as chairman of the finance committee i worked with members both parties to achieve three goals. guaranteed funding he december 13. not add to the deaf santd keep the trust fund solvent moving forward. over the next two yeyes we put into the trust fund leaving a cushion. in total, $14 billion into the highway trust fund over ten years. this actually reduces the deficit by $10 billion over the ten-year budget window. where possible we focused on the nexus to transportation and energy and included an idea for republican senators to transfer the leaking underground storage fundses 3ds billion and $1 billion future trust funds. both rely on this and it made sense. the proposed budget for its preserve fund by putting it into the highway trust fund.

the finance economy also paid for infrastructure programs communities rely on outside their highway trust fund. neighborly, secure real schools. payment lube taxes and the water conservation fund. this shorter bill is what we could afford. it buys time to discuss what americans want for the 21st century aened how to pay for it. significant reforms address national priorities, like program consolidation. data improvement. more safety funding and a national rate network. it ensures we don't leave construction jobs stuck with the old light waiting for center toy move forward. these are jobs that are needed. there are projects just like the bypass, every one of our districts and states that need a green light. soap i say, let's get to work and pass it. >> thank you, senator. we'll go to representative camp followed by senator hatch. >> thank you, chairman boxer.

i think we can all agree that funding improvements to the nation's infrastructure is vitally important to spur economic growth and creating jobs. because of that i believe this is an issue that can and should be addressed in a bipartisan manner. cities and towns depend on a strong infrastructure as a way to assure that can attract businesses to locate in their communities and create jobs. in my home state of michigan where unemployment remains well above the national unemployment rate having a safe and reliable transportation system can provide a strong foundation to attracting business development. however, given the current economic climate we have to look at all spending including inf infrastructure spending through the lens. and not able to kip with current levels of spending. as such a successful conference report needs to include real reforms to ensure highway programs are sustainable. and with that perspective in mind i just have two main principles with which i approach our mission first. we must ensure that we take a

fiscally responsible route to fund infrastructure improvements and simply put if we can't afford it, then we should not pursue it. second, the bill should create more, not fewer opportunities for job creation. this includes addressing our energy and economic needs through measures like the keystone excel pipeline. majorities in both the house and the senate agree that the pipeline needs to be approved, and if the administration refuses to act, then congress must. so our task today is clear. we must craft meaningful reforms of the transportation programs to ensure reliable infrastructure system while also helping create more opportunities to find work and i'm confident if every member of this conference committee is committed to finding a solution, we can, and will do it and i look forward to work wig my house and senate colleagues and yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you, representative cantor. senator hatch? >> thank you. i don't think anyone in this

room will contradict me when i say we all want to conclude this conference committee as quickly as possible in a way that puts our transportation programs on a stable and predictable footing. that ensures the strong voice for local communities in this total process. and frankly, -- frankly i'm very concerned that we move heard on this. those are us who have spent the last several years working on tax extenders and seeing the provisions that expired last year since languishing no firsthand living off the serious short-term extensions reduces our ability to think long-term. under cuts sound policymaking and of course undermines the certainty of our economic needs. i am concerned the senate passed transportation bill particularly the finance title does not put us on a sustainable and predictable path. the finance title practically amounts to a search under the couch cooushions and the approa to put it together as difficult

as it was will become more difficult going forward. at the markup on february 7th i laid out basic principles and i think they are worth drawing from now. users of highway trust fund ought to pay for building and maintenance. more simply, the user pays principle ought to be maintained. this also entails more discipline on the spending side than currently exists so users of the given prime minister r p for other programs they do not use. additionally, reserve news and spending should add up on a year-by-year basis. i understand we're so off track implementing this principle may take some time. before we start writing checks we should have an understanding whether those checkless clear. this point is linked with the user pay's principle and along with it ensures that the taxpayers is an actual partner in setting our national transportation prifrts rather than just a pack animal simply carrying a burden placed upon it

by others. i'm very concerned. there are other thing opinions i'll put the rest of my statement in the record. i want to note my support for the keystone pipeline and how important it sow get that project built. this highway bill is touted as a jobs bill and there is no question the keystone would create jobs. good paying jobs. in addition to that, promotes stable energy resources from a friendly country that wants to do business with the united states. we need to be doing more to develop our own energy resources. and thanks to the leadership of this committee with the opportunity to make a statement. in closing i want to read a quote from the interior of affairs august 10, 1964. this report concerns the creation of a fund that receives transfers from the highway trust fund. this report in part reads, "this transfer from the highway trust fund will have no delaying effect whatsoever in completing the highway program. other revenues are exceeding expect isations and even with

