Statement of ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane Regarding House Action To Protect SAFETEA-LU Highway/Transit Funding In Final FY 2007 Appropriations Bill

Washington, D.C. [January 30, 2007]—“We commend the bipartisan leadership of Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo.) for their perseverance and commitment to America’s transportation infrastructure network.

“Congress made a commitment in 1998 to ensure highway user fee revenues were fully invested in transportation capital improvements. The January 29 announcement from the House Appropriations Committee to fully implement the highway/transit funding provisions in the 2005 SAFETEA-LU law is a clear continuation of that pledge.

“The new Congress has sent a strong signal in its opening days about the importance of federal transportation investment to U.S. economic productivity and the mobility of the motoring public.”

###