Reid Ribble

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Brett Favre who was inducted into The NFL's Hall of Fame this past summer. I include in the Record this poem penned in his honor by Albert Caswell. Going Favre Going deep Mississippi Magic So Very Sweet All in what our hearts choose to seek How high will we reach While, against all odds to slay The Grid Iron God's and all their records to beat But the greatest of all, is but a World Championship to seek While, in our hearts all our dreams we so keep Because, on those fields of green only the stoutest of all hearts can compete And make it to the Hall of Fame as a dream few of us will ever complete Like the wild wild west, Brett was like a gun slinger at high noon who stood at his best Who upon defenses such havoc would wreak Who drew first and drew fast as touchdowns he'd seek As it was always high noon to defeat, yea your up the creek While, over the NFL such a large shadow casting each week And everyday with his heart of a child and his smile to all hearts would speak As it all began with a football in hand, and his Father's Love helping his son to map out his future plan. And a mother behind him would stand To build the foundation for all of his dreams, as one day at Lambeau Field he'd proudly wear that Packer green As that number ``4'' one day would walk through The Hall of Fame's door Going Farve and Going Deep with his Mississippi Magic, he went farther than all the others before him had reached Brett Favre, a gun slinger standing six foot two a good old boy from the south armed with a cannon who threw Like a country song his life was so true And he could run like a stallion in the open field too Like a river boat gambler he threw with such heat, which made all of those defenses so weep Beating you with his arm, his feet, his heart, brain, and soul so very deep A leader among men who knew not defeat An Iron Man with a 297 consecutive games as that record he'd reach Mr. MVP, Mr. All Pro, from Southern Miss to NFL bliss, bringing his heat one day to rise to the top of the NFL's list But his love of the game was what really to his heart beseeched But the greatest pass he'd complete, was marring his high school sweetheart Deanna so sweet As a Warrior, and a Fighter a Come Back Kid who in the darkest of games came back even brighter Like Bart he too became a Starr, to carry this his Packer Nation far To make them The Super Bowl Champs that they are Going Farve Going Deep armed with his Mississippi Magic which was so hard to beat This Southern Man with his Father's Love stayed strong to ever compete To the top of the NFL's game with his actions did speak Brett, welcome to The Hall of Fame where only the greatest of greats history speaks Because Brett upon those fields of green you went Farve every week, as you went deep armed with your Mississippi Magic to compete And Brett, you were the kind of man Lombardi would seek With the heart and soul of a champion and that Mississippi Magic so very sweet.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I also thank the ranking member for his words. I want to thank Chairman Shuster as well for recognizing that this amendment has merit. I recommend that my colleagues support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My amendment is very simple. It is a 40-word technical correction from my perspective. This amendment simply states that the Secretary of the U.S. Corps of Engineers needs to consider--it doesn't mandate anything--it just says they should consider the use of natural and nature-based products when they are looking at various scopes of work. Let me give you an example, Mr. Chairman. I serve the Eighth Congressional District of Wisconsin and Green Bay is in my district. The waters of Green Bay have been affected by overflows of phosphorus and various nutrients. In this case, as part of the mitigation of trying to retain that phosphorus on the ground rather than in the bay, the Corps of Engineers could use natural berms. They could use weeds and grasses and different landscaping methods that are both aesthetically and technically better in this case. So my amendment simply says that in this case the Secretary should allow consideration of these products. Not recommend them, not push them, not advocate for them, but simply have them in their consideration as they carry out the design, construction, maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of water resources in this country. This amendment is supported by the American Council of Engineering Companies, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and about ten others or so. Mr. Chairman, that is the scope of the amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about embarrassment. Next week, the Congress of the United States will once again have to refer on and go back to funding our Federal Government with an ad hoc continuing resolution. Federal law requires the Congress of the United States to pass a budget