House Members Want More Stimulus Money Made Available

By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

At a hearing Thursday, members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee expressed concerns about where some of the money made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has gone.

Committee Chairman Congressman James L. Obstar (D-Minn.) said that the federal government has allocated millions of dollars for state and local governments to improve highways and build high-speed railways. Obstar argued that such funds have created jobs and will create an infrastructural legacy for the future of the nation.

In his opening remarks, Rep. Obstar said the Committee wanted “accountability, transparency and reporting...that projects should equally be distributed throughout the country and that priority consideration should be given to the areas of the highest unemployment.”

The ranking member of the Committee, Congressman John Mica (R-Fl.), said that the main problem is not how the states are using the money, but whether or not the bureaucracy in Washington is making the funds available.

Rep. Mica said that in some areas, jobs will not be created, and projects will not receive timely funding because the stimulus plan “requires pills of red-tape to get federal funding and will delay people going to work.”

Rep. Mica added that his constituents have complained about federal requirements, saying they want jobs, and “they want it now.”

Representatives of the transportation agencies present at the hearing underlined their commitment to follow President Barack Obama and the Committee’s objective for better efficiency and transparency with regard to the stimulus funds.