I call this hearing to order. Todays hearing is about the need for this committee to draft and to pass a bipartisan Highway Infrastructure bill. Both Ranking Member carpers staff and my staff have been working on drafting this legislation along with all of the members of this committee. We appreciate all the input we received from our home states, from our fellow members and from transportation stakeholders. Its our shared goal to advance a bill out of the committee this summer. That means the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be first out of the gate to pass a Highway Infrastructure bill. This is appropriate given the history of bipartisan efforts to pass previous surface as far as surface transportation bills. Chef crumbling roads and bridges and they need to replaced. Projected population growth and existing congestion require states to build new capacity to meet future needs. Our economy is built upon a well functioning road system that allows products from rural areas to get to our population centers. Americas workforce uses highways to to get to the office, factory or to the farm. In 2015 the u. S. Transportation system moved a daily average of about 49 million tons of freight that was worth more than 52 billion. Thats a daily average. Annually thats around 18 billion tons of freight valued at over 19 trillion. And these numbers are going up. According to the department of transportation by 2045 our aging roads and bridges will carry an additional 4 billion tons of freight annually. Our nations highways need to keep pace. The authorization of the highway the federal highway funding will expire in september of next year. And the Congressional Budget Office projects the Highway Trust Fund will become insolvent sometime in 2021. Our bridges and roads are in need of serious investment. Im working with Ranking Member carper to advance the most substantial bipartisan highway bill ever passed by congress. We lange with the other members of the committee are working to pass a fiveyear Highway Infrastructure bill to fix our roads, our bridges and our highways. If we could fallout pass a longterm surface transportation bill and instead pass a series of shortterm extensions we will undermine our states abilities to plan for these challenges. Its not a good option. We have an obligation to get this done. Our Highway Infrastructure legislation will be for all of america. It will ensure both rural and urban areas have access to funding. That means maintaining each states share of highway formula funding. Formula funding gives each state the flexibility that they need to address specific surface transportation needs. Maintaining the federal Highway Programs current approach of distributing over 90 of the funds for the states by formula is the key to this. Using the formulabased approach expedited the delivery of Highway Infrastructure spending. So states get the funds they need faster its a proven approach that work for everyone and should be continued. Our bill will speed project delivery through streamlining by Cutting Washington red tape highway projects can get done better, faster, cheaper and smarter. In our legislation we must reduce the time it takes for federal permitting. We need to lower paperwork burdens on states and incorporate innovative construction approaches and other technologies. In will be the most substantial highway bill ever passed by congress, and it needs to be paid for. The Environment Public Works Committee doesnt have jurisdiction over revenues for the highway bill. Ranking member carper and i are working with other members to find ways to responsibly pay for the legislation. I believe highways should be paid for by users. Im committed to making sure that everyone who uses the roads contribute to maintaining and improving them. That must include electric vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles which will become an increasing share of the cars on road. We will also work with other surface transportation committees including the commerce and banking committees to include their input in the legislation as we move to the senate floor. Im thankful to Ranking Member carper for his partnership and look forward to kinning to Work Together with him in a bipartisan way to pass a Surface Transportation Infrastructure bill. A bill that will grow americas economy, will improve the safety of ruds and enhance quality of life for the american people. Id like to recognize senator carper for his opening remarks. Mr. Chairman thank you for your kind words. And to our witnesses not that you know this this is the committee one of thegys of serving in the senate you think all we do is fight with one another. Actually we Work Together pretty well too. And we try to really set an example in this committee to our colleagues both in the senate and house. I think thats what the people of our 49 states plus the its what they want and its a joy to work chairman with barrasso and his staff and ben and our colleagues were happy here. Thank you for coming today. Some of you came on fairly short notice and were grateful for that especially. But its an honor to be joined by a panel as distinguished as the five of you. And i want to especially contend a warm welcome to my seat meat on the drain train from dwir. Carolann wicks the our transportation secretary for a a number of years. A 28 career year cereal and at dell gof but welcome especially. Its my hope today that our conversation will serve to inform the committees ongoing work as we proceed with negotiating the reauthorization of nations surface Transportation Program. And i want to begin by sharing why i believe this particular reauthorization is so important. This last week we sbrited 243rd anniversary of the signing of our nations declaration of independence. 243 years. I remember that day. But not really. A day on which our Founding Fathers asserted americans inalienable rights. And i think the three rights with the work we do on this committee because americans cannot be guaranteed life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness without clean air to breath or safe water to drink. And the fact is americans cannot truly noinl life liberty or pursuit of happiness wutt a safe Transportation System that nurt urs our economy protects our environment and enhances mobility. Over the fourth of july Holiday Weekend some 49 million americans traveled on roads highways and bridges to head for the beaches. Mountain trails. Visit loved ones or visit and celebrate our nations history. They visited all of our states. Some of them made it the 49th largest state in the u. S. Thats us to enjoy our five star beaches and pg shopping and more. Oerps traf traveled to yellow stone to denll National Park in alaska and to the grand canyon to experience some of the nations many natural wonders. And wherever whatever the destination, wherever the destination thes trips had one thing in common. Almost all of us relied on a nations Transportation Systems to get us to the destinations. Hopefully most travelers found the roads and bridges they traveled on smooth and uncongested. They were able to arrive safely at distinction on time. But unfortunately that was not always the case. Based on data from previous years we know roughly 600 people died over the Holiday Weekend as they navigated our road ways more than the total mep ship of the house and senate combined. We know as americans traveled over the holiday we released millions of tons of harmful Greenhouse Gas emissions contributing to our climate crisis. Emissions on Holiday Weekends are higher than usual due to increased traffic in some cities emissions three or four times the worse than average. While none of us travel with the goal of sitting in traffic, or getting into an accident or worsening Climate Change, so many of our roadways are so outdated they are in dangerous conditions or in desperate need of redestine that they are leading to outcomes that none of us want. Far travelers there are simply no low emission travel options available. Electric vehicles are an option but without a comprehensive National Network of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other alternative fueling infrastructure in place many consumers lack the confidence needed to purchase the electric vehicles that can help us address our climate crisis. In order to address these challenges our committee began bipartisan work on the next reauthorization bill for the Transportation Program earlier this year as the chairman has said and im proud to say we made demonstrable progress thanks to the contributions of every member of the committee. Thanks to the leadership of senator barrasso our chairman as well as the hard work of staff members. We thank you all. As we undertaken thiswork we have recognized that we start with Transportation Programs that help us achieve many mobility goals but can be improved. I like to say everything we do i know we can do better. But particularly with respect to enhancing Climate Resilience reducing harmful emissions and reducing safety. For example, just this past week people in maryland, virginia, washington, d. C. , experienced record breaking rain and flash flooding. Nearly 4 inches of rain fell in one hour right here. Water began seeping into the white house and all kinds of building shallwaying out roads flooding transit sigss creating sink holes. Some roads im told remain impassible. Not far from here alcott city maryland with stood two one thousand years floods. Weve had two of those in the 18 month period in nearby city. But earlier this year communities across nebraska, iowa and missouri other parts of the midwest experienced unprecedented flooding destroying bridges and dams and levees. One in missouri was flooded with 15 feet of water. 