Norton to Manage Short-Term Surface Transportation Extension on House Floor and H.R. 1694, Today

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ranking member of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee, and one of the "Big Four" transportation leaders that introduced the six-year surface transportation bill that passed the House earlier this month, today will manage a short-term surface transportation reauthorization bill on the House floor that will extend Federal transportation programs until December 4, 2015. Norton, a member of the House Conference Committee that is negotiating with the Senate on a final surface transportation bill to send to the President to sign, said the short-term extension is necessary to avoid a shutdown of Federal transportation programs while the Conference Committee works out the remaining differences between the House and Senate bills. Norton also will manage H.R. 1694, the Fairness to Veterans for Infrastructure Investment Act of 2015, on behalf of House Democrats.

"Because of the bipartisan, long-term surface transportation bill passed by the House two weeks ago, today's bill should be the last short-term surface transportation extension the House considers before our Conference Committee completes its negotiations to send the President the first long-term (six-year) surface transportation bill in over a decade," Norton said. "Short-term extensions have stymied state action for roads, bridges, highways, and transit systems for years because states could not start major projects without the certainty that a long-term authorization provides. As Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders, we have worked together as a bipartisan ‘Big Four' throughout the authorization process to craft a comprehensive six-year bill. Its overwhelming passage by the House two weeks ago gives us confidence that we can even improve on the House bill in conference."