congressional recess to ensure that the highway trust fund will have enough funding to reimburse the states for past commitments. as congress considers ways to address the short-term crisis of not being able to pay for projects that are already committed it should also consider a long-term solution that keeps the highway trust fund solvent well into the future. without a long-term solution

states may not receive any additional federal highway and transit funding in fiscal year 2015. if new federal highway funding is not available or federal funding is not available in 2015 much-needed highway and transit projects in virtually every community and every congressional district will either be delayed or canceled outright. these are projects that underpin economic development and improve the quality of life. cutbacks on contract landings will be missed opportunities to pare down the back log and investment needs causing a negative effect on the construction industry exactly when the industry is beginning to rebound after one of the hardest hit segments in the recent recession. there is ample evidence including what you've heard today that shows infrastructure investment is critical for long-term economic growth increase productivity employment household income exports and overall quality of life. congress can address the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund by

substantially reducing spending for surface transportation or by boosting revenues or by some combination of the two. we and others have developed a long list of potential revenue options. we believe that at a minimum we need an approach that will allow us to sustain map-21 investment levels as adjusted for inflation. we believe it's possible to reach his level about placing unreasonable financial burden on the traveling public. without action there will be a devastating economic impacts from the virtual elimination of the federal surface transportation funding in 2015 and there will be further funding reductions in the years beyond. therefore we believe the only solution is to find and implement a viable set of reliable revenue solutions that will prevent this summer's highway account cash shortfall and ensure the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund. aashto looks forward to working with you to address this critical situation and we very

much appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today and look forward to your questions. thank you. >> thank you so much and now it's my pleasure to introduce dr. peter ruane a key ally of ours as we went to the last time the bill. >> madam chairwoman, chairman boxer senators vitter thank you for inviting us to participate in this hearing. i am thankful for your leadership on map-21 as well as the current legislation. one number of loan provides ample evidence of the value of the federal surface transportation program. today trucks carry freight worth more than $11 trillion over the nation's roads every year. more than three-quarters of that truck travel occurs on roads that comprised of federal aid system. without the federal investment

in these roads we put tracking mobility and productivity and that $11 trillion in economic activity at risk. we believe one of the federal program's biggest problems is that government at all levels does a poor job of telling the american public how their federal gas and diesel tax dollars are invested each year. we believe the public would be impressed and widely support this federal program if they knew the full story. i asked her economic team to find out how the public's federal gas tax dollars were put to use in 2012. a year that did not include -- unfortunately it took the freedom of information request and computer analysis of literally millions of data points to provide the project information detailed in our written testimony. here are the highlights. it is high time the public starts hearing about that.

in 2012 the federal program helped fund 12,546 capital improvement projects, 7000 some roads, road safety all focused on the system that moves most of that $11 trillion of economic activity that i just mentioned. of the 12 thousand does not include right-of-way or engineering projects. these are projects in every state that can be identified by name, location was invested. all the public knows is that the system is not nearly as safe as it could he and the waste precious time and car and truck damages or costs every day to two unexpected high percentage of road conditions. ..

one cbo data shows that would require, by the way, average 16 billion annually just to preserve existing levels of highway and transit investment. by comparison over two years the recent bipartisan budget act of 2013 drama the merry-ryan budget

deal reallocate resources to increase the non-defense discretionary spending cut by an average ironically of some 16 glean dollars a year. here is where the announcer would say spoiler. that means as illustrated in figure four in our testimony that fixing the highway trust fund without generating new revenues would require the equivalent of congress passing and the president's signing may may 2013 level marie-ryan budget deal every year, every year just to keep the highway and transit program where it is now. that is one painful alternative scenario. thank you very much. >> thank you so much. it is my pleasure to welcome the jade timmons, president and ceo of the national association of

manufacturers. >> thank you, senator, members of the committee. infrastructure matters greatly during every step of the production process from receiving inputs to shipping a products to markets at home and to our customers abroad. in addition manufacturers were rivals suppliers to the transit building industry providing rolling stock, its engines, concrete, machinery, signs, safety equipment and other materials. every dollar spent in another has been a lot of statistics to today all matter. every dollar spent in construction gerry's 39 and a half cents in manufacturing. for manufacturers in this structure is, indeed to make competitiveness issue. unfortunately our nation as a 20th-century in infrastructure and some of it is in an older is not meeting the needs of our 21st century economy.