the proposed transfer the highway trust fund will conclude in 1973 with a surplus of overs 3ds 00 million." we look at this today, this did not transpire our predecessor expected. hopefully our colleagues in 50 years will view the deliberations of this conference in a different light. we need to get this done. we need to work well together. we need to keep it within budget, and i personally appreciate all the work both sides have done to get us this far, but we now have to come to ribbon cutting time get done for the benefit of our country. thank you. >> thank you, senator. representative and then followed by senator johnson. >> thank you madam claire. congratulations to you, not just for the election but for the hard work that senate has done moving this legislation forefor us. i don't think there's any more important legislation fate

facing thinking congress than the transportation bill that will renew and rebuild neshg. we know the facts. the transportation infrastructure is rated d by the american society of civil engineers. it continues to deteriorate. congestion costs americans more than $85 billion a year and we waste more than $4.2 billion hours stuck in traffic. there are as you pointed out what we have a 12.5 million americans unemployed. over 10% in the building trades and for every billion dollars spent on transportation, will create about 35,000 jobs. the jobs bill for this congress is before us. i think it's important to focus on the transportation-recommended provisions of the bill and the financing and not get bogged down in this conference on unrelated and divisive political projects. keystone pipeline and the blocking of epa from protecting public health come to mind. senate bill is already a

compromise and we appreciate the work you've done. you've produced bipartisan legislation while unfortunately the procedurally paralleled house bill was never even voted on on the floor of the house. with that in mind i hope the conference can address the following issues of balanced transportation stham includes freight, transit, intermotile that you preserve the amendment ensuring local governments have access and control over some of the transportation bills most popular programs, ens hancements, biking, walking, not only are they popular, they're cost effective. they create jobs. every million dollars spent on transportation alternatives creates 50 to 100% more jobs than simply road projects alone. and they produce safety. i think it's important to preserve the senate passed nepa provisions. i won't suggest they're perfect

or that there aren't friends of mine in the environmental community who have significant concerns, but they will decrease project delivery time, reduce red tape while protecting the public's ability to participate in transportation decisions. in contrast, the house language that never passed the house would allow federal and state governments to build roads, rail lines, or railroad crossings without any kward coordination with local government official, the neighborhood or anybody lives in the vicinity. no requirement alerting local citizens. that's a prescription for more gridlock, not less. i strongly support the senate cost saving fix it first language that encourages states to maintain their existing infrastructure pt it's common sense and makes sense. projects of national and regional significance i think, i hope is something that we can all get behind, as by including

strong by american provisions. this will help keep american spending in america. i strongly support the hard work that is done in the finance title. that buys us time. it's not the long-term solution for how we're going to finance long-term rebuilding and renewing the country, but it gives us two construction cycles. it gives us some certainty that we can work on the larger issues. i support the transit parody that has been championed by senator schumer and our house colleagues mcgovern, and ensuring all the federal government treats all commuting modes the same and provisions relateding to bank qualified bonds, amt relief for private act tifkty bonds and exempt facility bonds for water project are each important to the

private partnerships in our communities that depend on constructing vital infrastructure. i support their inclusion. this conference gives us the opportunity as i said for two years of stable transportation investments, ranging from areas that secure rural schools to access invest from the harbor maintenance fund. on balance i think our friends in the senate givens a solid biartisan framework. serving people in the house, there is bipartisan interest in the house for it and i hope we can build upon it moving forward. thank you, and i yield back. >> thank you, congressman. we'll now hear from senator johnson followed by representative -- >> chairman boxer, thank you for organizing this conference meeting. i share with you the desire to produce a strong transportation bill quickly. the senate banking committee reported the public

transportation title of 21 unanimously in early february, and it is now time to finish this bill. maintaining the investment under our nation's transportation infrastructure is a priority of mine and the banking committee. i want to thank our committee's ranking member senator shelby and subcommittee chairman senator fernandez for their help on the transit title. americans make 35 trips on public transportation every weekday. the transtitle of mac 21 -- funds for public transportation agencies. this will help present agencies address backlog repairs and it will create jobs the transit fund ago loan senate bill supports 386,000 jobs.