each year. It requires the Congress of the United States to pass 12 appropriations bills each year by September 30, which is coming up next week. I came to Congress in 2011, Mr. Speaker. Since then, we have passed zero regular order appropriations out of the 72 required by law--zero. And yet, we have been able to find some way to pass 20 short-term continuing resolution appropriations bills that have no reforms to spending, they have no reforms to policy, and we have passed five 2,000-page omnibus spending bills. Somehow we were able to do those two things, but we weren't able to pass 12 simple appropriations bills to properly manage the taxpayers' money. I have heard it said that Americans are disappointed with Congress. In fact, I am a little surprised that we have an 18 percent approval rating right now. Maybe we have a lot of family members or some folks back home who aren't paying attention to what is going on here. We wonder why out of the $3.8 trillion of taxpayer dollars that we have received here in the Congress of the United States each year are not being managed correctly by the only body that can actually manage it. Why in the world aren't they fixing this problem and passing their spending bills in regular order in front of the American people where they can see it and do it instead of these ad hoc spending bills? Mr. Speaker, each year that I have been in Congress, I have authored a bill that would change our broken system and begin to fix this system that doesn't work. I would propose to you that 0 out of 72 is not a very good batting record. It is called the Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act. In fact, today, it has 237 cosponsors of the majority in this House. When I introduced the bill last year, I introduced it with 108 original cosponsors that signed on with me when we introduced it. That represents, by the way, Mr. Speaker, 50 percent of the whole House of Representatives. It represents 63 percent of the elected Republican leadership in this House. It represents 29 percent of the minority party. Fifty Democrats have joined with Republicans and said: we need to fix this broken system. Seventy-two percent of the majority party support this reform. Sixty- eight percent of committee chairmen support this reform. Sixty-seven percent of subcommittee chairmen support this reform. Sixty-five percent of the Republican Steering Committee, the leadership of this House of Representatives, support this reform. It was referred to the Budget Committee where 56 percent support this reform. It was also referred to the Rules Committee where 54 percent support this reform. And yet, there has been no vote on this in the House. 237 cosponsors represent 168 million American people whose voices have been squashed and been silenced by our lack of inaction. Mr. Speaker, I started by saying I want to talk about embarrassment. I am embarrassed for the Congress of the United States. I am proud of the effort that has been done here, and I am proud of the people and Members of Congress who have stood up to finally fix this broken system and said: enough is enough. I am proud of Senator Enzi and Senator Inhofe over in the U.S. Senate trying to advance the same types of reforms there. But I am embarrassed for the Congress of the United States. I am embarrassed for our leadership. I am embarrassed because we haven't been able to do what is right, even though the majority of us agree that this is better than what we have, that this is a step forward. But I want to tell you, Mr. Speaker, what I am more than embarrassed about. I am disappointed. Because the only people in the country that can fix this is the Congress of the United States. Since 1974, when the Budget Act was put in place, the Congress of the United States has failed to pass its budget and its appropriations bills required by law every single year for 42 years. They have not been able to do it on time even once. Some people will argue that this isn't the best fix and may not be the perfect fix, but I will tell you right now, Mr. Speaker, it is better than 0 out of 72 for sure. I call on the Speaker of the House to bring this bill to the floor and let 168 million Americans finally be heard.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I would try to bring some clarity about the amendment, and I stand in opposition to this amendment. We have heard a lot of hyperbole here this evening, but I want to try to set the record straight. We cannot have it both ways. We can either have an Endangered Species Act and we can have the Fish and Wildlife Service and their scientists manage it, or we can get rid of it and just have the court do it. So it appears that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, when things don't go the way they like by the Fish and Wildlife Service, they are fully supportive of the court system. When things don't go right in the court system, it appears, Mr. Chairman, that they are fully supportive of the