11 states reporting enormous wildfires including in alaska where 700,000 acres have burned this month. Thats an area almost the size of rhode island. Our nation scientists tell us Climate Change left unchecked means more frequent and intense storms, record breaking rainfalls bomb cyclones and wildfires the size of even larger states. Smart planning, and targeted investment in the resiliency of our nations infrastructure will ensure that roadways can better withstand the worsening effects of Climate Change. This will save american taxpayers untold billions by allowing us to avoid rebuilding the same Infrastructure Projects again and again after Severe Weather events. At the same time Smart Investments in electric charging and low emission alternative fueling infrastructure will provide travelers with better choice of traveling to visit loved ones doesnt come at the expense of our climate. So its also essential we make the safety of the road wayways a top priority. More than 37,000 people die on the roads each year. They are our friends and our neighbors and our constituents. We can do better than that. A lot better than that. Especially for the bicyclists and pedestrians sadly a growing smar of the deaths we witness in all states. I may also note its imperative we better shenz that the roads and Transportation Systems we destine and build today will meet the travel and commerce needs of the future. That includes integrating new technology, so that the advanced vehicles increasingly automated will be able to operate safely on the roads in the future. And finally i always believed that a longterm focus ever National Needs must include sustainable user fee based revenues to support investments into transportation, as the chairman suggested. In closing these are some of the important issues where i believe this committee can find bipartisan agreement. And in doing so lead by example for other committees who will be responsible for developing other titles of a major surface transportation reauthorization. The work that we do on this committee is of critical importance to the people of our country. None is more important than work we focus on today. The people we privileged are or are privileged to represent are counting on us lets show them we are up to the challenge by doing our part and by helping to restore surface Transportation Programs solvency so that we can keep that promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on which our nation was founded. Thank you. Thank you, senator carper. Just for our friends in the audience as well as the witnesses we have a series of three votes this morning starting at 11 00. So members youll see coming and going but there is great interest in the hearing. Youll see some that have commotion up here. We apologize for that with you but we will continue the hearing throughout this as different people chair the Committee Meeting so youll continue uninterrupted in your testimony and questioning. Before we hear from witnesses i want to take a moment to welcome to the committee luke reiner, the director of the wyoming department of transportation. Luke was appointed the 18th director of the department of transportation this march of this year. He recently retired as the adjunct general for wyoming for our national guard. In that role he directed the wyoming military department in cheyenne where he was responsible for formulating, developing and coordinating all policies all plans and programs that affected more than 3,000 army and air natural guard members. Director reiner served as a commander of a camp in kuwait during Operation Iraqi freedom 2 and commanded the wyoming army narm National Guards 115th fire brigd. He has extensive educational background including an accounting degree and a masters of Public Administration degree interest from the university of wyoming. Director reiner i want to thank you for your service to our question country and for everything you are doing for the people of wyoming. Thank you for being here to testify today. And i now would like to call on senator karper to introduce a witness from delaware. Thank you. Mr. Chairman id ask that her biowhich we have part of our record be included as part of our record for carolann wicks. I had the privilege of not just riding on the train from the wilmington with former secretary bup to have known her and to call her my friend for gosh over three decades. And i will just briefly mention she grew up in delaware. Educated in delaware. Delaware Civil Engineer as i recall went to work at dell dot served 28 years. I call her the zyrena of bicycling rufrlgs it used to be not a dwood biking greenway state were among the best started with her early involvement. She wanted it to become our dell dot secretary and serve with distinction. If you are on i95 thats a big part of what she did. We surfaced i95 shut down i95 the year i ran for u. S. Sfat and still won. Still won. People said have you lost your mind . She ran that project. We resurfaced i95 both ways. The built the state one. And you name it she was involved. The River Front Development of the river front if you come through wilmington on the train look out the sweeds and finns landed in america 380 years ago. That transformation was one she worked on. A million different projects. Went on to become a the partner and still helps out in a variety of ways. Lives on a farm very successful family farm in middle part of our state. And we are delighted she is here thank you have vem very much carolann for joining us. And in addition to those distinguish guesses we have carlos, and the executive director of the utah dch of transportation. And max cuney the president of max j. Cuney company testifying on behalf of associated general contractors of america. And the executive director of georgetown climate center, vicki arroyo, i agree growth you all welcome you here. Mr. Chairman of if carlos keeps come back again and again we have to the put him on the payroll. He is a frequent flier when it comes to this committee. Id like to remind the witnesses that your full written testimony will be made part of the official hearing record. Please try to keep statements to five minutes so we have time for questions. Look forward to hearing testimony from each of you. Beginning with mr. Reiner. Thank you chairman barrasso, Ranking Member carper and members of the committee. Good morning my name is luke reiner. And i am privileged to be the director of the wyoming department of transportation. Chairman thank you for that very kind introduction. And on behalf of the women serving in uniform thank you for your solid and consistent support of them and thank you for support of transportation as well, yeah. I am pleased to report to you that the transportation departments much idaho, montana, north and south dakota have joined in our written statement today. We do wish to commend you mr. Chairman and Ranking Member carper for your hard and very timely work on needed reauthorization legislation. We applaud your effort to move legislation through the committee. In terms of our rural states, we are recommend your legislation do five key things. First would be continued federal support for transportation in rural states. We see such support as necessary to keep the country connected and move goods to market. Second, would be a continued emphasis on formula funding. Formula dollars are delivered as projects more promptly than discretionary dollars. Third, several thoughtful regulatory reductions would be helpful and allow each program dollar to deliver greater benefits. We see potential regulatory reductions in both project delivery processes and administrative requirements. Fourth, additional funding is certainly needed and if received would be put to use promptly in an environmentally responsible way in order to enhance safety, increase mobility, work to create jobs and strengthen the economy. Fifth, a multiyear reauthorization is essential for states to be able to effectively deliver the program. Let me turn to a few additional points. It is worth noting that rural states actually contribute significantly per capita to the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund. Nationally, the annual per capita contribution is approximately 117. The contribution from rural states is much higher with wyoming currently being the highest at 312. On another topic, we support repeal of the approaching 7. 