FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 2, 1998
Contact: Bill Adams
Telephone: 202-366-5580
DOT 20-98

PRESIDENT CLINTON’S BUDGET REQUEST
FOR TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
SEEKS RECORD-HIGH $43.3 BILLION

Recognizing that transportation spurs the economy, President Clinton’s budget for fiscal 1999, the first balanced federal budget in 30 years, continues investment in America by proposing a record $43.3 billion for Department of Transportation programs, Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater said today.

"Transportation is about more than concrete, asphalt and steel -- it’s about providing opportunity for all Americans," Secretary Slater said. "This budget will advance our highest priority -- safety. At the same time it will continue the course set out by President Clinton six years ago to ‘rebuild America’ and reiterated in his State of the Union address. Transportation is vital to our strong economy and our quality of life, and it can create opportunities for people to lead better, more fulfilling lives."

President Clinton has worked with Congress to increase transportation investment even as the deficit decreased. The $43.3 billion transportation budget proposal is $431 million more than the $42.8 million fiscal 1998 budget enacted by Congress; it continues the President’s commitment to building a transportation system that is intermodal in form, international in reach, intelligent in character and inclusive in service

The proposed fiscal 1999 budget for transportation supports five strategic goals, which are safety, mobility, economic growth and trade, environmental protection, and national security.

A record $30 billion is proposed for infrastructure investment, 42 percent more than the annual average under the previous Administration. These investments help meet America’s mobility needs and contribute to economic growth. They include:

• $23 billion for highway maintenance and new roads and bridges;
• $250 million for state infrastructure banks and a new transportation infrastructure credit program to leverage state and private funding for new highways and intermodal projects;
• $1.7 billion to continue improving the nation’s airports;
• $4.6 billion for transit grants so states and communities will have an alternative to gridlock; this includes $100 million for flexible alternatives to get people to where jobs are so that they can move from welfare rolls to payrolls; and
• $621 million for Amtrak to ensure that America has a balanced intercity passenger transportation system.

The department’s top priority continues to be protecting public health and safety. The budget proposes a record $3.1 billion for direct transportation safety funding, 11 percent above fiscal 1998 funding. This includes:

• $406 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an increase of 22 percent, to improve highway safety education and enforcement; and
• $975 million for aviation safety, an increase of 18 percent, so that the Federal Aviation Administration can hire additional inspectors and make safety improvements.

The department’s national security programs are intended to protect Americans from deliberate harm. Funding proposed to address national security goals include:

• $284 million for aviation security, double last year’s level and including $100 million to buy security-related equipment;
• $98 million for the Maritime Administration to keep 47 U.S.-flag ships available to provide the sealift capacity needed for emergencies such as the Persian Gulf War, and
• $20 million to provide loan guarantees to help maintain U.S. shipbuilding capacity; and
• $437 million for the U.S. Coast Guard’s drug interdiction program.

The budget proposes a record $1.9 billion for initiatives to ensure that transportation programs protect and enhance communities and the environment. These include:

• $1.2 billion for cleaner air through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program; and
• $309 million for the U.S. Coast Guard’s marine environmental protection programs.

Secretary Slater noted that the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) had not yet been reauthorized, and that only 87 days remained of a temporary reauthorization, which expires April 30, 1998. In March 1997, President Clinton proposed a reauthorization bill -- a six-year, $175 billion National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act (NEXTEA) -- to continue building and operating America’s surface transportation system into the next century.

Secretary Slater emphasized four principles -- improving safety, investing in America, protecting the environment and providing transportation services for welfare recipients to get to jobs -- as most important for guiding reauthorization of ISTEA, and he urged Congress to make ISTEA reauthorization a high priority as it took up the fiscal 1999 budget.

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DOT's Budget in Brief for FY 99

Briefing Room