Fish and Wildlife Service. What I would prefer is that we protect the Endangered Species Act and the agency that was directed to manage it and to manage these rare populations or endangered species like the gray wolf. In the 1990s--and I am from Wisconsin--there were only a handful of mating pairs of gray wolves in northern Wisconsin. Throughout the Great Lakes region today, there are 3,700 wolves in this area. It is an economically and ecologically unsustainable number. The Fish and Wildlife Service rightly decided that the population had recovered and that their program to protect this species had been so completely successful that it was time to delist and turn the power back to the States to manage, which in fact they were doing, until a court decided that the Fish and Wildlife Service and the experts there protecting the Endangered Species Act just didn't get it right. Well, we cannot have it both ways, Mr. Chair, and it is time that this Congress tells the courts what the laws are and how we want these things managed. What we are doing here in this bill and in the underlying language is protecting both the Endangered Species Act and the Fish and Wildlife Service scientists who are giving the proper jurisdiction to manage endangered species, including the gray wolf.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Judge Peter Diltz for his service on the Door County Circuit Court for Wisconsin. Mr. Diltz has been an integral member of the Door County community and I am proud to recognize his dedicated service to the people of Wisconsin. Judge Diltz was born in Winnetka, Illinois and spent many of his childhood summers in Door County. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Arizona State University, Judge Diltz attended the University of Wisconsin Law School. Judge Diltz returned to Door County to practice law and serve as the Door County Family Court Commissioner from 1976 to 1994, at which time he was first elected Circuit Court Judge. It is truly an honor to represent an extraordinary citizen who has dedicated his career to serving the people of Door County in Northeastern Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 8th District of Wisconsin, I congratulate Judge Diltz on his retirement and sincerely thank him for his service to Wisconsin.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Blanche Baudhuin of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who has been an American Red Cross volunteer for almost 40 years. Still active at an amazing one hundred years young, Blanche is almost certainly the oldest Red Cross volunteer in the United States. Over the past few years, Blanche has frequently been the first person donors see when they arrive at Green Bay's Blood Donation Center on Deckner Avenue. Knowing full well that giving blood can be a nerve- wracking experience, especially for first-timers, Blanche is a constant source of comfort and mirth, always willing to offer reassurance, a smile, and maybe a cookie or two to those who donate. In addition to making the rounds at the Center, Blanche also works tirelessly to promote blood drives at churches and other locations throughout Northeast Wisconsin. In the lead-up to her 100th birthday last month, Blanche's wish was for 100 people to donate at a blood drive hosted at the First Lutheran Church in Allouez. Her birthday wish came true . . . and then some: an incredible 114 donors showed up. Thank you, Blanche, for your extraordinary service to a life-saving cause, and keep up the great work.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the accomplishments of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority as it launches a new chapter in Northeast Wisconsin on April 2, 2016. Delta Sigma Theta was founded in 1913 at Howard University with a purpose to provide support to collegiate women through programs in local communities throughout the world. In their first year, the sorority bravely marched in the Woman Suffrage Parade exemplifying their mission to promote women's rights. Founder Florence Letcher Torns reflected on that day saying ``we marched that day in order that women might come into their own, because we believed that women not only needed an education, but they needed a broader horizon in which they may use that education. And the right to vote would give them that privilege.'' Since that time, Delta Sigma Theta has grown to reach over 200,000 women and currently boasts a membership of 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located around the globe. I congratulate Delta Sigma Theta on their decision to embark on a new chapter in Northeast Wisconsin and look forward to watching the community flourish with their participation.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I have not mentioned protecting cattle at all. Maybe some of my colleagues will. I have only mentioned trying to protect the Endangered Species Act. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Benishek).

