Washington, DC — Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issues this statement on House passage of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (STRRA):
“Bipartisanship claimed victory today on the floor of the House as lawmakers rejected partisan business as usual in favor of passing a long-term highway-transit reauthorization bill. I congratulate Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), and the committee’s Ranking Democrat, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), for working together to advance the needs of the country and our economy.
“For far too long, Americans and the communities in which they live have been forced to live with the consequences of years of inaction on the backlog of investments needed to repair and modernize our failing surface transportation system. We are especially pleased that Shuster and DeFazio rejected divisive amendments that would have done harm to our members and undermined our transportation system. Their leadership proves that it is still possible for Republicans and Democrats to cooperate on issues that matter to the American people.
“While passage of this bill is a landmark achievement, we must not lose sight of the fact that the funding levels do not meet our country’s mounting transportation challenges. We hope that as the House and Senate work together in Conference, more revenues will be found to significantly boost transit, highway and bridge investments.
“We will also be seeking a final compromise bill that rejects or modifies certain provisions in the House and Senate version of this legislation.”
[download_box title=”Support for Bipartisan House Surface Transportation Bill” size=”155kb” description=”PDF Version” url=”https://ttd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/11.5.15-House-Surface-Transportation-Bill.pdf”]