6 billion rescission of highway Contract Authority. This repeal is needed to ensure Program Flexibility in funding. And thank you, mr. Chairman and senator carper for your leadership in this repeal effort. In terms of Transportation Safety, we ask congress to continue to set aside the wireless communication spectrum 5. 9 gigahertz currently reserved for Transportation Safety. Some called for opening this portion of the spectrum for use by fifth Generation Cell phones in nonsafety related activities. We see that change as having a significant negative impact on our nations efforts to reduce fatalities. Wyoming is currently a leader in developing in spectrum for Transportation Safety purposes. And we certainly ask congress to help protect this spectrum for Transportation Safety use. In summary, i would like to reemphasize that significant federal investment in transportation in rural states benefits the nation by positively affecting almost every sector of our economy. The nation, its people and commerce benefit from Cross Country traffic. In wyoming about 90 of the truck on interstate 80, which runs east to west have origins and distinctions outside of the state. That is clearly National Transportation and warrants federal investment. I would also like to reemphasize that streamlining regulatory processes and requirements will enable transportation dollars to be put to work more effectively. While still protecting the environment and other public interests. Simply put, federal investment in highways and rural states helps move people and goods throughout the country and helps move agricultural, energy and Natural Resources to market. We believe that our highways can better advance these Important National object he was if legislation is structured with a strong emphasis on formula funding and thoughtful stream lining of regulatory words. We commend the committee for efforts it to move a reauthorization bill promptly. And thank you once again for the opportunity to present testimony today. Thank you so much for your testimony. Very useful information thank you. Thank you. Mr. Thank you for timely reauthorization of the federal surfacing. I serve as the executive director of the Utah Department of transportation. And im the current president of the american say association of highway transportation officials including the state departments of all 50 states. Washington, d. C. And puerto rico. Let me allow to express the collective appreciation to this committee for getting the next to get the next federal transportation bill done on time and for your desire to repeal the 7. 6 bill rescission of the highway Contract Authority scheduled for july of 2020. Your recognition of the importance of maintaining regular order in the business of congress is something every state restrainingly supports. My testimony today will emphasize four main points. Number one, ensure that timely reauthorization of a longterm federal surface transportation bill. We recognize that a well functioning and safe Transportation System is the foundation of a Strong Economy and quality of life. It is this interconnected multimobile National System that enabled the United States to become the most vieshlt and powerful nation in history. The investment backlog for kprrpgs fraz continues to increase reaching 836 billion for highways and bridges and 122 billion for transit. In order to maintain the Highway Trust Fund spending levels adjusted for Inflation Congress will need to identify 90 billion in additional revenues for a five year bill or 114 billion for a 6year bill. At the same time the purchasing power of the Highway Trust Fund revenues declined loses losing half the value in 26 years after fast act on expiration expiration and september 30th 2020. Whapt trust fund will drop a obligations from the year before and zeroing out of obligations for the mass transit account around 21 or 22. The lack of stable predictable funding from the Highway Trust Fund makes it nearly gob tor date d. O. T. To plan for plarj projects that need reliable funding. Americansen and members of both parties agree that its sfreemly important to invest in our nations Transportation System. We can harness in momentum by cleting the fast act reauthorization before october of 2020. Without relying on any short term gaps. Two increase and prioritize formula based federal funding provided to states. The heart a and soul of the federally funded state administered Highway Program has perfectly suited to a growing and diverse nation like ours. As your committee unveils the fast act reauthorization bill later this month we urge to you focus on maximizing federal formula based dollars provided directly to states through the existing core formula programs and to continue to consolidate federal programs. Three, increase flexibility, reduce program burdens and improve project delivery. To further enhance the effectiveness of federal funding we recommend increased flexibility and transferability between the various federal programs. Even with significant progress having been made this past decade, getting projects done still takes too long we believe their remains opportunities to improve the National Environmental policy act process but also make the inmate epa process work with other federal requirements. State d. O. T. Continue to work energy framework. The first reporting cycle is not expected to be completed until 2022 at early yefrt. As such we can the body consider refringe from new measures and changing regulations until two full reporting cycles. And four support and ensure state d. O. T. Ability to harness innovation and technology. There is no opportunity greater than cooperative automated transportation. Which has been defined as all modes of transportation working together to improve safety and mobility through interdependent vehicle and infrastructure automation and information exchange. The top priority for the state d. O. T. And ashto had will always, safety. Connecting veelgts to everything connected in 5. 9 gigahertz spectrum will save lives. We must Work Together to preserve the Transportation Safety spectrum and beyond automated transportation i would like to emphasize that state d. O. T. Are at the forefront of innovative materials which can improve safety, reduce costs and increase the overall live life of our nation highway Transportation System we ask congress to preserve theplex ability tor states to choose the types of Technology Investments that best maximize that value. And in conclusion, state d. O. T. s remain exited to assisting congress in the development. Legislation and will ensure enhanced quality of life and longterm Economic Growth through sound federal investments. We cannot emphasize enough how much state d. O. T. And ashto value this committee. I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify and happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very apollo. Thank you very much mr. Braceras. Chairman braceras, Ranking Members of this committee thank you for this hearing and for moving forward a reauthorization of the fast act well before the act expires before september of next year. Im a 4th Generation Infrastructure contractor from spokane washington. Mr. Chairman, americas transportation infrastructure needs significant replacement and repair. Theres a litany of trouble some facts, failing and under performing pavements, bridges that dont meet specification. From coast to coast our transportation intra structure is showing signs of distress. All of this is coming at a time when an increasing population and significant increases in Freight Movement will add to the strain on our transportation infrastructure. Just one example the level of heavy truck traffic is anticipated to increase from 58 from 2018 to 2045 putting greater stress on the nations roadways. There will be an expanding need for new improvements to support our manufacturing, farming, service, technology sectors. This leads an opportunity for congress to pass a reauthorization bill to address our current and future transportation needs. It is important that this funding continues and grows. On average states use 52 of their federal allocation projects. Existing formulas allow states the flexibility to address their individual priorities and specific requirements while also supporting the over all need for a strong, well functioning enter connected national Transportation System, assuring states the federal government will be a top priority. Failure to meet the deadline will negatively put the u. S. Further behind. This uncertainty in the fly of federal aid funding has caused project delays and cancellations resulting in higher costs and slowed transportation improvements. States postpone or slow down their planning, design, permitting and construction of projects because of uncertainty. Prior to fast act passage in 2015, shortterm extensions cautioned 15 state transportation agencies to delay or seriously cancel