throw me out because i said things that were treasonous. and i think it was judge white said to him, he said, is this all you have? he said, you come all the way up here and this is all you have? so i said to him, i said we're winning, aren't we? >> discover more about african-american history during black history month on american history tv on c-span3 and online at the c-span video library. search and share from over 25 years of c-span programming. at c-span.org/video library. this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week. and every weekend 48 hours of people and events telling the american story on american history tv. get our schedules and see past programs on our web sites. and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. transportation secretary ray lahood testified before the senate budget committee

yesterday on the president's $74 billion budget request for his department in 2013. it includes a six-year, $476 billion transportation development program pained for by military operations as they wind down in afghanistan and iraq. this is about an hour and a half. >> the hearing will come to order. i want to welcome everyone of the senate budget committee this morning. our hearing today will focus on the president's transportation budget request, our witnesses the secretary of transportation ray lahood. this is secretary lahood's third appearance before the budget committee. before we begin, mr. secretary, i want to note my thoughts are with your son sam lahood. most of us, i think, know that sam is one of the 16 american

nongovernmental organizational workers currently banned from leaving egypt. sam is with the international republican institute. one of my constituents, stacy hog from fargo is also among those barred from leaving. stacy is with the national democratic institute. they were created to foster democratic institution arnz the world. the fact that egypt has taken this action is beyond the pale. it is completely unacceptable. these young people are doing important work, work that is supported directly by the congress of the united states to support constitutional governments, to support democracy. there could be no higher

calling. and for the egyptian government, egyptian authorities to trump up these really farcicable charges, i was on the phone with stacy the day before yesterday just after they received the formal charges. they are farcical. i urge the egyptian leaders to drop them against stacy and sam and all of their colleagues. we'll be taking additional steps in the day as head to register our very serious concerns about these actions that are absolutely outside the boundaries of the relationships between countries that respect

each other. i want to begin that way. now i want to turn my ascension -- >> it is very troubling matter. your son is held there. in egypt to try to help egypt and help them and work with the people and it's deeply distressing that we have a nation that i have supported relationships with. i believe it's good for egypt and the united states. we want to see egypt prosper and do well. and they have. they have had some traditions of freedom and liberty and egypt. and to see this happen now is very distressing. i've been briefed on this subject. i take it very seriously.

if i have the opportunity, maybe i will in the days to come to raise that. in different forms. i'll be looking to doing so. i take it very seriously. it is a matter of the national security to the united states. our young people out to officially part of our government institutions being detained like this is not acceptable. and we just have to make that clear. >> thank you. we hope people are listening and they understand how seriously we take. this i graduated from the american air force base right next door in tripoli, north africa. so i lived in that part of the world for several years. and they know senator sessions may be traveling to that region in the days ahead.

i hope we can send a clear message of what is acceptable behavior and what is completely unacceptable. it is completely unacceptable to be detaining young people who are there to try to help the people of egypt. with that, i want to go to our hearing this morning which focuses on transportation. transportation infrastructure is really the foundation for our economic growth. and it is critical to our ability to keep up with our global competitors. so even as we look to cut spending to bring down the deficit, which we must do, we need to insure the transportation funding remains a

priority. yes, we have to cut spending. we have to be smart about it. we can't afford to cut areas that are vital to future growth. that would be counterproductive and would ultimately worsen our long-term budget outlook as well as our long-term competitive position. investment in transportation can also play an important role in stren thenging the economy and creating jobs in the near term. so i'm pleased the president has called for a significant up front investment in instra structure -- inf inf infrastructure. this also provide a good value to the american taxpayer because interest rates are low. in my state of north dakota, investment in our transportation infrastructure is not keeping pace with our growing needs. mr. secretary, you've been to my state. i appreciate you going there. we have an energy boom that is