i hear concerns about the state of our infrastructure from members constantly inconsistently from the world's largest multinationals tuck all across the country. they all recognize there are aging infrastructure is that are a significant impediments and ability to maintain and mantle of economic. last year the in a.m. partnered as the chair noted with building america's future to survey manufacturers about their perspectives on the state of and researcher in the united states. as the chairman referenced, some 70% to los america's infrastructure is in fair or poor shape and needs a great deal or quite a bit of improvement. and manufacturers recognize the federal government critical role in funding minishes infrastructure. 67 percent said that infrastructure is so important and all options to fund it must be on the table any hint.

two-thirds doubt that it is positioned to respond to the competitive demands of a growing economy which is important because manufacturers rely on a reliable and efficient infrastructure to ridge growing markets abroad. as our survey demonstrates to reaching these new markets is not easy for manufacturers in the united states. roads to the bridges, ports, and more are in dire need of repair and modernization. on behalf of our more than 12,000 members in a.m. urges lawmakers to address these challenges and the daunting multi-year fully funded service tradition built the for certainty and support for infrastructure projects and improve safety, facilitate trade , and create jobs. equally as important we believe congress must bring the federal highway trust fund to improve the condition of solvency and long-term sustainability. the need to keep the highway trust fund solvent extends far beyond the state to parses a

transition road builders bill funding for roads or bridges, and transit systems provides great value and represents an investment in our economy and our global competitiveness. manufacturers have apparently been frustrated by policy makers to meet our calls for increased investment with growing skepticism. as we have seen the previous infrastructure bills, delays and multiple extensions are commonplace and send a message that the united states is simply not serious about growth and competitiveness. notice a tall order in our political environment as a highly charged him about america's manufacturers need bipartisan leaders to help fix the problem and frankly we are very encouraged by signals we're getting from this committee. rates in the past debates about the federal government's role in infrastructure investment. the state's alone have not remedied. manufacturers are counting on congress to fulfill its establish responsibility of

facilitating commerce in the united states. no pun intended, but we have a long road of us and we really appreciate the committee's attention on these important issues. >> thank you. i cannot think each of you enough. i am going to ask him and his consent to place in the record letters, one from the associated equipment distributors. they urged immediate action to ensure the highway trust fund long-term solvency and the second is the economic importance of maintaining federal investment and hard transfers to the transportation infrastructure of the international bridge tunnel and turnpike association. without objection but those in the record. six minutes to ask some questions. member's question is really an unusual one big is just yes or no. but it is not a trick question. will each review and be willing

to speak directly with senators weidman and hatch whether it is on the far turn person as soon as possible? >> yes. >> yes. >> yes. >> yes, already have. >> absolutely. >> great. a second round. do it again. i can't tell you how important it is because they have so much on their plate. they want to be helpful, but i am not so sure that they have scheduled a hearing because we have the change. so that would be fantastic. would each of you agree that what he said is right, we need 70 with a multi-year bill. each of you agree it we need certainty. >> yes. >> absolutely. >> yes. >> unquestionably. >> i agree with myself. yes. [laughter] >> well, around here sometimes

folks don't. it gets really great. so we are all aware that their recent low or recession ravaged many sectors of the nation's economy, and i wondered being with you a rally in los angeles where construction industry workers were just so hard hit and worried about the future for the families. could you describe for us the economic environment in members currently faced to help put in context the consequences of failing to address the highway trust fund pending insolvency? >> let me start on the macro sense in say six years into this so-called recovery we are still at an unemployment rate that was higher than the highest point of the 2001 recession. so six years and we are still higher than we were in the recession. we have over one half million construction jobs that are going

from pre recession levels. we have not filled in yet. in some areas unemployment still hovers in the 20% area. we still have people working reduced hours. the result of the reduced hours is the strain on retirement plans and health and safety plans and health care plans. our members are struggling, and we are losing skilled workers because they cannot make a living. there is no planning, no ability to plan ahead and have a future. their still hurting plenty, and that is where we need this bill, not just to be a patchwork or a short-term solution, but a long-term solution so that employers can plan so that states can plan and weekend to long term projects that the country really absolutely needs and have the assurance that the money is going to be there to be able to complete things.

