AEM calls on Congress to approve a fully-funded multi-year highway bill

Statement by AEM President, Dennis Slater

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Dear Editor:

Please find below a statement from AEM President Dennis Slater on actions taken this week by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee regarding a highway bill.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information.
Thank you.

Rich Jefferson, AEM
(414-274-0655 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            414-274-0655      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, rjefferson@aem.org)

In separate events this week, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-FL) and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced their plans to meet the September 30, 2011 deadline to reauthorize the surface transportation programs.

AEM strongly urges the Senate and the House to approve a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that reforms, streamlines project delivery, and increases the funding for critically needed infrastructure modernization in this country. The legislation should at least maintain funding levels.

AEM and its member companies appreciate the hard work the Senate and the House committees have done, yet the September 30 legislative deadline is looming large and we ask that Congress approve this critical legislation.

These are difficult times. We understand and share the concern over the nation’s fiscal situation; our debt and deficit must be brought under control to ensure long-term stability. However, focused and strategically sound infrastructure investment drives productivity and creates wealth in society. Infrastructure investment should be part of the solution to our current economic crisis.

Construction spending is at the lowest in 11 years. It seems this is exactly the wrong time to reduce infrastructure investment by 35 percent as the House proposal suggests.

AEM’s member companies believe a strong, fully funded reauthorization bill that is deficit-neutral can be crafted, and we are committed to helping Congress achieve this critical goal. We must not let the valid need for fiscal constraint prevent us from making desperately needed, high-return investments that will fuel economic growth now and long into the future.

AEM is the North American-based international trade group providing innovative business development resources to advance the off-road equipment manufacturing industry in the global marketplace. AEM membership comprises more than 800 companies and 200-plus product lines in the agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility sectors worldwide. AEM is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with offices in the world capitals of Washington, D.C., Ottawa, Beijing and a European presence in Brussels.