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I will go ahead and close. About two decades ago, there were only 15 gray wolves in the western Great Lakes States. Today the gray wolf population exceeds 3,700, and yet we are to act as if some judge someplace decides that that is not enough, that the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming in and of themselves cannot manage these populations in accordance with the Fish and Wildlife's actions and with their scientific help. This is not unprecedented, as the minority has mentioned. This exactly has happened with Montana and Idaho before. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record, in light of the gentleman from Oregon's comments, a letter from the Fish and Wildlife Service supporting this amendment. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bloomington, Minnesota, January 30, 2015. Hon. Reid J. Ribble, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative Ribble: Thank you for your January 16, 2015, letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Director Dan Ashe and to me regarding the Service's views on the status of gray wolf populations in the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, as well as our view on state management of gray wolves since the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment (DPS) was removed from Endangered Species Act protection in 2011. An identical letter is being sent to each member who signed the original correspondence. Director Ashe has asked that I respond on his behalf. Most of the information provided below is taken from the 2014 report on post-delisting status of gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes DPS (enclosed). Enclosed, you will also see our gray wolf post-delisting monitoring plan for the Western Great Lakes DPS. Our post-delisting monitoring plan used the recovery goals in the 1992 Recovery Plan for the Eastern Timber Wolf to identify the population characteristics that needed monitoring as well as to identify circumstances that could prompt closer scrutiny by the Service and potential consideration of relisting. Those circumstances include the following: A decline that reduces the combined Wisconsin-Michigan (excluding Isle Royale and the Lower Peninsula) late winter wolf population estimate to 200 or fewer wolves; A decline that brings either the Wisconsin or the Michigan (excluding Isle Royale and the Lower Peninsula) wolf estimate to 100 or fewer wolves; and, A decline that brings the Minnesota winter wolf population point estimate or lower end of the 90% confidence interval to 1500 or fewer wolves. Since delisting in 2011 through the winter of 2013-2014, numbers of wolves in the three states remained well above established recovery goals (Table 1). Population surveys are conducted by the three states in late winter after hunting and trapping seasons and before the birth of pups in the spring. Thus, the surveys are conducted at a time that the wolf population is at its lowest level during the annual cycle.

Mr. RIBBLE. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am proud today to offer the only bipartisan amendment that has been found in order on this bill. I am really proud, after working in Congress now for three terms, that Members from both the majority and the minority have come together in an effort to protect the Endangered Species Act. This amendment speaks directly to the issue of gray wolves protected by the Endangered Species Act in the western Great Lakes region of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, as well as Wyoming. There was a period of time that the gray wolves had become almost extinct in these areas and the scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service decided to protect them from extinction by listing the gray wolf as an endangered species. That work was so successful that, in 2011, the Fish and Wildlife Service decided to de-list the gray wolf. In fact, there are now hundreds of mating pairs in these regions. However, those wolves have created some problems. In spite of this remarkable recovery, in spite of how robust this is, a surprise Federal court ruling took place in 2014 and invalidated the scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service who were given the responsibility under law of the Endangered Species Act to manage this population. So my amendment is simple. It just simply restates and delists the wolves in these four States only. That is what my amendment does. It protects the Endangered Species Act and the scientists who work at the Fish and Wildlife Service. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Brett Favre, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this past summer, and the halftime ceremony which took place on Thanksgiving retiring his number ``4'' at Lambeau Field. I submit this poem penned in his honor by Albert Carey Caswell. A Father's Love (By Albert Carey Caswell) The heart of a champion, and from where does it all so come And how is one so born into this among And where does such a splendid gift originate from And how may we pass on these gifts of love, to our sons For its only through our love and time, and life lessons find, what we have won For our days on this earth, are the shortest of all ones So cherish each moment with your sons For its all about what we leave behind, when all is said and done So who will we touch before our last suns To raise a son and instill in him all his of hopes and dreams, and values to come To bestow upon him all your gifts of love, to help him rise above One of our Lord's