>> thank you for painting a picture. they're going to ask dr. wayne here because from the business side -- and you represent the builders, kiddy discuss and transportation would be affected if no new projects over 12,000 projects using 2012 as an example is how many new projects refunded. if we did not have that in fiscal year 2015, but a human face on the businesses to use before. >> well, the impact of that kind of scenario would be devastating we are already at over 10 percent unemployment in that sector right now as we sit here today. down from where it was ever six years ago. double digit unemployment. and the metric that is used often is 35,000 jobs. we lose the program in fiscal 15. you will literally see hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs that will not invest

it read by the way, that is already happening in the marketplace where a number of states have announced their intention. it was cited in mike's testimony. a couple of states have already publicly said that. people on the hiring now. they are already pulling back in the we have the height of the construction season coming up and most of the country. they're holding back because of the uncertainty of the marketplace right now with what the congress is going to do with three authorization. most importantly the current highway trust situation. >> that is extremely alarming that already we are seeing this. that is why we are working hard to move quickly to restore some faith of their and why it is so important for us to work together with the finance committee over here. the congressman wants to work as well. so i would turn to mr. hancock from kentucky for is perspective as well as all the states that

you represent in your deposition how important is it for state departments of transportation to have stable, reliable, and predictable funding levels for five years or more. >> madam chairman, it is incredibly -- >> but on your mike. >> i'm sorry. i thought it was on. it is incredibly important to the states. the state simply cannot functionally plan in an environment where the target changes day-by-day in terms of funding. as you probably know and i'm quite certain that you do, it takes years to get a project of the ground and into construction in be built first. funding is a question every step of the way a takes longer. the states have a problem with adequate funding. >> thank you. so my time has run out, but i have to finish. why is this issue so important

to the business community that the chamber would take the position of supporting raising user fees for transportation. that is unusual. could you explain why you're driven to do this? >> i don't think it is unusual for the members of the chamber of commerce to support these uses. the people that run the trucking industry understand. they run 400 billion miles or something like that with 3 million big trucks. and every night they understand if they don't have the facilities to do that in a safe and effective and productive way they are behind. the aaa has taken a very enlightened position recognizing that people are driving all over the place so as we have heard today from the panel the business community provides the resources to build the facilities, roads, bridges,

ports. the business community builds them. the business community moves on them, and if you want to look for the single biggest improvement in my opinion in u.s. efficiency in recent times it has been what we have been able to do in the supply chain firm from materials to finished products and better in between. not only capital goods, but also information, energy resources. this is with the business community, whether you're in the attack and, the service and/or the capital goods in manufacturing and hamas if you can move it you can do it. >> thank you. it is a good movement that is so critical because we all know what happens when it takes a long time. thank you. >> thank you, madam share. thank you all again. as i suggested in my opening

statement, we have been hard at work for some time discussing a bill to try to move out of this committee as soon as possible. the idea would be to deal with those issues under our jurisdiction in an aggressive way, a way that helps rebuild trust in the trust fund and then to really help in sent the finance committee to do the tougher work on the plan side and be our full partner in completing that bill. so with that process in mind let me ask few questions. doctor, first of off -- first off, thank you in this age wa -- take you all, your organization as opposed to have its wa four proposing very good data which is appended to your testimony about projects in each state impacted by the trust fund and

federal waste. one problem is the hero castaic and. >> and apps that hours producing that death of. it seems to me that they should be readily available to the program and to make it transparent in clear what the trust fund as a does not do. would you agree that there are reforms that you think can be made to make the activity under the trust fund far more transparent? >> i absolutely degree. it is really tragic double what have to use the freedom of information act to give such information. they have that information going back, and i am not here to unfairly criticize any government agency. you would think that they would want to get that information out there aggressively and tell the story. we make a recommendation in our testimony specifically. you recall the effort that was made by the administration,

various agencies in telling the story in the stimulus program that there were routine and regular commentary on what was being done on various projects around the country. we say there should be pro forma, routine. they should be celebrating investments, these 20,000 plus projects every year and telling the public read these resources are going and what they are achieving. most importantly what they're achieving it be so one should not have to, you know, use request to get this information. not to be out there because it is an incredible story so, what the -- what this is accomplishing. >> i certainly agree and we will continue to push that. there is a specific provision in 21. unfortunately faa still ua has not responded to the fix. many debt greater transparency. mr. aaron cox says i'm real

concerned about the epa and the new proposed rules with. i think this poses the threat of a dramatically increased permitting requirements fifth and decrees to flexibility on transportation projects. also concerned that rulemaking may proceed before peer reviewers review it of -- >> we have not actually seen the forward permit will making yet but we are concerned of the. we have been told that it affects roadside ditches as sources of the runoff area to be controlled. most of those were built as the

bill terror systems. yes, we are very, very interested in that and looking forward to hearing from the federal high risk. >> great. mr. timmons, thank you for your testimony. can you expand on a just a bit and it gives us an estimate of a cost at a rented or disadvantaged visa the other nations related to infrastructure and what path we are on regarding that. rapper's image will be a cost disadvantage in terms of global competitiveness. so. >> i don't have a specific number, but i can tell you anecdotally that there is certainly a disadvantage when some of the other folks here have been talking about what our major competitors are doing with regard to infrastructure projects. those projects to allow more goods to make it to market much more efficiently.

