AEM Urges Senate Action on Highway Funding Bill

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has issued a resolution calling on the U.S. Senate to begin floor consideration on reauthorizing TEA-21 transportation legislation.

The AEM is also calling on Congress to finish its work on the bill by the current program’s expiration date of May 31, 2005.

If approved, TEA-21 will set guaranteed funding levels for highway construction and transit capital investment for the next four years.

“America needs a multi-year bill to show federal commitment to sustaining the maintenance and repair of our nation’s highway and transit systems. We also need to provide assurance to our machinery customers that funds will be there to allow them to make timely capital investments in new equipment,” says Dennis Slater, AEM president.

This is the sixth extension of the TEA-21 legislation, which originally expired on Sept. 30, 2003. In early March, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a reauthorization bill that would provide $284 billion for these programs.