most precious gifts, is to raise a child of love No greater blessing on the wings of a dove Because a child is the brightest of all lights. Passing onto him all our wisdom and love. Watching him grow up into a fine man, is the culmination of all our dreams begun There was once a little boy sitting on his father's knee, as his dad spoke to him about his future dreams, and what he could be. ``listen my son, you are the one, believe'' ``And little man, you will go Favre and football is in your blood and she'll give you all you need!'' And from that first day as was completed, such a warm bond in hearts to succeed it A catch with dad, a fine Father and Son, as such a love story grew on fields of green Like Father like Son into this winning team As a father and a coach passed onto him his creed Showing him what he would need And what it was to be a man, hitting pay dirt in The Game of Life . . . TD A pat on the back, extending a warm hand, and respect to demand, to lead his heart towards his future dreams And throughout the years, those bumps and bruises here Nights at home with broken bones, and contusions as a love story grew so dear. Pop Warner, High School ball, and then a College comes to call, and soon the big leagues Brett's name would fear To be a Pro, at the Top, To Be The Best, as Brett's leadership they could not contest As the cream of the crop, is an almost impossible quest, to be in The Hall of Fame one day as one of The Very Best In football, the very heart of any team is but The Quarterback The point from which, all leadership on fields of green attacks Where the toughest of the tough react With only micro seconds to counteract, on coming mammoths of size and speed As all around you 300lb men come crashing in, trying to make you bleed And throughout the years, many great names have here played on fields of green Like Johnny Its U, The Young Man too, The Montana Man, In the Namath of Football whose legend grew, that Shaw of Football Terry too, and Peyton's Place, Marino, Captain Comeback Stauback, a Cool Brees, Brady, Rocket Rogers a list of greats he, and Bart a Star of the who's who And now its Brave Brett, that gunslinger with the quad threat history pursued And when we close the door on number ``4'' in The Hall of Fame him we will view A ``4'' threat man who can beat you with his feet, his arm, his head, and his heart too. Because on fields of green, Brett is one of greatest warriors seen

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, once again, the Congress has offered Members the classic Sophie's choice. Either vote ``no'' on the transportation bill and guarantee no reforms to road and bridge building happen, or vote ``yes'' and get reforms necessary to save money and streamline construction, but do it without actually paying for it and keep racking up the national debt. While many of my colleagues are sure to rush to the floor in the next few hours to pat themselves on the back for accomplishing this marvelous, transformational highway bill, we should not be popping champagne. There is no backslapping deserved. While I am encouraged by the fact that in many ways the policy related to surface transportation takes a significant step forward, I am deeply discouraged by the phony pay-fors. Mr. Speaker, during the upcoming debate on this legislation, you and the American people are going to hear repeatedly that this bill is fully offset and fully paid for, essentially that new revenue and savings will keep the cost of this bill from adding to our national debt. This is, plain and simple, not the case. Most of the offsets are from general fund transfers. Now, it would take a magician of miraculous skill to transfer money out of a fund that has a negative balance of $400 billion. If, in fact, there is money to transfer from an empty fund, I might suggest that we instead try to make the fund a bit less empty instead of transferring it to more spending. But I digress. Let's take a look at the pay-fors. One of a long series of phony offsets is selling off oil that is currently owned by the American people in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. While you are stewarding the American people's money, you are supposed to buy low and sell high, not the other way around. Not only are we selling off a public asset at near record low prices, we are also counting on getting over double the current market price in order to make all the math work. If you can find a buyer to pay $94 per barrel for oil, like the authors claim, while the market price is $41, I have got a bridge to nowhere to sell you. Another phony offset is hiring aggressive private contractors to go after people who are delinquent on their Federal taxes. Now, listen, I am all for collecting all outstanding taxes. But what does that have to do with road building? If, in fact, we can collect an additional $2.5 billion by doing this, shouldn't that money be put against the $400- billion deficit we are facing already? Why is it an offset that generates its revenue amount over 10 years when the highway bill is only for 5 years? What is going to happen in year 6? Will all the road building the country needs be completed by then? Are there not any other roads going to need to be built in year 6? Are we not, then, just going to have to borrow even more money? Mr. Speaker, the bill does make a very reasonable point that taxes must be indexed to inflation to keep from losing value every year. I found this quite ironic. That makes total sense. So it is applied to the gas tax; right? Wrong. Mr. Speaker, here is my favorite phony pay-for. The