Washington, D.C. - Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate EPW Committee, released the statement below following the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s passage of a long-term transportation bill.

 Sen. Inhofe said, “The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has taken an important step forward by completing a bipartisan markup of its 6-year highway reauthorization bill. Both the Senate and the House bills have many similarities that will allow for a very short conference period. With this milestone, Congress should be able to send a bill to the president’s desk by Thanksgiving. This will allow for our nation to avoid the Highway Trust Fund hitting a dangerously low level, which DOT Sec. Anthony Foxx warned would significantly affect the 2016 construction season.”

 Sen. Boxer said: “We are moving forward bit by bit toward our goal – a long-term authorization of the surface transportation bill.  We have no time to waste and I urge an immediate conference.”