mr. oberstar referred to it. all flow well protection plan, remote emergency cut off required and all the european activities. let me ask you -- why does bp developing a dome or a top hat after the incident occurred? let me tell you why this is important. this is the obama administration's deep water sites. they approved almost three dozen of these sites. almost all are quarter of the debt and some have been approved for 8,000 feet, 8,000 feet, more than what we've seen. we have to make certain that this does not happen again. protections must be in place. then more disturbing is the united states coast guard, the jurisdiction of this committee, has and i ask members when we found out about the budget that came out from the obama administration proposing cutting the united states coast guard 1000 positions, ships, planes, essential to the first responsibilities but we gave them. and then if you look at that time line of what we did, the 21st, the coast guard came on board -- actually that 28, they were rescuing p

mr. fauzi yo passed the blueprint of the transportation authorization act last june. in july chairman jim oberstar and mr. defazio to supply in the subcommittee regarding potential mechanisms to fund the $500 billion legislation. today we are still challenging the mechanisms we can agree upon. america needs us to get that answered. the sooner, the better. because a multi year bill which is already overdue is the best way to put people back to work quickly while making the long term investment the country so badly needs. but even when we complete this bill we will still have much work to do just on surface transportation. that is one reason why considering options like the national infrastructure bank is selling for hm. to fund infrastructure state or local governments often ned bonds which carried with them higher costs because overhead and risk. if they can even get these. infrastructure from states saves another infrastructure developer would get financing options that could allow projects to be built at lower-cost. but the need to invest in infrastructure spans far beyond surface transportation

mr. fauzi yo passed the blueprint of the transportation authorization act last june. in july chairman jim oberstarand mr. defazio to supply in the subcommittee regarding potential mechanisms to fund the $500 billion legislation. today we are still challenging the mechanisms we can agree upon. america needs us to get that answered. the sooner, the better. becse a multi year bill which is already overdue is the best way to put people back to work quickly while making the long term investment the country so badly needs. but even when we complete this bill we will still have much work to do just on surface transportation. that is one reason why considering options like the national infrastructure bank is selling for him. to fund infrastructure state or local governments often need bonds which carried with them higher costs because overhead and risk. if they can even get these. infrastructure from states saves another infrastructure developer would get financing options that could allow projects to be built at lower-cost. but the need to invest in infrastructure spans far beyond surface transportation.

mr. jim oberstar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. oberstar: i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. thank you, madam speaker. i tip my hat also to the member of congress whom i call ms. amtrak, ms. passenger rail, whose passion is evident to -- is evident, who worked tirelessly day and night, week after week to advance the cause of passenger rail in this country and has been very successful at it. mobilizing public opinion, igniting public imagination and i appreciate the comments of the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. shuster who is -- who has been a very constructive and enthusiastic partner in shaping passenger rail. i would say to the gentleman, while the bush administration twice submitted bankruptcy budgets for amtrak, twice proposed putting amtrak up for sale in the private marketplace, there were members on both sides of the aisle who joined together, including the gentleman, to restore funding for amtrak to keep it going and the gentleman's fingerprints are all over the amtrak authorization bill that president bush signed. the

mr. oberstar: thank you, mr. chairman. i strongly support this legislation extending build america bonds and distribution of highway funding. build america bonds allow tax able bond access for state and local governments, create new types of investors and attract them to infrastructure from pension funds and tax exempt organizations. this bill also provides $521 million in highway funding for highway transit for more equitable distribution of federal funding than was under -- adopted under the senate language in the hire act. the senate revisions earmark funding under two major discretionary programs, projects of national, regional significance in the national quarter program for a small select group of states. under our distribution we revised the -- and make equitable the senate revisions which skewed the highway formula. under this provision in this bill, every state receives its fair share, apportionment share of the fund available under these programs. 37 states will receive more highway and transit funding through th

mr. fauzi yo passed the blueprint of the transportation authorization act last june. in july chairman jim oberstar and mr. defazio to supply in the subcommittee regarding potential mechanisms to fund the $500 billion legislation. today we are still challenging the mechanisms we can agree upon. america needs us to get that answered. the sooner, the better. because a multi year bill which is already overdue is the best way to put people back to work quickly while making the long term investment the country so badly needs. but even when we complete this bill we will still have much work to do just on surface transportation. that is one reason why considering options like the national infrastructure bank is selling for him. to fund infrastructure state or local governments often need bonds which carried with them higher costs because overhead and risk. if they can even get these. infrastructure from states saves another infrastructure developer would get financing options that could allow projects to be built at lower-cost. but the need to invest in infrastructure spans far beyond surface transportati

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mr. speaker, i rise today as co-chairman of the general aviation caucus with my friend, vern ehlers, my fellow co-chair, in support of this resolution honoring national learn to fly day. . i thank chairman oberstar and ranking member john mica to get it out of committee. i also want to thank the original co-sponsor of the bill, representative graves, for his work. learn to fly day will be celebrated this saturday, may 15, with opportunities throughout the country. to learn more about what to expect during flight training and career options for you once you achieve that goal. as many of you may surmise, i'm a pilot myself. and i would encourage anyone i know to pursue their desire to learn to fly. you will not be kiss appointed. -- disappointed. it's never too late to learn. unlike mr. graves i didn't grow up around flying, but in the service i became very interested in flying when i got my opportunity to spend a lot of time in a plane, and then when i came home and went into my profession, i continued to do that from time to time. then only less than four years ago i achieved a lifelong goal of making -- getting my private pilots license. i'm telling you it has not been a disappointing experienc