Norton Urges Passage of Surface Transportation Bill, Despite Some Flawed Provisions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a member of the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II conference committee, spoke today on the House floor to urge passage of the bill despite major flaws.
Norton and her House Democratic colleagues, did not sign the conference report because they were shut out of final negotiations, and she had mixed emotions about the final legislation. She felt she had to support the bill, however, because it will be the only jobs bill to come from the 112th Congress, and it includes the national subway safety provision, which is modeled after a bill she co-sponsored after the deadly Metrorail Red Line crash in 2009. She said that among the bill's many disappointments are provisions that could harm the environment. The bill seriously curtails environmental reviews and public input for major projects by creating significant exemptions to the National Environmental Policy Act. The changes will permit many large projects to go forward without sufficient environmental review or public input.
Norton was also disappointed that the bill drastically cut funding for biking and walking programs and makes it harder for biking and walking programs to compete for federal funds by throwing them into competition with other transportation projects. Norton, who has long touted the environmental benefits of mass transit, also was particularly dissatisfied that the bill took out the Senate's language that extended the stimulus provision, which expired in January, that gave mass transit commuters the same tax benefits as those who commute by car. Commuters who drive receive up to $240 per month in tax benefits, while mass transit commuters receive only up to $125 in tax benefits per month. Norton said, "By giving nearly double the tax benefits to those who commute by car, the federal government is subsidizing driving and discouraging mass transit. This harmful disparity will not only increase pollution, but will add more wear and tear to our already depleted road infrastructure."
Despite the many unfortunate provisions, the first national subway safety standards bill is pathbreaking, landmark legislation. Norton has championed a similar bill since the Metrorail Red Line crash in 2009 that killed nine people, seven of them D.C. residents. "The Metro crash three years ago made the District the tragic poster child for the need for national subway safety standards," Norton said. "We have just dedicated a commemorative plaque to the residents we lost. The subway safety standards bill is tangible evidence that Congress has taken seriously the message of the families who lost loved ones that day."
Norton's brief floor remarks on the Surface Transportation Extension Act follow.
"I thank Chairman Mica and Ranking Member Rahall for working together on this bill. This year's transportation bill could be named the Jobs Act of 2012 because it is the only bill from the 112th Congress that will create a significant number of jobs.
A word on a couple of significant provisions: Seldom has a pioneering, landmark bill found its way into a transportation reauthorization bill, but in today's is the first bill to set national standards for subway safety, bringing subways in line with all other modes of transportation, which have long had national standards. This is probably the most significant provision of this bill.
The DBE language is tailored to ensure that the government is equipped with the tools it must have to address the compelling need for the government to continue to address discrimination in small business contracting.
With all of its shortcomings, and there are many, the American people finally will have a jobs bill from this Congress."
Published on: June 29, 2012