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HR 60 Fix America's Bridges Act
Topic Started: 12 Jun 2013, 12:25 PM (58 Views)
Heather Holson
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48 hours for debate

Quote:
 
Congressman Peter J Lucas, for himself, Congresswoman Grace Hollingsworth, Congresswoman Andrea Martinez and Congressman R.A. "Rex" LaSalle, proposes

A BILL to repair America’s structurally and functionally deficient bridges using funds from orphan earmarks and unobligated balances.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled as Follows

Section 1 Findings

(1) In 2008, the Federal Highways Agency estimated that structural and critical functional deficiencies in America’s bridges would cost $98.9 billion to rectify.

(2) According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, sub standard bridges and roads cause 13,700 deaths a year, or one is three car fatalities in America.

(3) At the same time, $13 billion from highway related earmarks since 1991 remains unspent, including excess funds from projects long since completed.

(4) As of 2011, the Department of Transport had accumulated (not including earmarked funds) $58.66 billion in unobligated funds. These are funds not yet assigned to any project. This is a figure that continues to grow.

Section 2 Earmarks and Unobligated Balances

(1) All highway related earmarks

(i) that are still unspent on the day this Act is signed into law and were earmarked at least 2 years ago, or

(ii) that are earmarked from the day this Act is signed into law onwards and have, on a date two years after the date of the earmark, not been spent, and

(iii) which are not committed to a partially completed project on which work is still proceeding or is realistically planned to continue within 6 months

are rescinded and transferred to the scheme set out in Section 3 below.

(2) All unobligated balances held by the Department of Transport currently and which are accumulated in the future, allowing that the Department may retain a contingency budget of not more than $500 million in any budgetary year, are transferred to the scheme set out in Section 3 below.

Section 3 Bridge Repair Scheme

(1) The Federal Highways Agency shall administer a Bridge Repair Scheme, using monies provided by Section 2 above from unused earmarks and unobligated balances.

(2) Under the Scheme, bridges referred to in the “2008 Status of the Nation‘s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions and Performance” report will be brought up to an acceptable standard.
(3) Bridges which are unsafe or are at risk of becoming unsafe in the near future shall be fixed first.

(4) Bridges with structural deficiencies otherwise shall be fixed next.

(5) Bridges with functional deficiencies shall be fixed last.

(6) Within each category, bridges with higher usage (or that would have higher usage if not closed due to deficiencies) shall be fixed first.

(7) The Agency shall produce an annual report on the Scheme and shall produce the report to an appropriate Congressional committee.

(8) All unspent and uncommitted monies provided to the scheme 5 years after this Act is signed into law shall revert the Treasury, unless Congress votes to continue the Scheme for a further five years, in which case such monies shall revert to the Treasury at the expiry of that period.

Section 4 Enactment

This Act shall have effect upon being signed into law.
Edited by Heather Holson, 12 Jun 2013, 01:04 PM.
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Terrus


Madame Speaker,

I daresay a clerical error has occurred; the name of this bill does not match the text.

I yield.
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peter
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Lucas for President: Take Back America!
Madam Speaker

I hope this is a Bill that we can all rally round and support. It does something simple but necessary, fixes bridges that are dangerous first, and if any money is still available those that have a woefully sufficient capacity for the amount of traffic using them. This Bill will save lives, it will help us get around faster, and the best part of it is it costs no additional money, the money being spent is just sitting there in over-appropriated funding the Department of Transportation has received in the past, both in general and in earmarked spending. I ask that this Bill be passed by unanimous consent.

I yield.
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Heather Holson
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Clerical error fixed. Motion for passage by unanimous consent recognized. 24 hours for objections.
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Melissa Sanchez
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Madam Speaker,


I concur with the Gentleman from Texas.

I yield.
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Edward Kensington
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Madame Speaker,

I echo the call for this bill to be passed by unanimous consent.

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Heather Holson
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With no objections this bill is passed by unanimous consent.
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