map-2 also makes reforms like improving federal safety oversight for public transportation. these safety reforms have been stalled for two years. we cannot let politics foil or work to complete a final bill. in south dakota, a transportation bill will support 10,000 jobs and improve our highways and rural transit service. 1,200 of our state's bridges, of are deficient. our state needs of certainty federal funding that a completed bill will provide. we should not let another construction season go by with uncertain federal funding. we need to work on a bipartisan basis and accepted this bill to the president before the current extension expires. i hope this conference will not

be bogged down with controversial issues that did not link to transportation. senator boxer and chairman mica, i look forward to working with you and all members of this conference. i hope you make quick progress. thank you. >> thank you so much. representative? >> thank you, madam chair. i do appreciate the opportunity to give a statement and to be part of this very important conference committee. infrastructure is so important to jobs. it's important to national security and it's real opportunity for us to get something done. back in january, president obama said his new year's resolution was to do whatever it takes to move the economy forward. i believe that this conference san opportunity for us to do just that. to be successful, we need real reforms to our highway programs that will make the most efficient and effective use of the taxpayer's dollar, and we

need to seize the opportunity to do something good for our energy security, which is so essential for economic growth. as a negotiator from the energy and commerce committee, provisions with our purview include the congestion mitigation and air quality program under the clean air act and the vehicle safety overseen by the national highway traffic safety administration. on vehicle sayy i will be particularly focuses on making sure that nhtsa has a clee focus and the ability to prioritize safety as it always has. as with any policy, overly prescripted mandates have a tendency to divert focus and avert it from existing priorities. i'm also very supportive of the house language ensuring that dollars from the harbor of maintenance trust fund go towards their intended purpose of maintaining the harborses. i.e., dredging. maintaining our commercial and recreational harbors is essential to local growth. infrastructure development, and the countless jobs across the

great lakes. these are not only my home state's most treasured natural resource, but it also is one of our strongest economic assets. and the livelihood of tens of thousands of michigan families and businesses depend upon our harbors an deserve the certainty of knowing that these gateways of opportunity will remain open for business. other important matters in the house-passed bill included a path for expedited approval of the keystone excel pipeline in a state based regulatory framework for the safe management, re-use and disposal of coal ash. while the connection between these items in a transportation infrastructure package may not seem obvious, in fact, these policies make perfect sense in the context of this package. coal ash is widely used as a component in construction materials including concrete. so the regulatory regime governing its management has a direct affect on the cost and durability of our roads and

bridges. epa to reclass phi this as hazard ougs waste would make road construction more expensive. the infrastructure we build may not last as long and the liability which translates to costing would be higher for everyone. a federal friend managed this material is the common sense alternative that maintains environmental protections without sacrificing jobs or driving up prices and i would note that this language passed in the house last fall by almost a 2-1 margin, including the democratic whip mr. clyburn. loids, the keystone excel pipeline is a logical place to include in our final agreement. after all this a jobs and infrastructure program and the keystone pipeline is the ultimate in infrastructure project. keystone excel has undergone extensive environment review. state department worked with over ten other federal agencies for more than three years and

concluded that construction and operation of the pipeline would have limited adverse environmental impacts. in fact, construction at keystone excel was preferred over not building the pipeline at all. that's because pipelines are the safest way to transport oil and gas. and they're safer than ever thanks to new pipeline safety requirements that many of us worked together to see enacted earlier this year. transcanada is working with the state of nebraska to develop al new route that avoids environmentally sensitive areas, and just last week the company resubmitted its application for the cross-border permit approval. the time for delay is over. this is a $7 billion privately funded infrastructure project that will create and support tens of thousands of jobs and bring tremendous energy security. it has been thoroughly reviewed and its route in nebraska is being resolved with input and agreement from that state. expedite aid proval of the keystone excel pipeline has

received broad pi partisanship in the house and broad backing in the senate and i'm eager to see it in its final agreement. so i thank bipartisanship backing in the senate. >> thank you so much. i just want to say, the next two are senator shelby followed by henry waxler, now the people -- he's here, beautiful. so if you're not here, if the person isn't here and i call their name, we'll continue to go down the list and then i'll call on them. because we're going to do it by seniority. >> thank you, ms. chairman. by partisan legislation that eliminates outdated inefficient programs and promotes greater efficiency and effectiveness in public transportation systems across america.

