WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after House passage of the Surface Transportation Extension Act (H.R. 4348) Conference Report:
“Our highways play a critical part in our state’s economy and are key to encouraging private sector job creation. While I am disappointed that a provision to approve the Keystone XL pipeline was removed, this bill is fully paid for, reduces the deficit and will help lay the groundwork necessary for economic growth by repairing our crumbling infrastructure and streamlining the project approval process – and without the Senate’s $7 billion in proposed tax hikes. I am also pleased we were able to ensure Arkansas will continue to receive Secure Rural Schools funding.”
On April 11, Rep. Griffin, along with the other Members of Arkansas’s House delegation, wrote to House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica “to request that [he] include language [in the upcoming transportation reauthorization legislation] that will restore important funding for public roads to counties across the nation,” which otherwise may not have been received by Arkansas and five other states due to the untimely receipt of their election forms.
The H.R. 4348 Conference Report reauthorizes federal surface transportation programs and extends the authority to appropriate funds from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for federal highway and surface transportation programs for two years, through September 30, 2014, provides a one-year extension of current student loan interest rates and reauthorized the National Flood Insurance Program.
The House passed its version of the bill on April 18, by a vote of 293-127.