unparallel in the united states. the formation which is now made north dakota the fourth largest oil producer in the country, we are very close to a time in which we believe will be the second largest oil producer in the country. that has created a demand on infrastructure that is truly staggering. i've just been in that region of my state in the last several weeks. for every well that is drilled, it takes 2,000 truck loads for equipment, for water, for mud. 2,000 truck loads for every well. mr. secretary, the major highways in that part of our state are two lane roads. we've got chaos. i met with law enforcement throughout the region just weeks

ago. they showed me what happened to accidents, what happened to waiting times, what happened to people trying to get on the highway to get from their farm other ranch to the town. and a guy come and tell us that there have been times that he had to wait an hour at his road getting on to the main highway because of truck traffic. no stop sign, no stop light. so we've got an absolute critical need that really is a national priority. developing this resource is a national priority. our road network simply can't handle the extraordinary increase in truck traffic as a result of energy development. so our vast energy reserves can only benefit the nation if significant investments are made to upgrade our roads.

i believe there needs to be a national energy corridor funding as part of the next transportation bill. there are place that's are simply a national priority. we've got to make them a national priority. it's clear there's a tremendous need for infrastructure investment throughout the country. the moeamerican society of civi engineers gave our infrastructure a grade of d. d. as in dumb. we even rank behind barbados and oman. we have fallen one spot from our ranking last year when we came in 23rd. investment has been falling as a share of the economy.

according to the congressional budget office, total flaederal, local and state spending has fallen from 3.1% of gdp in 1961 to 2.4% in 2007. we risk falling behind our chief global competitors. already we see china and europe are investing far more in infrastructure as a share of their economies than we have as a share of ours. china is spending 9% of its gross domestic product on transportation and water infrastructure. europe is spending 5% of gdp. the u.s. is half that amount at 2.4% of gdp. there is, i think, widespread and bipartisan agreement on the need for further infrastructure investment. last july the carnegie endowment completed a study on the nation's infrastructure.

the study was spear headed by bill bradley, former homeland security head tom ridge, somebody you know well, and former u.s. comptroller general david walker, somebody that's testified before this committee many times. they concluded in their report the following -- integrated efficient and cost effective transportation networks that provide timely access to goods and services are the foundation of a 21st century economy. if america is to remain a global economic power while advancing our common aspirations for a better quality of lie, we need to reinvest in america. especially in our transportation infrastructure. if living within our means includes good husbandry of our existing system, we need more not less investment in transportation. that means more revenues that are wisely spent to meet our obligations for ourselves and our future generations.

i hope people take a look at this report. senator bradley, secretary ridge, comp controller walker make, i think, a compelling case. here's what the obama administration is proposed in its budget for transportation. first, $50 billion for upfront infrastructure investment in 2012 to boost economic growth and create jobs. let me just say a pair th parenthetically that when we were in debate, i argued for aed 2dz hundr $200 billion package for infrastructure. that did not happen. i regret that it did not. the chief argument made against it was that it would take time for that infrastructure money to get into the economy. well, it would become at the right time. it would be coming at the right time. beyond that, i would say -- i asked those who opposed it, how long did it take to build the

pentagon? well, they weren't sure. nine months. we built the pentagon in nine months. there's times when regulations have to be waved. i understand the need for regulations. i think all of us do. there are times when you have urgent demands and needs when there's got to be some common sense applied. and i hope very much we're able to find a way to do that. the second piece of the president's proposal is $476 billion for a six-year surface transportation re-authorization. that six-year re-authorization includes $318 billion for roads, bridges and improving safety. $108 billion for trans it and $3 billion for tighter grants which

are grants the states and localities to fund high priority transportation projects and i must say we were the recipient of a tighter grant in north dakota for minot north carolina which is right in the heart of the energy boom to have a bypass for that city. and it's going to make a world of difference. absolute world of difference. that's the same community, by the way, that was hit by the devastating floods. we had 4,000 homes destroyed in that town. this bypass, you she know, mr. secretary, not only did it make a world of difference for energy traffic, it is going to help the recovery of the town from the devastating floods because it's one of those things serendipitye recovery for that city go much more efficiently. it's almost as though, you know,

some greater power we're looking down and got you to make that tighter grant for that particular intersection and bypass at just the critical time. it's a god send. the president's budge proposes to pay for the six-year transportation re-authorization bill savings from reduced overseas contingency operations. that is from camping war costs. look, that is controversial. we all know that is controversial. we need to talk about it. the budget also kalgz focalls f reclassifying spending as mandatory, subjecting it to rules which is a proposal the administration offered last year. there are people on this committee who are strongly opposed to. that they're not going to be here this morning to register their views. i'm sure they've registered with them, those with you directly.