there is a 20% cost disadvantage for manufacturers in this country versus major trading partners because of several factors, in perspective of her purse structure not one of them faugh go back to a character -- question on the proposed rules from the epa on waterways as well as other factors. anything that detracts or adds to the disadvantaged obviously hurts manufacturing in this country. >> thank you. our final question. actually, one of the first organizations out with your reauthorization priority. thank you for that. i assume you think that means that there's room for improvement reform and greater transparency to build and rebuild trust in the program. can you expand on and mention a couple of your priorities? >> sure. we do believe that there is room to improve, but we felt it was a

major step forward and we were very pleased with reforms that we saw says. there are some tweaks that likely will need to be made, but part of the issue is we have not completely seen double banking's regarding those. we will be eagerly awaiting those and have comments, i'm quite sure. >> we look forward to those. >> thank you, madam chair. >> thank you so much. i believe senator barrasso is next. >> thank you, madam chairman. kind of following upon your previous testimony, talked a little bit in my opening statement about the roadblocks out there in construction projects in terms of red tape which make things more costly, does not create the kind of meaningful jobs we are trying to create. further decelerating project deliveries?

>> there are a number of activities that are under way as we speak. we are working federal highway has in every day count program that we are working diligently with them to see brought forward. also, we have programs, strategic highway research programs that involve projects to get things done faster. many things on the horizon and we see the value in doing business. >> anyone else in the panel want to respond to that? >> full implementation of the reforms. >> said the committee, the congress made some great changes to the legislation as part of the bill. it is just a matter of implementation. they are under way, they could be exhilarated. >> anyone else? >> you talked about in your testimony and the highlight of

the 20 mile six lane bridge that took only two years to build from pen to pavement. the vice-president made a statement last week about the going to minority airforce pretty take somebody they're blindfolded to the morning and they would think they're in a third-world country. i just ask if he could talk a low bid. it would seem to be in the best case scenario to try to do a project like you outline the esau in china so successfully completing in a swift manner. it might take a written years to get the whole process down here. from their experience and travels what can we do in the united states are really accelerate project delivery? >> one thing, we can have long-term predictability in planning. we need a long-term bill so that people can actually plan, start the process, have some confidence that it's going to follow through.

if you're talking about private public partnerships and the predictable and go forward. also, i think it just to say that as a nation we're going to do something. when we decided to get to the moon we got the nation on the flooding. our infrastructure according to the world economic forum has dropped from seventh in the world to 15th in just five years. and it will continue to drop. the american society of civil engineers, we have an average three and a half trillion dollar deficit to get us back to where we need. the dot says that a third of our roads are now in poor or mediocre condition. we need as a nation to say we are going to be the most

competitive when it comes to infrastructure and understand that that investment today is going to reap tremendous benefits down the road. i think us coming together, everyone up paris come together to say that we need and then to have the political will to go forward i think is what we need. it is just in the determination to say that we will do it and then get together and do it. and i applaud the people, the members of this committee because you understand the importance to the country of infrastructure and maintaining infrastructure, whether it is a bridge, road. i urge you to go further and think boulder, start talking of a high-speed rail and other things, a grid system that does not waste electricity, a delivery system where you do not have leaks and seeps that dream gas and water and oil into the environment. all of those things can create

jobs and make us competitive. i think that the most important thing is for us to just have a vision and will then make a decision to do it. and we decided to go to the moon nothing can stop this. the same thing here. if we decide that we will have world-class infrastructure to complete -- to compete in the global economy, i have no doubt, senator, that we can do it and do it the best in the world. >> well, when we decided to go we had a compelling national interest, and we did not have all of the regulators and lawyers and lawsuits that we have today. to go out and build a major project is preceded by permitting and it zoning arguments and lawsuits and by environmental lawsuits and by

the way i have a problem with looking critically at the environment, but repetitive lawsuits after lawsuits have been resolved. the reason that we cannot do things as quickly as others, one of the reasons is because it takes so long to get the conclusion of all of the permits first, zoning, lawsuits, and we're talking years and years and years. and i think that we all went to school, studied, at three parts to our government. he executive, legislative, judicial. we never knew whether we would live in a time that there was one part that was bigger than all the others put together. we never talk about it, and that is the regulatory and mediation part and is absolutely straping this nation's ability to compete

