FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 3, 1998
Contact: Bill Adams
Telephone: 202-366-5580
DOT 37-98

In Testimony Before House Subcommittee
SECRETARY SLATER URGES HOUSE
TO PASS PRESIDENT CLINTON’S PROPOSAL
OF $43.3 BILLION FOR TRANSPORTATION

Noting that President Clinton’s historic fiscal 1999 budget is the first balanced budget in 30 years, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, today testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, in support of a $43.3 billion fiscal 1999 budget for Department of Transportation programs.

"This budget represents President Clinton’s continuing commitment to building an integrated transportation system that is intermodal in form, international in reach, intelligent in character and inclusive in service," Secretary Slater said. "Safety is President Clinton’s highest transportation priority, and this budget will provide the resources to ensure a safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system."

President Clinton has worked with Congress to increase transportation investment even as the deficit decreased. A record $43.3 billion is proposed for transportation.

Secretary Slater said that the U.S. transportation system today is the best in the world because of technological, infrastructure and institutional innovation, and he noted that the Transportation Department has developed a strategic plan that has been called the best in government.

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 1990-1993 average levels. These investments help meet America’s mobility needs and contribute to economic growth. They include:

• $22.8 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, including $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 and a record 7.3 percent of the department’s resources. 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 and security, an increase of 18 percent, so that the Federal Aviation Administration can add 45 new safety inspectors and certification personnel.

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

• $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; 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:

• $1.26 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) needs to be reauthorized and is pending before Congress. In March 1997, President Clinton proposed the National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act (NEXTEA) -- a six-year, $175 billion reauthorization bill 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.

Secretary Slater said he is pleased that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is acting to mark up a bill today and disappointed that no additional funding was added for transit. He said he has and will continue to work with Congress to correct the situation.

The department is developing a proposal for aviation reauthorization that will keep in mind recommendations made by the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, Secretary Slater said.

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Briefing Room