The Hill News

Let’s be honest - the House highway bill is headed toward a dead end. The formal debate will stretch out for a few weeks while the Republican majority works to get the votes to pass a bill that will never become law. While the policy is bad - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called it the worst highway bill he has seen in 35 years â€" it is the “my way or the highway” process that has put it on a road to nowhere. As this exercise shows, sometimes breaking with established norms is a terrible mistake. 

I have served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during my entire tenure in Congress, and even as the House turned more partisan, the Committee prided itself on bi-partisanship. While we did not agree on everything, Republicans and Democrats worked together to advance the infrastructure needs of the country, routinely conferring on major legislation and working out as many issues in possible in advance. As the saying goes, “there are ! no Republican or Democratic roads.”

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