>> thank you, chairman. >> thank you, senator. i would turn to senator bozeman. >> thank you, madam share. i do appreciate you and the senator having this. i think that it is very important. you know, we hear a lot about the partisanship that goes on in congress. in this particular area, this committee when it gets into the environment of issues there are differences of opinion. there is very little difference of opinion in regard to infrastructure. not only here but in the house, and it seems, a look at the panel, it is the same deal. we have the chamber, labor, you know, wind, the road builders. all of you. again, strange bedfellows coming together as we all are talking about the interest. i have concerns about the harsh winter, the fact that the jobs

are being affected right now because you simply cannot get work done with these very cold, sustained temperatures begin just cannot do it. pretty soon it sounds like already that the contract thing is an issue. i know that we head -- this is not hypothetical in the sense that we have had this same situation occur in the past and very definitely people quit writing contracts. again, i am concerned about that. you know, the thing about infrastructure is that the -- e create jobs when you do it, but the real -- you know, the real economic thing comes about after they're belts with the increase in land value, the economic activity it comes about. i would argue that -- and it is sad to hear the statistics, but one of the reasons that we became the economic power house was the vision of the eisenhower administration and congress getting the interstate system put in place. i am committed to doing anything and i can to get this thing done

. so one thing i would like to ask mr. hancock, one of the frustrations we have not only with this, states are struggling right now. and in an effort to try and push more money for infrastructure they're is a tendency at the state level, and this is not true of arkansas, we passed that sales tax which is something that other states need to look at doing in actually have defined projects and things and get those kind of things done. there is a little frustration as he puts more money ought, the state backs out and they get this money so that they can divert to prisons and schools and things that are very, very necessary, but the reality is you do not go forward. you have more of a federal government shouldering the burden. >> i would be more than happy to comment on that. has been hard experience that whenever federal money has come

the state has stepped up with issues and made additional moneys available as well in kentucky we have been in will to do a lot of major projects through that mechanism, but the one thing that i would say, about 40% on average of the money that the states have to work with to build projects is federal funding. of that 45% bid constitutes more of the larger projects that we actually build. so is a critical piece. but the states are doing a lot, and you have seen that in recent days with the number of states enacting new funding mechanisms and so forth. we applaud the states that have done that. we certainly are encouraging everyone to do what they must to find the money necessary to invest in transportation, but it is a difficult parents with the state budgets and so forth. we find a lot of our colleagues that are very interested in spending more on transportation.

>> senator, you made a great point about the harsh winter. when it is over and people can go back to work it will be to an infrastructure that is more seriously affected and more work to do. >> you make a great point. not only can they not do the work now, but with this vision got you know, it is torn to be difficult. there will be a tremendous amount of damage. how long does it take for an average significant road project to get done now? >> minor ten years. >> we did a recent average of seven years. >> you mentioned that the bridge and china. the thing that impressed me was the situation that we had in minnesota, you know, the bridge collapse. nothing was rebuilt in the year. that would have taken easily in today's climate ten years or whenever.

instead of the agencies having adversarial attitudes, people working together, you know, the labor wars together, it was just the attitude of we can get this done and get reopened. we essentially were able to do something there really was quite extraordinary. but i think -- and you all can be a tremendous help in this area. with the limited resources that we have faugh, you know, not to skirt rules or get around them, but to do it, but to just have the agency's duties. we put stuff in the bills before, but really just to make the agency's when they're talking together, doing it together that we need to have the goal as a nation to cut that time in half or whenever goal that we make. that is a very doable thing. and with inflation, the cost increase and things like that it is something that was sent us a

tremendous amount of money. thank you. we appreciate you being here. i am committed and the rest of the committee is committed to helping. >> well, i just want to say to each and every one of you how much i appreciate your testimony today. i know that we are singing from the same boat except when it comes to the environment, which is typical and i understand it. i honestly have to say that this transportation bill in order to get out here is not going to be one big environmental writer. let's be clear because we have to come together. and just as the businesses and the citizens of west virginia if they want a little more regulation on that chemicals bill which is killing business, killing economic development right now according to my colleagues. i just think what we need to do is find a sweet spot. we need to speak up.

and we have a lot of reforms. has dr. read pointed out in the last bill. we need to make sure that they're working. and we have to understand that a great deal of the slowdown, senator, is funding. sometimes the funding does not come through which is why it is so important. so excited because if the idea came from really the los angeles mayor have pointed out that they have the sales tax, but it is going to take in 30 years to build the projects. but we could change that 210 because there is really no risk to be the money is coming, but the federal government can step up and move that money ford. i really appreciate all this. i see that we have a colleague -- do we have time to do another round? bucket. go right ahead. i will finish later.