payments on contracts or transportation improvement projects over 1 billion. Of course the final issue is addressing the high way trust funds revenue deficit. Shortly after the fast act expires in 2020 there will be 18 billion a year short fall. Agc urges congress and the administration to act sooner rather than later. We believe the high way trust fund revenue must include real, reliable, dedicated and sustainable revenue resources derived from users and beneficiaries from our Transportation System, and support increased investment and be dedicated solely to surface transportation improvements. Increase in the federal motorist tax is the most effective way to achieve this goal. Now is the time for the federal government to do what 33 states have done since 2012 and enact a revenue package to support increased transportation and investment. Congress and the Administration Must solve the high way trust fund longterm solvency to address our surface transportation needs. This committee are an essential component to make this a reality. I not only feel grateful to be here but hope my words will help the foundation to pass an intra structure passage. Thank you for allowing me to participate and i look forward to your question. Thank you. Good morning, chairman braceras, Ranking Members. Thank you for inviting me here today to give you my perspective on the importance of reauthorizing the surface transportation legislation. As a previous cabinet secretary for the Delaware Department of transportation and now at the university of delaware i hope my testimony today will be a helpful addition on this legislative issue. I believe the fast act employ voided many policy and funding changes that have served as well such as a greater focus on pedestrian, funding freight related highway improvements, stream lining the Environmental Review process and increasing funding for public transportation. It is the momentum from this legislation we need to build on to solve the many transportation challenges remaining. These are well documented by the american Civil Engineer society. We have become our infrastructure receiving a d plus of capacity, condition, and funding. The d plus grade means our countrys infrastructure remains in poor condition. This illustrates the significant backlog of projects needed to address operational problems as well as improvement to meet future demands. This backlog of project also contributes to the significant number of highway, pedestrian, and serious injuries we experience each year. With limited resource, maintaining and rehabilitating existing infrastructure optimizing the efficiency of the system and addressing safety issues remains a primary focus of the dots, however, Climate Change has added a new external impact to the Transportation System that requires new strategies and technologies to improve our resiliency. A longterm comprehensive approach is needed to anticipate impacts of the infrastructure and create a funding plan. It is also an opportunity to implement policies and focus Capital Investments to. As an example we have developed a stra teal i can Implementation Plan for resilience. This plan recognizes the need for greater resiliency due to the infrastructure to stand and recover from weatherrelated incidents. Trans transportation is at the heart of the economy and a quality of life we have come to expect. The quality of this network will also influence the states ability to obtain and attract companies. Businesses need to rely on the commitment made by government to deliver the needed infrastructure that will not only support the needs of the broader public but help determine a companys level of investment. They need to be efficient, time sensitive and did he life hi Quality Improvements that support the environment while addressing safety and capacity issues adopting a partnership mentality is also important. This approach has been the basis for delawares successful redevelopment of the river fund. It what once was a highly contaminated Industrial Area has turned into a thriving employment and entertainment destination with new High Density Residential area that are supported by the railroad stakes on amtrak. Investment in wetland preservation were integrated into the master plan and are key elements of why this area has become an attractive place to live, work and play. A critical component was the federal funding that enabled delaware to build new interstate connections to support access into the area. These were large Financial Investments but necessary to provide sufficient rode weigh capacity. Commit to go these improvements not only brought jobs to the river front but has created the momentum to other redevelopment projects in downtown wilmington. Our transportation investment support the welfare and safety of the traveling product, provide healthy life style transportation choices of riding and biking, reduce our Green House Gas emissions, and our key to our economic prosperity. The surface transportation legislation is critical to addressing our current gaps and our future investment needs. Thank you for your time and i look forward to future questions. Thank you for your testimony. Ms. Royal. Good morning, thank you chairman and committee members. Im executive of the georgetown climate center. I also chair the executive committee of the Transportation Research board and recently chaired the sustain ability task force and served on the study of the future of the interstate highway system. While im proud of these my comment of my own. Louisiana, my home state, on the task force 30 years ago the science understanding the causes or impact of Climate Change has only become more definitive. As our federal agencies and academy of sciences have determined, multiple lines of evidence indicate sea levels rising, the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events are increasing and human activity is the driver. The world despite this, u. S. Emissions increased in 2018. The transportation sector is the largest contributor and itself is facing impacts from Climate Change. Theres an urgent need to transition to a low carbon Transportation System which includes Public Health by reducing air pollution, providing more Mobility Options and driving innovation and Economic Growth through policy and public and private investment. U. S. Is seizing the opportunity to transmission to a low carbon transportation solution. The northeast and Atlantic States developed the Clean Energy Economy and reduced emissions. This collaboration from 12 states and dc is facilitated by our center but very much led by the states we serve. We have been working together to design this. Congress has an opportunity to expand access to transportation and support new technologies, but offer promise for Economic Growth. Diverse state holders have offered strategies including investing into solutions, and improving ports and other straight facilities where communities often have higher levels of pollution. The future of the interstate highway system as a whole, recognizing the importance of providing alternate tichs including support for complete streets and transit to address con gregs traffic. Such as barriers to solar power insulation and charging along highways. Electric cars like my chevy bolt are more efficient, and has cleaner electricity and will emit less over time. The fast act has designated alternative fuel. This important federal funding can be strategically invested, and provide Technical Resources to identify gap in the fact gap in the infrastructure. The federal government can play a role and hydrogen fuel. Theres also a need to insure our Transportation System can withstand climate impact. Coastal villages in alaska are vulnerable to erosion. The coastal states like maryland and delaware are seeing nuisance flooding happening on sunday knee days. Federal grants saved money. Congress should insure federal infrastructure investments. Recipients of federal flooding will consider how Climate Changes. Highlight state and local efforts including new york risk and resiliency act. In summary, states and communities need tools and Technical Assistance ahead of disasters to facilitate resilient rebuilding when funds are available. Beyond infrastructure it should also support Operational Development including helping people evacuate safely. Well start with rounds of questions. I would like to ask our representatives from wyoming, utah and delaware. If Congress Passes a series of these short terms extension, what the impact is going to be on states like wyoming and utah and delaware in terms of planning, in terms of highway construction, in terms of road and bridge maintenance. If you would like to start . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Yes, its extremely disruptive to programs because Engineering Projects take time whether youre planning or designing and all of that becomes very unpredictable if you cant know for sure how much money and resources will be available going forward. Theres also a psychological effect on staff. When youre trying to motivate your staff to continue to aggressively go after projects, work hard, keep them delivered on time its difficult to maintain that energy level when theres this roller coaster of many well have it, maybe we wont. So i think theres that factor we seem to forget. I also think the how the public interprets our inability to go out with confidence and say yes, its going to be here in a year or be here in two, heres our timeline, heres what we plan to do. Anything you would like to offer and add . Yes, just to add to that mr. Chairman, a couple things. One as a public official the currency i have is the trust the elected officials have in me and when we put together a long term plan, its usually a fouryear plan of projects, we call them the funded four years of projects. If you picture where we are right now we are looking out in our area past the fast act. I have made i guess that its going to be flat funded, and so we have programmed projects out in those out years based on that congress will reauthorize the program at a flat level. Now i could be wrong, i could maybe have over guessed what we have done, you notice that unless we fund new money were going to be obligating at about 50 , 51 available of whats in the trust fund then i have to delay or cancel projects because everyone of those projects is much needed, its anticipated, theyre safety projects, projects to improve the infrastructure. So having the funding is really key for us to be able to build the Publics Trust to deliver the right projects. We want to get the most value out of the investment youre making from congress and the way we do that we advertise the right project at the right time. And so we try to get some competition from our contractors. We cant just dump the same type of projects out on to the contractors at the same time, the same Geographic Area because then we will not get the level of competition that we need to have to assure the publics investment is best served. And so if we can have that predict ability, that longterm predictability on this project, i have this many bidders that will compete for that in this Geographic Area at this time and i will get the best value. So from the end of the day, mr. Chairman, if we can keep the Publics Trust and get more value out of the publics investment that longterm predictability is key. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I grief with what mr. Braceras said. To put a wyoming spin on it, very frankly the impact would be a change in how we do business. It will resolve in slower delivery of smaller projects, because of the funding uncertainty. Certainly in terms of safety, well find a way to handle the emergency highway and bridge repairs, but there will be many safety projects and other issues that are simply deferred. As has been pointed out, planning certainly becomes more complex and uncertain, and it would just simply have a Significant Impact on us as a state and how we do business. When you sues the phrase slower delivery it makes me think of what we have heard from a number of state departments of transportation, the nonenvironmental requirements could be reduced to give more flexibility and reduce administrative burdens so states can do things faster. One idea is to make stewardship and oversight agreements and make them simpler, the agreements can be unnecessary complex we have often contained numerous federal requirements and approvals that really shouldnt be required or arent required by statute so can you see opportunities for these kind of agreements to be improved for the federal government in terms of being more flexible. Absolutely. You described it very well. We would say simply we would request for fewer requirements and more flexible terms. Thank you so much. Senator harper. Thanks mr. Chairman. Werent you a general in your state . Senator i was the acting general for several years. One of the two most popular no, maam niece, appointments i ever made as governor. He served us all for a long time. He sends his best to you today. I want to start the questioning, again thank you all for this wonderful testimony. I want to start if i can with secretary reicks, and almost everybody has said we need to fund these projects, certainly we need predictability and the states are meeting their obligations, i think leading by example to us were too timid, Everybody Knows we need to spend more money, we need to spend it wisely and we need to make sure the stream lining provisions aring being implemented and we need to do oversight to make sure theyre being implemented well. But i ask, if you will, talk to us and tell us, talk to us a little bit about what we have done in delaware using tolling and especially as we have gone away, if i remember, my colleagues in West Virginia, the West Virginia turnpike we drive five, ten miles, put in a quarter, people hated that, people hated going down the delaware turnpike, as opposed to going through 15 miles through delaware. Now we have express easy pass, people go through, charge their master cards or whatever, and theyre on their way, no muss, no fuss. Would you just share what we have done with maybe you come out of washington heading east on route 50, and you come to a place where you turn right say on route 50 you go to the beaches, the delaware maryland beaches, if you go left youre on 301 out to beautiful farm country. You got to delaware and you slowed down, you had traffic lights and congestion and before you get up to i9five we have done something about it with the partnership. Can you talk about that . Yes. Microphone. The 301 project that you reference is really a shiny example of how we have as a state partnered with the federal Highway Administration to deliver a project we could not do on our own and we couldnt do it without really looking at ways to finance that and using the tools that are in the tool box from fhwa. We were able to use back when we started real estate acquisitions, so we were able to get out of the gate by being able to have those bonds in place to do that and fund those. We were then able to have loans that also provided us with another source of funding to keep ourselves going and through the process, and then ultimately we used revenue bonds, actually a longer term, a 40year revenue bond that was not as traditional, but that helped us be able to spread out the payments and be able to have a stainable source to pay back those bonds and its gotten off to a great start. Its been a project that has been long heralded as a needed project not only for safety, but removing some truck traffic off our local roads but also been recognized as something that will be an important way to help the economy and the development of southern new castle county. Thank you. Did you say you drive a Chevrolet Bolt . A bolt. I was at the Detroit Auto Show about a year ago and it was named the car of the year. Volt is a hi brad and it was named car of the year. When the volt was announced car of the year it got about 38 miles on a charge then it had to go on gasoline. Voflt, volt over 240 miles, and theyre not putting out any pollution. There needs to be some way to collect for funds and i think ultimately we should do a vehicle travel miles approach, increasing a Pilot Project leading up to that. Have i lost my mind on this, general or does that make sense to you and just go down the line just very briefly, one sentence. Eventually does vehicle miles traveled, is that where we are, getting ready to go in terms of user approach. Senator, we certainly see a need for increased revenue. Im not here to Tell Congress how to fund it but certainly well put the funding to good use. Okay. On the road. Carlos. Yes. Mr. Ranking member, maybe a little example of what we are doing with our legislature in utah might be useful. Two years ago the legislature increased the fees for electric vehicles and it went up 30 each year and its going to top out here in january of 2020. This was done in conjunction with the department of transportation developing a Road Usage Charge Program and folks that drive electric vehicles can choose to continue to pay the increased regulation fee or they can participate in the Road Usage Charge Program. If they participate in that program we have capped it so no matter how many miles they drive they will not pay more than the reservation fee so for us this is a time to ask really good questions about how this can work so we will have a program coming up here within six months. Good. We can learn from you. When you look longterm, dmv is poi tenningable where you want to be. Gas tax is the easy shortterm answer but when you look longterm were support tifing a National Pilot vehicle but when. Very briefly, secretary . I would concur with my colleagues. It is a very positive future forward looking way to look at the funding. Hopefully it will be more equitable because it will focus on who is using the roads and how long and how much, working out the technology of it is already underway with programs throughout the country and we should