senate bill 1813 maintains funding for public transportation programs at $10.5 billion a year. but unlike pref use authorizes bills. we were able to provide a substantial increase to existing programs by eliminating, yes, eliminating the bus discretionary program, the program that previously contained earmarks totaling $984 billion. in fact we did not just eliminate one account that included earmarks, we eliminated all earmarks that were previously included in the reauthorization bill. these reforms allowed us to provide public transportation systems with an increase in their guaranteed formula funding over the next two years. in addition, madam chairman, to providing a stable source of

funding, i believe that we must here try to institute a system that ensures greater accountability and encourages real investment in maintaining our aging public transportation infrastructure that everybody's been talking about. this issue also known as a state of good repair is an extremely important issue for public transportation and the senate bill makes it an integral part. to streamline and to improve delivery of capital investment projects. it also includes a new pilot project for the sole purpose of expediting project approval and private investment. these are just a few of the investments that i believe will improve the public transportation services.

madam chairman, before concluding i would like to talk about the restore act. an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 76-22. the house also included the concept of the restore act in its version of the bill. the restore act, just to remind all of us, including myself, simply requires 80% of the clean water fines paid by companies responsible for the 2010 deep water horizon oil spill to be split among the five gulf coast state areas that were most impacted by the bill. the funding would help improve communities, repair and protect

the fishing industries and restore the economies of these severely damaged coastal states. this region has already done much to help itself and this much needed assistance should allow them to achieve a fuller recove recovery. the restore act is not only important to the people of the gulf as i mentioned, but the entire nation that depends on a healthy gulf region. i believe strongly that this legislation is essential to the gulf coast and i intend to work with my colleagues to ensure that the senate version of the report is included in the final conference report. and for everything, thank you, both. >> thank you so much, representative wexler? >> thank you, madam chair, we -- communities across the country,

it will revitalize our transportation infrastructure and create jobs and that's why it's important that this conference committee work together to finalize the report as soon as possible. the senate worked together in a bipartisan manner to develop a strong transportation bill that will create jobs and help the economy. the house on the other hand did not even attempt to craft a bipartisan bill and was unable to pass a partisan republican bill. transportation policies affect all of us, but as a conferee from the energy and commerce committee, i'll limit my comments to those within my committee's jurisdiction. the senate bill will improve the electronics expertise of the department of transportation. it mandates new safety standards to reduce the risk of sudden act severe sell ration, as well as

electronic systems performance. and it gives consumers important information, all of these provisions are similar to ones the energy and commerce can be approved in the last congress. furthermore the senate reauthorization bill requires important new standards for child safety seats and booster seats and it includes mandates for strong motor coach safety standards that are desperately needed but have languished at the d.o.t. for years. unfortunately the house passed bill includes extraneous and anti-environmental provisions. the house bill contains a legislative earmark for the keystone xl tar sands pipeline. we can issue changes in the law governing the coal ash that undermine environmental

protection. the president has made absolutely clear that he will not sign legislation containing a legislative earmark for the keystone pipeline. instead of congress pre-empting the normal administrative review project, keystone should be treated like any other project. and the decision should be made on the merits of the proposal once the reviews are completed. the coal ash bill that was added to the house bill is also extraneous. epa is actually considering whether and how to regulate coal ash and we should let that process continue. the coal ash bill in the house would -- it would block epa from regulating dangerous practices like dumping ash with high levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and hex si veil yanlt pro --

they present the same risk as the one operated by the tennessee valley authority in kingston, tennessee, that burst in december 2008, releasing 145 million cubic feet of toxic sludge. that spill blanketed the emery river and surrounded lands and created a superfund site that will cost up to 1.2 billion dlrsz to clean up. we should reject any efforts that restrict the epa's authority to deal with these real risks. there's a lot of false advertising surrounding the coal ash debate. current regulations do not restrict the use of coal ash in concrete. and contrary to what you may hear today, congress has not proposed to regulate such beneficial reuse. we should not strip epa's authority to protect public

health in the environment. finally the house republicans have included the rivel and could gut the portions of the clean air act and responsible that pollution should be related to transportation stays in check. this terrible policy must be reje rejected. this policy committee has -- signed by the president and will keep our economy on the mend, alternatively, we should -- whether we should or shouldn't allow epa to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash and whether she should weaken other environmental laws. it is -- transportation infrastructure hostage over these extraneous