>> i have a couple of conflicts. everything happened at once. i noticed that you called for increases in gasoline tax. it is the position of the chamber of commerce that we will be raising taxes to increase spending today. >> we have not raise the federal user fee fuel tax in almost 20 years. >> you want to raise taxes on albanians who have to commute to work. you can spend it however you would like to spend it. senator, whether you raise the tax or you seek the funds through some other means of federal expenditure the citizens of alabama are going to pay for it. >> you propose raising the tax. >> yes, sir. >> would it be acceptable to you if we found ways to spending in washington and reduce that to pay for the highway? >> if you actually got the money

. the longest singsong in washington in the history of my time here was a waste, fraud, and abuse. we're going to get rid of it and use the money fix. if you actually got the money, ticket out of other budgets and put it there, i would applaud you. >> are you would support that. >> that is not what you are testifying to in favor. some of my people would probably rather increase the corporate tax rather than the gas tax. >> the corporate tax in this country is far more than we pay anywhere else in the competitive basis, and i think you should ask billy canary that runs the expanded and combined chambers of commerce in alabama whether he could get his members to support a user fee to move their goods and their workers. >> so i guess i understand what you want to say. you want to raise the chamber of commerce testifying that you do not believe it is possible to

cut and save the highway program without raising taxes. i just want to get that clear. i think it would be very, very hard to do that in the next seven months. if you can do it i will vigorously supported. >> i think that is what we should do. there are places that we can save money. i guess i am just wanting to know that we would like to reduce the corporate rate. it is hurting america. asserting mr. trump does employees and is hurting economic development and job creation to have virtually the highest corporate tax rate in the world. >> well, we certainly agree on that. we totally support that. i was teasing you a little that about you supporting somebody else paying taxes, but not you. in 2000 when the employment wake was around 4% the new york times wrote an editorial opposing

amnesty for than 6 million illegal workers in the country and said the afl-cio proposals should be rejected. amnesty would undermine the integrity of the country's immigration law and would depress wages of its lowest bay, native-born workers. the new york times. today the employment rate is 6 percent, and the workplace, the work force participation rate is below is that it has been in 40 years. wages are lower today than they were in 99, yet you've embarked on a bill that not only grants amnesty to 12 million, but also provides green cards to its 40 million new illegal emigrants. >> my friend, why are you talking about immigration? this is a hearing about the highway trust fund. i have never quite seen this type of an attack on various

members. i am confused about it. does not helpless. >> i am raising a question. i did not know that we were strictly -- >> well, yes. we are. this is not a committee that does immigration reform. i could call out reports that show that it is a great boon to our economy. i will not get into that fox. i would please ask you, your question was tough and fair, but this is getting off topic. you could keep your questions to the topic at hand it would mean a lot to this chairman. >> you know, you are such a fair chairman. we will acquiesce, maybe i would submit a letter. mr. trumka could have a chance to respond because he has given a lot of the. >> i would welcome that. i really would fit. i would tell you, there are 6 million people or 12 million people with no rights. driving down the wages of every other american out there fifth.

until we fix the system everyone will have less income, less economic growth. i look forward to the -- >> i'm glad we put this off to another day. go right ahead. >> i have looked at that. this legislation that cleared the senate that you support it would dramatically increase the legal flow, not a significant impact in reducing illegal flow. think it is beyond what the economy can absorb, but that is an issue for a different day. thank you for your testimony. we just have the budget report yesterday. it is sobering. he suggests we could have another fiscal crisis because our debt is reaching almost 90 percent of gdp. gross debt could reach over 100% of gdp.