be hopeful that will provide us a good source. Vicky. I think Congress Needs to consider this a longer term strategy that we all agree is under funded. Some states like oregon is experimenting, in california you are looking at pricing. Some are going to tolling, so theres a lot of different ways we can raise revenue without focussing on ed which a lot of states are trying to pro mowed right now. Theres no silver bullets, we need to learn from the states and see which. We now have with us our Ranking Member of the infrastructure subcommittee and i want to salute them in the great work. Thank you, senator. Senator. Thank you senator. Arkansas recently had record breaking floods both in height and the, just the force of the water. Tremendous damage, lots of damage to the infrastructure. The good news is like utah, arkansas is working very hard and theyre going to recover. Great leadership in their state. So many of their states have gone through this lately. You experienced it i believe in 2015, tell us what you learned, how you built back and mitigated perhaps from future floods to help in that regard. Yes. Thank you, senator for the question. I think one think that allstate dots excel at his responding to emergency disasters. The men and women that work at these departments do a great job responding to that chlt i think the partnership we have was key to our ability to respond. We have limited staff as every dot does and when a disaster happens, whether it be flooding, whether it be avalanches that we deal with or massive forest fires we rely on our partnerships with our consultants to help give us the answer and for our contractors to respond 24 seven. I would say that the challenge isnt over once the public thinks we have mitigated the danger and we have the roads back open. I think thats the time we need to step back and we need to think about what are we going to do to help this facility be more resilient to this type of occurrence in the future and thats something all the dots are working on right now. I just picked up yesterday, i was attending i was up in delaware attending the National Conference and a document were putting out with the respect of trb, Transportation Research board, its for all dot inspectors. What we can do to help make our systems better prepared for this changing environment. In regard to the federal government response, what did you learn in that regard . Are there some things we can do better . First of all we are blessed in utah with a partnership with have with our division administrators. I think thats one really important lesson, when you look at utah and dot, the fed rallying Highway Administration has people, employees on the ground in every state and what we do is we develop these working relationships with them that allow us to get things done. So when an emergency happens they are working one of the first people we contact, because if were going to be turning around and asking the Emergency Department to help us, and we bakely pull it from other projects, much needed project we need to do the right things, document the thing really well. That process could probably streamlined a little bit. The ability to be able to incorporate with the use of some of that emergency money i think would be a much better investment with the public right now and week replace there in kind and thats not one of the smartest things to do with the publics investment. We are breasted with a thriving trucking industry. I believe we have 5,000 trucking companies, of those 90 operate with 20 or fewer trucks so we have the bigs and littles. The Transportation Industry is critical to our state and critical to the nation. Tell us about the impact if we dont take care of the infrastructure and also what it does to those trucking try in regard to wear and tear and the cost in that regard. Sure. One dramatic instance i know of where the trucking try had not taken care of our infrastructure was in 2013 when. That bridge into the river, my company did the permanent replacement on that. But that was a very dramatic instance of a substandard down, and the truck was in it and down it went. The only great example is they rebuild it in a year and, again, not skirting any issues in regard to safety, but everybody working together as oh poised to probably ten or 20 years nchlths so there was one company that put up the temporary brinks in about a month and we did the permanent replacement within 88 days. We were way short than a year. It was interstate, but every agency came together to make that happen from the dike district he hat he was committed and focused when you do that i wouldnt say its possible on every job. It worked there. Thank you, first i want to concan i in our chairman and ranking. It is very porlt our community. I hope its at least five years. I was whispering to the chairman it would be nice to get beyond fiveyear deal so those that are planning may score projects theres a dependable federal partner. I rookie forward p getting this moving forward. Theres no many may joor needs out there. First best tern part, which is critically economic for the dmachlt n. The east coast of the United States needs to be replaced about 120 years old that tunnel and you cant do double stacking. That needs to be done. I can tell you are not in mayor and we have another terrible episode, keg page nchlths the list goes on and on. Im particularly pleased to not just dominate our local dollars, they tell me how important those funds are for the local community to stay connect to they can transfer him, for safety issues or to accommodate their local development issue. So for all those reasons gits nor. And i appreciate the childrens comments about whether its adequately funded. We are all on the finance commit too so well deal with it on both committees but i think were going to have to back up a little bit and say we have to compromise here. I want to follow up on the point on the point you pointed out about resiliencing. We experienced a pretty good back in federal government. You had six inches of rain in two hours and it is. You mentioned resiliency what can we do in the federal reauthorization to put pow tenning also to the reall tease. We have to be able to deal with. Yes, thank you for that question, senator. This is the realization with most of it, is the infrastructure system we built over the 4569100 years and its not the same thing. We need toe help it asflachlt. We have been would going on it with our association to help all the other state dot is to better understand those those runts p. So well try to narrow down, what are those roads that get us to the hospitals and to those cite calls areas that people need to be . And then design those basically to a higher level so well design them at a higher seismic level. Thats important but how does the federal program help you do national. I believe the federal program this is involving this is a Research Project that just got done at this point. I thick the federal gochlt can help support government can help us develop these risk assessment. We need a way in which to make these decisions because as you mentioned, there are so many needs out there, and if were not deliberate and strategic about picking which of those areas we need to focus on to give us the highest return based on ouch knew risk analysis. So i think would be very helpful and then as we move forward states would be able to start to put together lets me take my last three seconds. If i could just build on that a little bit because our work is read, we work with states and officials, they need more guidance and assistance from the federal government with expertise, down scale to determine what changes are underway. They need predisaster assistance to use tire codes and standards when the disaster coordination or cross agencies, so i think to create fema. Like looking at disaster relever funds for planning before disasters occur. Were having that in transportation. We need to beef up the planning capacity we have and to play a roll in that p. And i want to maining my cohort an the subcommittee on the infrastructure. We are very close to a buy part son bill and we have southbound mutual desire to get this done. I refuse to be mess mistake so one of the things we have looked at, deploy him, many of the things you talked about. Supporting a utilization of our natural intra struck ways and in yeast resiliency, we talked about this. In terms of the predisaster mitigation we did passion the Homeland Security which funds fema. We did have in there this past year a predisaster Medication Fund that i think is going to be very helpful for big and small communities, particularly those who would start i guess for those who have repetitive issues which my state of West Virginia we have several of those so i want to talk about economic recovery had divergent passes. I live in a rural state. Our biggest city is 50,000, i wouldnt say thats too urban. Beautiful state but we have declining tax revenues, we have issues in terms of difficulty getting from place to