Rep. Young clashes with White House over transportation priorities

Rep. Young clashes with White House over transportation priorities    Tensions are mounting between some powerful Republican leaders in Congress and the Bush administration over the reauthorization of the next multiyear spending blueprint for repairing and improving the nation’s highway and rail infrastructure.
   Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Wednesday scolded Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta for using bullying tactics to get support for the administration’s $256 billion follow-on plan to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which expired last fall.
   “Solutions to these problems cannot be found by issuing edicts or veto threats,” Young said in a letter to Bush. “I am extremely disappointed with the ‘take it or leave it’ approach taken by your advisors. They have provided no real alternatives to the problem faced by this Congress.”
   Mineta warned Congress Tuesday not to expand the size of its blueprint for a multiyear authorization bill for surface transportation programs, saying he would recommend President Bush veto any bill that raised the price tag, increased the federal gas tax, took money from accounts other than the Highway Trust Fund or used bonds to cover expenditures.
      Young, who is seeking a commitment of $375 billion to deal with the congestion, safety and economic problems caused by the deteriorating surface infrastructure, said Congress needed to look at creative ways to respond to what he called a transportation crisis and that no option should be off the table for discussion. He also views the bill as a way to create jobs.
   “It is my view and I believe the view of most of my colleagues in Congress that you are not receiving the best advice on the issue of how to reauthorize our nation’s surface transportation programs for the coming six years,” Young wrote. “I believe that we have a bicameral, bipartisan consensus that a much larger level of funding is needed for surface transportation than the bare bones approach presented in the administration’s SAFETEA proposal.”
   SAFETEA stands for Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003, the name the DOT has attached to its plan. Young’s bill, H.R. 3550, is called the Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users, or TEA-LU. “We will either leave a legacy of congestion and immobility, or we will leave a legacy of efficient freight movement and improvement in the quality of daily life for average people,” Young said.
   Young argues that the Highway Trust Fund is not sufficient to sustain infrastructure improvements because less money is coming into the fund as vehicles become more fuel efficient and people are encouraged to use alternative fuels.