we cannot just tax our way out of it. so that would knock off the growth of we would like to have. madam chairman, again, you have led effectively on this. and i hope that we can come of with something and strengthens our infrastructure problem in a fiscally responsible way. >> senator, i do hope so. i would say that this committee is going to deal with the reauthorization. we heard from every member through when you weren't doing a very important duties is we need certainty here. this is -- we don't know what the future holds. what i am hopeful is we can get a five or six your bill of year. i've spoken with the senator, and he approves of my saying that it is my intent to have that bill before this committee in april. that is our intent. it will not deal with the funding because that is a matter

for the senators and your committee, but it will lay this out, and that is why it is so important that would never -- i have lots of ideas. one of them is to go after 350 billion uncollected taxes every year. i am sure others would not agree, but there are many, many ways that we can get this going. but costs he makes an important point. his got to be real. it has to be certain. and that is why the user fund, however use the fund, whatever it is, whether it is the death tax, the travel that is not intrusive or it is a user fee at the refinery level, all of that would be a dedicated tax going into the fund. and because of our economic situation we need to have this because if you are really worried about deficits and debt which every single one of buses and was so happy that i was your

behalf. our members saying, we will not have any more bounce because the debt is disappearing. i was here, and that we can handle that problem. but the highway trust fund is different. as it was envisioned by a republican president, it has a separate seat, does not cause problems with the deficit. very important, and i think that we should keep the user fee concept because it does give that type of certainty. that decision is going to be made by another committee. they are excited about us doing your part. i cannot speak for every member. i've sat down with most of my colleagues. i have to morgan said down with fox. i am hopeful that we can unite. environmental writers and all the other things and we can just focus on what must be done. i am excited about the challenge no one thought that we could do

it last time. i want to say, senator sessions has been a friend to me in this committee. we do not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we work well together. i respect his knowledge of the deficit situation, the debt situation as a former member of the budget committee i know that in that committee udc the big picture going down the road. there is nothing in this bill that is going to hurt the deficit, nothing. it will be self sustaining which is absolutely critical. with that i want to thank all of you. report back to me about your conversations. i hope you will. i will ask the senators. i will tell them what you said you were going to call them. i think we can get this done, but only if we stick together. let's find that common ground and not get into arguments about other issues because i think that gets us off track. thank you very much. thank you.

>> yes. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> coming up on c-span2, house democrats talk to reporters from their carcase retreat. later illinois congressman luis gutierrez discovers the need for immigration legislation. and senator john mccain urges u.s. intervention in serious civil war. >> on the next washington journal a look at the economic impact of the keystone xl oil pipeline. britain account of united advisers. we talk with the co-host of msn b.c. about what to expect in president obama's second term.

former federal energy regulatory commission chairman will discuss the security of the u.s. electric grid. washington journal begins live and 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2 >> the new c-span.org website gives you access to an incredible library of political events with more added each day for the nonstop coverage of national politics, history, and nonfiction books. find the daily coverage of official washington or access more than 200,000 hours of archived c-span video, everything c-span was covered since 1987. or video is searchable and fuel on your desktop computer, tablet, or smart phone. just look for the prominence search bar at the top of each page. the new c-span.org makes it easy to watch what is happening today in washington and find people

and events from the past 25 years. it is the most comprehensive video library in politics. >> house democrats are holding their annual caucus retreat in cambridge, md. members spoke to reporters about their legislative agenda. >> i'm glad you made it. [inaudible conversations] >> yes. he has to wear a tie. >> okay. thank you for being here. we just had agreed welcome from the governor of the great state of maryland, martin o'malley and

a wonderful presentation by a couple of economists who talks to us about building an economy that works for all americans which is what we are here to do, talk about how we reward work, now we provide economic security to all americans, how we make sure that the economy of tomorrow works for everyone. not just some, but everyone. i will return to the days when we consider our children the american dream is before you. quite honestly these last few days have been pretty good for americans. yesterday we maintained the full faith and credit of the united states of america and did not cause american families mortgage interest rates to go way up. we made sure that people could still borrow at a decent rate. today hundreds of thousands of americans woke up hearing the president telling them they're getting a raise to $10.10 an hour if you were working minimum-wage. i think you're ready to work.

we want to get out there and do the things that show americans that we're ready to take action to ready to work on their behalf. this should be a year of action. there is no reason why 2014 should be a year of shut down politics or why we just pack up and put it away. we can do things like raise that minimum-wage, not just for workers for federal contractors, but for all americans. we can guarantee equal pay for equal work, renew a emergency unemployment insurance for over one half million americans and finally fix a badly broken immigration system. we know on the immigration reform front that we have the votes to pass and believe the we have the votes to pass all the initiatives that i just mentioned which is why i think that this should be a year of work and action which is why we are here assembled in maryland to talk about how we as democrats will work with the president for this year of action on behalf of the american

public. with that let me turn to the leader, nancy pelosi. >> thank you very much to you and mr. crowley. thank you for providing the auspices for which we can come together to work for an economy that works for all americans. we heard from some experts and economists today. we are in a wide exchange of ideas. and one of the ideas that emerges is that when women succeed america succeeds. the reinforcement of that principle is one that, again, the president reinforced by raising -- guaranteeing a minimum wage to people who work for contractors with the federal government. but in our agenda when women succeed american succeed. it is about pay equity and raising minimum wage. is about paid sick leave.