place. We have a lot of deficient bridges, one of the top five and i want to make that a separate question but starting with you, where do you see the biggest obstacle for Rural America in terms of the next highway bill and how you mentioned lack of capacity not lack of capacity but the capacity it takes to meet all the challenges of the Regulatory Environment and that could be streamlined. If you could dig into that a little bit for me. Senator, i thank you for that question. We would certainly as we look to the future really say that maintaining the formulary and funding is important in rural states for quick and efficient use of the money and then in terms of regulations, we do think theres ways to streamline particularly in an over site type of agreement to make them simpler and easier to understand. Do you have a comment on that . Yes, thank you senator. The city of utah is interesting as a state were doing tremendously well from an Economic Growth perspective but that growth is taking place in our urban counties. So were looking at aspects of how our Transportation Planning, we can come in and provide Transportation Planning services for these communities. Were doing it with state dollars and what were doing is were asking them the question what can we do to help you become the community of your dreams and then how can transportation help facilitate that. The government is bringing all the state cabinet agencies together on this mission of trying to help these communities trying to help that uniqueness. Were trying to develop jobs in rural utah. So i think any type of flexibility you can provide in the program to allow states to use the funding to be able to help these communities because theres not one size fits all. I can go to so many Rural Counties and it will have different issues. Im going to switch to my bridge question because i imagine delaware you have quite a few bridges. I think were trying to remedy this in our legislation, if a governor has a choice to build fivemile, fourlane highway or fix a deficient bridge, we all know what is going to have a bigger kickback home, not to say theyre ignoring deficient bridges but you have to set priorities. What are you finding in delaware with your bridge reconstruction and what can we do in this bill to help with that. I think youre right. Rehabbing a bridge, its a substructure its not very sexy, so something another project can certainly seem to get a better headline, so we have maintained a rehabilitation approach and so we have been able to educate our legislators and our elected officials and the public that preventative care, well then yield great rewards financially than having to wait too long and you have a reconstructive approach to the bridges. This has served us well. We have been able to have that timely inspection to be able to act upon that to use the technology and be able to efficiently combine improvements into a package thats done by our maintenance folks or we put it out to bid. So i think trying to be able to communicate the benefits of doing that early rather than waiting and how much more costly those improvements will be. And just the whole sense of safety to the traveling public and not seeing the post innings and School Children having to go around and school busses, so i think that message is just something we continue to drive home year after year and it has paid off. Okay. Thank you all very much. Thank you, senator. Senator white hows. I think we dont have a budget cap which is a real liability so thank you for doing that. In the fast act we required the National Academies of science engineering and medicine to do a report on innovative materials. They did so, it took a while, but it is out and they came up with three recommendations, and im quoting from page 73 of the report. A new federal program to provide bridge construction, Research Needs to develop highway bridges, and other actions to encourage innovation to encourage live cycle cost. And on the program they described federal program to provide incentives they point out Numerous Technology hold promise for improving bridge performance. However, most require further Development Evaluation or promotion to increase the Awareness Among bridge owners. Congress should create a new federal bridge innovation, administered by the federal Highway Administration to advance such technologies and promote their use. Back in march a witness said, and i quoted in response to a qfr of mine, it is important that any infrastructure bill include provisions to include innovative materials not only for bridges but other materials as well. It can make a bridge last longer, signs appear brighter from a longer distance or Traffic Signals operate more owe informationally. It can improve safety, improve cost and increase the live of the infrastructure. Using advanced materials and technology does reduce cost and construction time with less impact to the traveling department. And i assume you still agree with that statement. We absolutely agree taking a strategic approach is critical for our future. If you look at where the, we can go back to the strategic Highway Program that was, and then sharp two. All of the big things were doing today have helped, been facilitated through that Research Program and one of the things the tarp two program did it meant things to maintain the difficult leap is that implementation pays. Reporter there might be a spec for legacy material and not a spec for, to work through it at the bureucratic level and thats where the program that the National Academy of science recommends come in to help balance the equation toward on the level. Having federal highways working partnership with the state so the state still gets to chewings what is implemented or where but the federal government is. Thank you for the continued work to help get the imagining in i also want to think the chair and the ranging member forgetting the bridge invest 789 act in. We still need obviously collars for it. There are two program the coastal intra Structure Program which is very northbound f is really important for those of us and its bin over route. But at the minute it is not subject to Highway Trust Fund dollars and well continue to work to make sure this is not an orphan. S i thank you for joining me the nodding heads and support of that. Similarly that very volleyball request. Theres enough local electricity to run a clean important and again thats nch. I guess icon clawed two section over with that but many things p we look forward to helping this up with those issues resolved to our satisfaction. Thank you. Thank you, senator white hows for all your white house and contributions. Senator pullingy. Wapgsz for multiple street should accommodate pedestrians, and not just cars. Streets should be save for children and all the individuals with disabilities and thats why im introducing the complete streets act. My legislation will provide this kind of neighborhood. It will fund streets at the regional and local level. Im proud my legislation has been induced by uber and lift. First of all do you believe a streets approach is an important priority . Absolutely. Its really important to give people alternatives, especially with the urban areas, giving people alternatives. So thank you for your leadership. Thank you. The transportation sector is the largest south. In fact vehicles driving on our roads represent 838 of those emissions. And ive been working with senator harper and other members of the committee to focus on establishing goals and ive been working on legislation that will accomplish this. We greatly appreciate the openness from the chairman given the reality our states are facing. So, again, professor do you believe reducing emissions in transportation is imperative to avert the worst effects of climate crisis. Absolutely we have to tackle it. Do the states have the resources to sway come primp those accomplish those goals. No, we need to increase investment and low carbon transportation solutions. Any bill rewill pass will create incentives. Yes. Thank you. And i will respond to the impacts of Climate Change happening now, rising temperatures, sea level and more powerful coastal storms our infrastructure is not as resilient to Climate Change as it should be. There are only two bridges that connect cape cod to the rest of massachusetts. If something were to happen these bridges in a dire state of disrepair and must be replaced. In response to those concerns i have intro caused the escape act which would provide federal funding for state, local and tribal governments for new routes. Professor are the routes able to handle extreme weather events. My father lost his live in the he Volusia County wages from hurricane ivan which was a very stressful evacuation in 2004. So sorry. The fact it was so severe meant that a will the of people chose to stay home the next year when katrina hit and over a thousand people died in that because they didnt leave because of the evacuation the year before. So thank you for your leadership on that as well. Thank you. Im so sorry for the tragedy. So you believe a surface transportation reauthorization should include substantial direct funding and grants for states and municipalities to improve resilience. Yes. Thank you. I think thats just something we have to make a priority as we work through the legislation just to make sure we protect against what is inevitable if we dont take action. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. The Trump Administration has developed and implemented a onefederal decision policy, for large Infrastructure Projects. One federal decision requires federal agencies to require formal processes for developing a schedule, for elevating disputes and then for also working together to complete reviews and authorizations within two years. Thats the whole goal of this one federal decision. Many of these elements are already the law but one key aspect like the twoyear goal are still missing. So could you in your view talk a little bit about this and would state departments of transportation, what else would you recommend. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Utah applauds this. Any time we can make this process easier and faster well improvement public dollars. We have to look at the twoyear goal in the same light i look at my goal, zero fay utilities. There are a lot of underlying details than it sounds initially. Theres also i think just from a challenge perspective, it makes sense to have one federal agency take the lead on this and to be a champion for this decision instead of basically passing you off between different federal agencies, so we really like what it is staying and what needs to be going and we believe theres a lot of work to make that a reality. Anyone else want to add to that . Mr. Chairman from our perspective were certainly confident schedules can be shortened without reducing Environmental Protection concerns. And also for you, one of the safety issues that affects several states with membership on this committee is wildlife vehicle safety, not necessarily just in the Rocky Mountain west but all across the country. According to a respondent sent study, five of the top ten states for incidents of dear slr vehicle collisions. In wyoming, nearly 15 involves big game animals that is 6,000 in damages, you have human injury as a result of that. As a surgeon i have taken care of these people so fortunately Research Shows that effective measures such as wild life crossing structures and they can concrude that by up to 80 . If the two of you have any other issues or knowledge about the issue, is it a state could do that more. Thank you mr. Chairman, certainly the short answer is yes we do think issues. We have been a National Leader and improving statement and up grating and making some other improvements. We have a game migration and collision data. We have identified a pore tags and prop ten lit. In location where we have crosstion in the past we have seen dramatic reductions in collision. What we look is adequate flexibility funding to address these Congress Issues and we certainly hope to find help in the committee. What do you see. This is an important area, and its both from the safety perspective that you mentioned mr. Chairman but its also from an economic perspective. In the state of utah our big game is a very important part of your economy and a defining element of our state. A lot of our familiar lesion, that is their thing that talks about whats important to them. We just regulars sently using federal goen, the nature bridge over inner state i80, an eightlake city, we usually we need three years of data before we want to talk about this being a success. Well the media, even the wildlife professionals are shocked how the game has become accustomed to this so were not letting people or bikers go on that. As a biker i was disappointed, but its being very successful and we have in combination of the crossing in the right place because you cant force it you have to look at the migration patterns, that with the jai alai system and we have had a tremendous and a moose with a card is kind of fit a situation with the deal. The most usually walks around. This is a major collision. I dont know from a delaware stand point but neighboring states, this is not just Rocky Mountains west issue. No, youre right. We dont have the moose but dear is certainly part of the issues that we wrestle with as a state. We havent to my knowledge looked directly for an over pass like that, but it allows the rural road its happening there, i dont know what, you wont have to have the kind of crossing everything to two and im sure, major fro jekts in the operational right of ways often address black safety issues the things you need to do as part of the routine maintenance but before proceeding to construction often state departments of transportation you need to get federal. Some of the federal agencies can be slow in terms of evaluating you or responding to him at his request, and what can we do to in seen size working on maintenance and presenter vaft projects. This was an important element, to the former chairman of this committee. And you know we build a road, a new road or widen a work. Ill do it a very clear process on this and we clear and repick it will i he to go through that permitting process again which seems redundant. We have taken some of the tools you have provided to us and we have taken on get the Decision Makers to be able to make those decisions. And has safed us time and money, mr. Chairman. Hes going to be back p. Second vote is started and he was going to goings at the very, they didnt close the vote until after senator white hows got there. This is a transportation problem and why were having this here today. Thank you, mr. Pars now, i think alounge other agencies the opportunity to use cat gor call exclusions protect the environment. What has been your experience from the contracting side when Congress Fails to attack a highway bill. Stant dont know how much funding is going to be available. I think we heard from mr. Rye near, slower, smaller projects is the way you put it so im leaps he interested in how that can affect early people in terms of cost, equipment whur casts, how companies that all play out. It certainly slows through the contracting community. We look at the stip, we look at the different protection but we are also using those to plan what the opportunities there are in the future, where we think where the where the market will be collar december in condition to. Were probably going to be cutting back on all of that because unless we know that theres good to be a market in the future. As soon as. When funding comes you cant just dump it in one big chunk, into, because first of all everybody is unprepared. Theyve been watching a bunch of work and people are going to have to pick and check. This up and down thing the craft workers and engineers because you cant keep gearing up and down so theyre small, level, probably hopefully trending upward line is the best for the contract community. Innovation can help save project costs, they can help us do things, smarter, accelerate project delivery what more account federal golf him to do to and demroits bus zl what kind offer things do you see that would work sfwloo. I talked about the risk that states date to something did he have owe been trained fob risk adverse. Theres very little in tagging a lit would. I there how minute la of the congress go. Snrmg. We were the first state to build a brimming off to the side of the highway then move it into place or an interest state over the weekend. When which did that, yes, there were i recall tofts and i tote p. But the federal government gave me a gram at the media and with my legislators so that type of hacht ever r. Cor. Courted naek. Core nation. Is it the red face test. When youre standing in front of the media or my legislature if you can pass the red face test so youre not getting embarrassed about what youre saying youre probably doing something okay. Well share that with the other members of the committee. They may find it helpful some day. Thank you very much. Senator . Thank you, mr. Chairman. This is when the senate really moves when youre on an aging committee about 45 minutes ago and youre going to make two votes. And put on a tie. Im setting a new trend here in the senate. No ties until you go on the chamber floor. I dont think anybody has followed suit yet but maybe in time. Infrastructure is a big deal to me. I was a state leg lay tore in indiana, and ran for the state legislature for one reason. Roads and bridges, i live in the southern part of our state and we have always been the step child of the infrastructure in indiana where the cross roads of america are. When i went there to be a proponent proponent, i was knocked down. Serve for deca sunday night at 8 pm eastern on cspans q a. The Justice Department recently held a forum on anti semitism. Education secretary betsy devos look to the gathering about College Students protesting the policies of the israeli government