Published August 1995 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Paving the Road to the Future Recently, the U.S. Senate passed the Fiscal Year 1996 Transportation Appropriations Bill. This bill embodies the congressional trend — initiated this year ~ of cutting nonmilitary domestic investments in infrastructure by slashing transportation appropriations more than $1 billion below last year's level. In its quest to reduce the overall budget, while, at the same time, increasing military spending by billions of dollars and providing tax breaks for the wealthy, Congress, under the new Republican leadership, is proceeding to deal devastating blows to almost all domestic infrastructure programs. This year's transportation bill is an example of such discretionary domestic budget cuts, for the monies appropriated fall far short of meeting the growing needs of our nation. During the six years that I was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, from 1989 to 1994, inclusive, I recognized that our nation's economic prosperity depends heavily on the adequacy of our highways, airports, railroads, and transit systems. For that reason, I advocated increased and sustained funding for our nation's transportation infrastructure. Currently, 70 percent of our nation's interstate highways in metropolitan areas are congested during peak hours. Nearly a quarter of our nation's more than half-million bridges are structurally deficient, while another 14 percent are functionally obsolete. And the number of arrivals and departures at our airports is expected to grow 60 percent in the next decade. But Congress is cutting its investment in transportation infrastructure. Some members of Congress have decided that unnecessary, unrequested, and outdated missile defense systems are more important than the roads, bridges, and airports that our citizens use on a regular basis. Cuts, such as those made to the transportation bill, will leave the next generation with an unsafe and inefficient transportation system that will result in devastating repercussions on the economy, on private industry, and on public travel. We must reverse this "slash-and-burn" budget mentality before its impact is irreversible. Our nation's spending practices must reflect the demands and priorities of its citizens. Our transportation infrastructure is a necessary and well directed investment in our nation's future. August 23, 1995