Blumenthal Statement on Senate Approval of Long-Term Surface Transportation Bill

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement after the Senate approved a long-term surface transportation bill by a vote of 83-16:

“Congress took a crucial leap forward today, passing a long-term bill that provides funding certainty and increases investments in infrastructure. For Connecticut, this bill means: more than $2.6 billion for highways; $860 million for buses and rail; unprecedented new initiatives to rebuild aging rail throughout New England and the Northeast region; and critical safety reforms necessitated by a spate of tragic train incidents on Metro-North and Amtrak. We are ending, in effect, a reckless, patch and pray approach to funding roads and rails. This comprehensive measure avoids doling out dollars a few at a time with short-term fixes that prevent states and cities from planning big projects that put people back to work.

“This measure, at its core, is about jobs and economic progress – creating jobs through construction and more effective transportation of goods and people. The FAST Act includes many critical advances in rail safety I fought to achieve, ensuring reforms are made in response to the recent crashes in Connecticut and across the country.  These reforms include more funding for rail safety, better technology, improved inspection efforts, and more responsible operating practices.

“Unfortunately, compromise was necessary and some opportunities for progress require continuing work – most especially to improve auto safety after a year of record recalls.  Despite some improvements from previous drafts, the bill still provides some troubling giveaways to rail and trucking interests that decrease the safety of our roads and rails, which I will continue to fight against.

“While the simple truth is that more still needs to be done to ensure our transportation network is rebuilt, it marks a bold end to the business as usual that has left our nation’s infrastructure in its current dire state. I commend my colleagues for working together to craft a strong, bipartisan compromise with some critical reforms, and I urge the president to sign this bill immediately. We cannot wait any longer to make necessary repairs to our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.”

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