FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 27, 2012
Contact: Trey Pollard (SIERRA CLUB) - 202-495-3058
House leaders reach another dead end:
Cancel yet another vote on transportation bill
Washington, D.C. – Today Speaker Boehner cancelled the second vote in two days on an extension of the outdated transportation bill. The current transportation bill expires on March 31, leaving Congress three more days to act before millions of Americans would be out of work.
On March 14, the Senate voted 74-22 to pass MAP-21, a two-year transportation bill that would repair our infrastructure and take steps to reduce our dependence on oil and move our transportation system into the 21st century.
In response, Ann Mesnikoff, Director of the Sierra Club’s Green Transportation Campaign, issued the following response:
“After cancelling two votes in less than 24 hours to extend, yet again, the existing transportation bill, it is clear that Speaker Boehner and House Republican leadership have reached a dead end. With less than one week left until the 2005 bill expires, House Republican leaders have no workable plan to invest in America’s transportation system, threatening to throw millions of Americans working on our nation’s infrastructure out of work.
“Two weeks ago, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Senators passed a transportation bill that would invest in our infrastructure over the next two years and take steps to move our transportation system into the 21st century.
“Instead of bringing the Senate transportation bill up for a vote, House Republican leaders are hell-bent on pushing an extreme agenda that includes Big Oil’s drilling wish list, cuts funding for public transportation, leaves our roads pothole-laden and strands Americans without clean transportation options at a time of rising gas prices.
“It is time for Speaker Boehner and House Republicans to drop their extreme agenda and pass the Senate transportation bill. This step will create jobs now and begin to reduce our dependence on oil.”