i look forward to hearing more from the secretary about the proposals w that, i turn to senator sessions and senator sessions, i have taken a fair amount of time here. if you feel free to consume a like amount of time in your statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we have a spirited committee. but you have presided fairly. you treated us right. if we cross the line sometimes, the chairman has a right to get us in line. and i appreciate that. i appreciate your fairness. thank you, secretary lahood, for joining us to day as we examine the president's budget and funding request. first, i would repeat that your family is in our prayers. we intend to be as helpful as we possibly can in that situation. and you know, america is faced with a growing fiscal crisis. we're borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend.

we're facing our fourth straight deficit n this country, annual deficit in the excess of $1 trillion. we have never had this kind of debt path before. all across the country, families are tightening their belts. cities and counties and states are doing that. the federal government has got to do the same. our severe fiscal challenges present an opportunity to make government leaner, more productive, and less expensive to achieve more efficientlily and effectively. as the chairman said, we have to set priorities. priorities means making choices. i'm prepared to support and choose transportation as a high priority. unlike so much of what washington does with taxpayers money, good roads are tankible life changing matters that make the economy more productive. it does that for decades.

it kree aids american jobs and virtually all the matters that go into those highways are american produced. and the americans can't be produced in a foreign country. it's here. so i think it's a way to create jobs and permanent improvements in productivity. now the tragedy is that there was a great opportunity as you eluded to, mr. chairman, to advance our highway system as part of the president's stimulus package. instead, nearly $1 trillion of borrowed money was taken away on failed proposals that succeeded only in sinking our nation deeper in debt. i do not believe it made a significant improvement in our economy although you and i would disagree. and good people can disagree on that. certainly more people are out of work today than when that bill passed. but the president said his stimulus would be used to repair our nation's crumbling infrastructure. it was sold on that basis.

infrastructure. it was sold on that basis. repeatedly we were given stories our infrastructure is crumbling. at the last minute i noticed how little of that money was going to infrastructure. it went to state aid. it went to social programs. it went to all kinds of things. here in the "los angeles times" just a few days ago taxpayer money used to maintain million dollar yacht, yacht of the city over $500,000 went to that. we've had those kind of stories time and again. too little of it went to road and bridges and crumbling infrastructure. now the president's budget will further undermine america's future by using foreign loans for policy and unnecessary projects in this infrastructure.

the president's budget another $47 billion for high-speed rail, which congress has already declined to fund. we can't justify a massive nationwide high-speed rail system at this time. there may be specific problems that will justify it in certain areas but not nationwide. not the kind of problem that will utilize $47 billion. it lumped amtrak into the highway trust fund where it will further destabilize the fund weakened through gimmicks we're having here making funding. the president's highway reauthorization proposal increases spending $231 billion above incoming revenue. that's a lot. $231 billion above the revenues we've been operating under for the trust fund. last year the president proposed to pay for a similar increase in transportation spending with this famous not gas tax tax.

a tax that somebody was supposed to pass but it wouldn't be a gas tax because people might not like that. of course, no such tax was passed of any kind to fund the highway. cbo scored it to bring in zero dollars and that is correct, it brought in zero dollars, this mystery tax. this year the president offset the cost of this new spending program through imaginary money that would be obtained from long planned reductions in our military operations abroad. now, i think we should talk about that. there is no dedicated source of funding for the war. the war was funded with borrowed money. we talked about it. we debated it. some people said there should be a tax to pay for the war. no tax was raised to pay for the