bill's authors didn't have the political courage to deal with user fees for drivers, but instead are indexing taxes collected by the U.S. Customs Service. Now, that is really ironic, but that tax is easy to hide from constituents. Now Americans returning from overseas will pay more for them in taxes to pave our roads while people who use the roads simply look on and smile. Yet, Mr. Speaker, there is more. There are modifications to royalty payments. Wow, that has got everything to do with roads. Or how about denying passports to those who have unpaid taxes? This is allegedly going to raise $350 million. Of course, that has nothing to do with roads, and, in fact, may not even be possible without all kinds of court trials and cases. Mr. Speaker, I know you can sense my frustration. At the end of the day, this bill will pass, the President will sign it, and while everyone is patting themselves on the back for passing a long-term solution, we are going to continue to pile debt on our grandchildren. We are so close, though, to getting this right. We streamlined the process to get roads built faster saving taxpayer dollars. We have returned more decisionmaking back to the States, and we have reduced the bureaucracy and red tape around transportation construction. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Colorado and the gentleman from Georgia have eloquently explained some of the benefits of the piece of legislation. These are valuable and not insignificant reforms. It is because of these reforms that I am going to reluctantly support this bill in spite of these phony, god-awful pay-fors. Here is why: I realize that if this bill does not pass, what we will get instead is another extension of current policy and more borrowing, because that is what the Congress has done since I have been here. So this goes back to the classic Sophie's choice I mentioned at the beginning of my conversation here. To get the good, I must accept the bad; to reject the bad, I must reject the good. If only this body, this Congress, had the political courage to tell the American people a simple truth: if something is worth buying, it is worth paying for. Taxing tomorrow should not replace living within our means today. It hurts future generations, and I am profoundly disappointed. We can and should do better for the people who sent us here to speak for them.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I urge all Members to support my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would increase the air-mile radius from 50 air-miles to 75 air-miles for the transportation of construction materials and equipment to satisfy the 24-hour reset period under the hours of service rule. It would also give States the ability to opt out of this increase if the movement would take place entirely within one State's borders. This is a bipartisan amendment cosponsored by Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Hanna, and Mr. Cramer. Commercial motor vehicle drivers in the construction industry face some unique circumstances. They often haul perishable materials like asphalt and concrete from a construction company's central shop or dispatch center to a specific project site within that company's area of operation. These drivers spend long periods of time waiting to pick up materials and loading or unloading equipment, instead of driving, but they are considered on duty for the entire duration of the trip. Current law allows construction industry drivers to reset their weekly on-duty time after a 24-hour consecutive off-duty period; however, this exemption is only allowed if those drivers work within a 50 air-mile radius. Because construction companies operate today in larger areas than they did when the exemption was first put in place two decades ago, I am offering this amendment to increase this air-mile radius to 75 air- miles. I urge all my colleagues to support this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. RIBBLE

Mr. RIBBLE. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. RIBBLE. Madam Chair, I will wrap this up. I appreciate this debate. I will say this: I am not interested in whether truckers make more money or rails make more money. I am interested in the poor family that has to pay higher prices for food, for clothing, for goods and services, and for electricity because of this weight restriction. I also am concerned about the States that already are allowing these trucks--25 of them--but we can't drive them on the interstate system, which makes no sense whatsoever. I also want to remind everyone that any State can choose not to do this if they don't want to. This would just allow the ones that would like to be able to do that. It is in full compliance with the study. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Madam Chair, in response to the gentleman from Pennsylvania earlier, Pennsylvania doesn't have to adopt this policy. It is totally optional for that State to do so. I find it interesting that the gentleman from New York is concerned about this while the State of New York already allows these heavier trucks on their roads in their State, as does the State of Wisconsin. The study supports the fact that this configuration would actually reduce life-cycle payment costs. That is in the study by the scientists, not the cover letter. So we have this dichotomy where 25 States already are running these heavier trucks. All my bill would do is allow them to move toward the interstate system. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RIBBLE. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.