Please see the following statement from Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater regarding the introduction of the Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act in Congress:
"AEM congratulates Congressmen Jim Renacci, Bill Pascrell, Reid Ribble and Dan Lipinski for putting forth a substantive and politically courageous proposal to fix the Highway Trust Fund. Their legislation deserves serious consideration in the Ways and Means Committee.
While the proposal is not perfect, it is a serious effort to give certainty to America's transportation infrastructure and impose accountability on Congress to force lawmakers to develop a long-term solution to make the Highway Trust Fund solvent.
This is a bipartisan effort to end the stalemate on Capitol Hill over highway spending. Because Congress has been unable to generate a sustainable stream of revenue to make up for the annual shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, America's infrastructure has been chronically underfunded. The proposed Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act seeks to break the cycle of patchwork efforts to short up the trust fund a few months at a time.
In essence, this legislation would force Congress to act. It would make the Highway Trust Fund solvent in the short-run and bring together a bipartisan group of leaders in Congress to figure out a way to finance America's surface transportation for the future. And if those efforts fail, this plan provides a path forward to ensure the Highway Trust Fund is made whole in the future."