war, it was borrowed money. so when the war comes down, we simply don't have to borrow as much. so i was taken aback at the state of the union when the president said we're going to use half of the war savings to fund infrastructure. there is no money there. it just means we're going to borrow, continue to borrow half as much as we were borrowing before if you assume his assumption is right. this is the kind of gimmick that put america in this fix. we know there's no money there. we know what you're saying when you say we're going to spend war money, we know you mean you're going to borrow the money for the road program. we need the road program on a sound financial basis, not on borrowed money. we've got to reduce that tendency to borrow money. as we have established, the president's budget is a big

gimmick. it's not going to save $4 trillion, it's just not reducing our deficit, $4 trillion, but it does raise taxes by almost two. to my knowledge none of the $2 trillion, $1.9 trillion is spent on roads. so if it's a priority, why don't we use some of the new tax revenue at least for roads. truthfully if we raise taxes, they should be used for reducing our deficit not for new spending. so if we are to strengthen america, we need to create growth, productivity in america, create american jobs. we have to grow the economy fundamentally and not grow the government. we have to prioritize and control federal spending and create an environment where hardworking taxpayers can thrive in their own private sector jobs

and where their lively hoods come from. a smart road program, however, can be an aset to that. i think it can help the economy grow and create some jobs, real jobs in the short-term. so i look forward to discussing this matter. i'm just deeply disappointed, mr. chairman, in the bill moving today. i think there's some gimmicks in it. finance committee, i supported the bill in committee. it's on the floor today. we were promised there would be legitimate pay fors and this would be on a sound basis. i'm afraid that's not entirely accurate. we're looking at $6to $12 billion, that's what the shortfall is to make the fundamental program sound. now we waltz in and are just going to borrow another 150 out of thin air to spend on infrastructure without any source of income. now we're also talking about 250, 300 borrowed for this tax

holiday which really don't pay your pension -- social security pension and the government in effect gives a person making $300,000 a $2,000 check. by the way, we don't have to pay for that either. not in the short-term. not in the long-term. i'm really worried that our people haven't gotten the message that this world is dangerous. our financial world is dang ruchl reduce. the chairman still thinks business as usual. new programs, new programs, when cities, counties, states acting differently. i like to blame the president but we've got some things going on in both parties that are not as good as they should be. that's for sure. thank you. appreciate the opportunity.

>> yes, sir. >> thank you, senator session. i notice, mr. secretary, you have chris bertram with you. chris is assistant secretary for budget and programs and chief financial officer for the department, as you so well know. until august of 2009, mr. berm ram was here as a senior professional staff member as the senate committee on commerce, science and transportation. i know in his previous career he also was at the faa and an important position and also served as staff director for the house of representatives sub committee on highway and transit. certainly comes with a tremendous background and so we're glited he's with you at the witness table. mr. secretary, please proceed. mr. chairman and senator sessions. budget proposal for the

department of transportation. importantly, thank you for the kindness and your kind words about my son and what's happening in egypt and your interest in that. we appreciate that very much. as you know, transportation has been in the news a lot lately. that's a good thing. this week both the house and senate will debate long stalled legislation, as you've heard president obama and i are strong supporters of the senate's bipartisan approach. i congratulate senator boxer and senator inhofe and those who serve on the epw committee for the work they have done and also senator baucus for working very hard to find the pay for. at the same time on monday the president detailed his plan for a six-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal, which is part of his blueprint for an america built to last. here are the facts. our budget proposal has three

broad goals. number one, creating jobs by investing in our infrastructure. number two, spurring innovation across our transportation systems. and three, maintaining our laser focus on safety, our number one priority. and all of this would be fully paid for. president obama is proposing to cap the funding for the overseas contingency operations over the next 10 years there by saving hundreds of billions of dollars. then we'd used half of those savings to pay down the debt and the other half on a six-year transportation bill that let's us do some nation building at home. so let's take these goals one at a time. number one, an america built to last needs a strong transportation infrastructure. that's why the president's budget will improve highways, railways and transit networks and will continue to ensure these systems are safe. of the president's $476 billion