WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Ranking Member Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), Senator Kit Bond (R-MS), Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) issued the following joint statement today regarding passage of the transportation bill in the House of Representatives:

“We congratulate our colleagues in the House for moving their bill through a very difficult process. We look forward to sitting down across the table from them and working out the differences between the Senate and House bills.

“We believe S. 1072 puts the Senate in a good negotiating position. At $318 billion, it responds to the nations’ infrastructure needs. This bill is financed entirely from the highway trust fund and is deficit neutral. S. 1072 enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate because we were able to maintain highway and transit funding in their current proportions and increase funds for all states while addressing the equity concerns of donor states.

“Most importantly, S. 1072 will generate hundreds of thousands new jobs. These are critically needed high paying jobs in each state of the union.

“Given that the current extension expires in less than a month from now, we need to resolve the Senate and Houses differences quickly so that this bill can be sent to the President.”