it is about children learning and parents earning. really important. and also, we, day after the house of representatives passed the lifted debt ceiling. can you imagine -- let me just read from the constitution. the 14th amendment declares that the validity of the public debt of the united states of america authorized by law shall not be questioned. the action that we took yesterday reinforces that honor of that statement and the constitution. it is really stunning that 199 republicans voted to defaults on the full faith and credit of the united states of america. that is not in furtherance of an economy that works for all americans. in fact, it does not work for america and all, whether it is

our global standing or whether it is what is happening and kitchen tables across the country. as our chairman said, the interest of people will pay on their car loans and mortgage statements, college loans, small business loans, should they be small business people, what it means to people's retirement, the impact of a default on the full faith and credit of the united states of america. putting all of this with a bluntness of confidence in our economy that wants to share prosperity for all americans, confidence in an economy that works for all americans. we are excited about the enthusiasm, hopeful that with the cooperation between democrats and republicans yesterday on the floor, people to the speaker for bringing up the legislation, he knows the consequences of a default, but yet 199 of his colleagues did

not share that concern. stunning. and no senator voted -- no republican senator. thank you. no republican senator voted to lift the debt ceiling. every one of them voted to default on the full faith and credit of the united states. it is really important that the public understand what is at stake in these debates. today it is president lincoln's birthday, february 12th is when we used to celebrated. now is a weekend and a weekend the rest. february 12th, president lincoln said public sentiment is everything. the public has to know how they are affected by public policy in washington d.c. they want america to have a raise. america deserves the race. work ethic is alive and well across our country. hearing from economists of creativity thrives across

america which is what creates jobs for an economy that works for all americans check. we are excited about a year of action working with the president, hopefully working in a bipartisan way. in that spirit i am pleased to yield to the distinguished democratic whip of the house, the gentleman from maryland. >> thank you, madam leader. very, very pleased to have all of you here, all of our colleagues here fish, and we were proud of our governor this evening as he spoke to our caucus. he focused on the issues that the president focused on. an optimistic way. a president just a few weeks ago said he was optimistic that he had done better but we were not really needed to be. we still need to invest in growing our economy.

he said that he wanted to work together. i would suggest that every time that we have had a bipartisan vote america has been advantage to. whether it was being airbills, unfortunately not in a bipartisan way a great bipartisan votes when we funded government, past the omnibus appropriation bill, replace the devastatingly negative and sequestration under the. so acting in a bipartisan fashion is a good thing for the country. the president thinks that we need to act. the american public did not send us to the congress of the united states says not to the public business. not to invest.

not to vote to make sure they get paid. not as the fall were the cracks. not help the economy by passing comprehensive immigration reforms. and while i'm optimistic that when we act together america will succeed women will do better, all this will be better. we will, in a phrase that i have used so often make it in america that is what americans will do. we want to have a sense that they can make it in america. that is what people came to america, to make it, to seize the opportunity that is the american dream. i'm optimistic, concerned. he says that is what our leaders

said. if we get past this one referring to the extension of the debt limit so america would pay its bills we are done until the election. let us hope that is not true. let us hope that the republicans want to work with the president and with us to make sure that we can make it in america. women do better and america will do better if we invest in our people and grow our economy so that everybody can make it in america. that the yield to my dear colleague and friend, the assistant leader, mr. jim cliburn. >> thank you very much. madam leader. i think that all of us have the ability by the actions. the minimum wage, federal

contractors. >> minimum wage. it extends into areas that we have not touched on. it has been 20 years since we have established a floor for the people who learned salaries for tips. two hours and $0.13. twenty years ago. it has been that way ever since. this executive order raised the debt floor to $4.90. and it covers concessions and service, contractors which means that these concessions for state government where we have people blind and disabled who do

certain services for the state government and contract with the state government. with that service is covered as well. now we believe it is time for the congress to pass the bill. it would immediately lift over for a half million americans above the poverty level. that is what it would do. and i think it is high time that we do that. because, as was said, over 6 percent of the people who are going to benefit from the minimum wage are women. and one in four had children. and so i think it's important for us to look at one other thing