Transportation, Housing And Urban Development, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - July 23, 2007)

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. I appreciate the chairman's courtesy in yielding time.

I see what the subcommittee has done here is not an effort to somehow dictate to local governments what they have to do, but instead, structuring how to get more out of scarce Federal investments.

As has been noted on the floor by people on both sides of the aisle, we are approaching a transportation infrastructure funding crisis in this country. There is not enough money remaining in the trust fund to deal with the existing level of programming, let alone what is going to be required as we move it in the next three authorizations. And countries around the world are spending trillions of dollars in China, in the European Union, in Japan, while we're falling behind.

I appreciate the big-picture approach that the subcommittee has taken in terms of dealing with location efficiencies, with balanced transportation, with initiatives to green the infrastructure. I am hopeful that the instruction that the subcommittee has given to some of the Federal transportation agencies on how to have maximum impact by weighing factors of economic development and trip reduction to stretch more of those scarce dollars.

I applaud funding the $1.4 billion for Amtrak, which hints at efficiencies that we can have in the long run. Because adequate funding of our rail passenger infrastructure is the cheapest, fastest way to increase airport capacity and reduce congestion, it's the cheapest, fastest way to get additional highway capacity while saving energy and reducing greenhouse gases.

This is an unprecedented effort on behalf of the subcommittee to look at the big picture under its jurisdiction in the appropriations process. I think it's going to have a dramatic impact in the years to come. I appreciate what they're doing, and I look forward to working with them in the future.

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Chairman, I have earlier indicated my appreciation of what the subcommittee has done, looking at the big picture and trying to squeeze additional efficiencies out of transportation and housing initiatives. And in that regard, I offer this amendment and hope to inquire of the Chair and ranking member to see if there is something we can do to move this forward.

I'm prepared to withdraw the amendment, but I at least would like my 3 1/2 minutes here to put it before the committee and seek their assistance as it moves forward.

My amendment deals specifically with the Conserve by Bike program.

This was unanimously adopted in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and subsequently signed into law. It was authorized at $6.2 million, a program that would establish 10 pilot projects across the country. These projects would utilize education and marketing tools to encourage people to replace some of their car trips with bicycle trips.

The law also directs the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a national study to help us understand the benefits from converting cars to bike and how to educate people about these benefits.

Nationally, less than 1 percent of trips are by bicycles currently. But in many bicycle-friendly communities, the percentage is much higher. In my home town of Portland, Oregon, like yours, Madam Chairman, that percentage is 2 or 3 percentage points. In our community of Portland, we have the highest percentage of bicycle commuting in the country, despite the fact that it rains all the time.

Were we to increase bicycle trips by just 2 percent nationally, we would save more than 693 million gallons of gasoline per year, up to $5 billion. Increasing bicycle usage has additional benefits of reducing our dependence on foreign oil and improving public health. When we are concerned about an obesity epidemic among our young people, having bicycles is an opportunity to reduce vehicle emissions; and combating adult and childhood obesity would seem to be a logical step.

For all of these reasons, Congress had the foresight to include the Conserve by Bike program in the 2005 energy policy. Unfortunately, the program has not yet been implemented, because the Department of Transportation does not have the contract authority to fund the program. This appropriation is necessary to get the program off the ground.

Given its modest price tag and innumerable benefits, I was disappointed to see that the program did not receive funds under the Secretary's account for Transportation Planning and Research, especially considering the committee's laudable commitment to other green and efficiency measures.

Many cities and nations, particularly in Europe, have seen how converting car trips to bike trips can have measurable benefits for all its citizens. We have all perhaps been reading about Paris's recent inauguration of their bike-sharing program featuring over 10,000 bikes across the city to demonstrate that people will ride bikes when the infrastructure exists.

Madam Chairman, I would strongly urge that the committee consider working with me to make sure that this important authorized program find funding in the conference report. As I say, I deeply appreciate the work that the committee has done. This is a relatively low-cost, high-impact area. Given the fact that we have come forward with over $5.5 billion in transportation infrastructure for bicycles, for trails, and for pedestrian activities, this would seem to be a relatively modest program to be able to jump-start the Conserve by Bike.

Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

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