Sam Graves Statement for the Record - Hearing with DOT Secretary Foxx on Highway Bill Reauthorization
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
"Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill: Laying the Foundation for U.S. Economic Growth and Job Creation Part I"
I appreciate Chairman Shuster's leadership on this issue and want to echo his commitment to passing a long term highway bill. We hope to accomplish that in a bipartisan way. There are no republican roads or democrat roads. In my home state of Missouri we have over 131,000 highway miles and 24,350 bridges to maintain. Infrastructure is an issue where the Administration and Congress can find common ground.
Secretary Foxx has been vocal in his support for working with Congress and all stakeholders to accomplish what we all have set out to do. As a former mayor, Secretary Foxx brings a unique, on-the-ground perspective, as he dealt with some of these issues first-hand in North Carolina. One such issue is getting through the federal bureaucracy and red tape involved with executing a project. I am pleased the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be pursuing common-sense, bipartisan reforms to streamline project delivery. I look forward to working with the Secretary to identify some of the ways his agency can be helpful in that effort. I believe the Secretary agrees that the federal-state partnership is vital to maintaining our robust system.
In addition, I hope this committee takes a hard look at some of the proposals for regulatory reform. Companies big and small across the transportation community are being hit with an onslaught of regulations. I have heard first-hand, from the people I represent in north Missouri and as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, how small businesses are being saddled with layer upon layer of unnecessary regulations. We must find a way to bring some relief to the regulatory process by giving all stakeholders a greater voice.
At the end of the day, a highway bill is about jobs – whether it's those in the construction industry, contractors resurfacing some of the worst roads across our states, small businesses hoping to rely on the system to conduct their business, or just the vast network needed to move commodities efficiently across the country. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, it is my highest priority to see a highway bill signed into law this year.