House T&I begins consideration of surface transportation reauthorization

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held its first hearing yesterday on surface transportation reauthorization, a subject that Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) described as one of the committee's top priorities.

The committee is "actively working" to prepare to write a surface transportation bill that will help U.S. businesses be more competitive and grow the U.S. economy, Shuster said in a prepared statement.

"We need a long-term bill to provide certainty for states and other non-federal partners to accomplish large projects," he said.

In his testimony to the committee, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called on Congress to invest in the nation's aging transportation infrastructure.

"Instead of saying, 'build, build, build,' Congress has been saying, 'Stop,' " Foxx said.

The Obama administration soon plans to introduce a six-year, $478 billion surface transportation measure that will be an updated version of its proposed GROW America Act. The bill proposes fixing existing infrastructure, building new infrastructure and "being smarter with what we have," Foxx said.