Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Senate Support for Transit, Calls for Long-Term Funding Solution to Transportation Infrastructure

WASHINGTON –Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the Senate’s passage of H.R. 22, the DRIVE ACT, to reauthorize the nation’s surface transportation law:

“The Senate’s bipartisan effort to pass much needed long-term transportation legislation is a welcome development. Yet many aspects of the process have dismayed us, including many of the pay-fors that have been tapped to fund the bill, as well as efforts to privatize parts of the transportation system. At the same time, we applaud the bill’s robust funding for transit, and expect that any final bill that comes out of conference with the House of Representatives will include nothing less than this same level of funding for transit.

The Leadership Conference believes that we must do better than short-term transportation patches, and therefore supports efforts in both houses of Congress to pass long-term, sustained investment in transportation infrastructure that includes full funding for these initiatives. We believe that this can only be achieved by funding the bill with user fees, which is historically how the bill has always been funded.

We know that better transportation policy can help fight income inequality and consider access to transportation a civil rights issue because it means access to jobs, affordable housing, health care, schools, and child care. When we fail to adequately invest in our communities, none of us should be surprised when they fail to flourish. We cannot afford to abandon the Baltimores and Fergusons of our nation.

We hope that the problematic issues we have raised about the bill are fixed in conference with the House this fall.”

Nancy Zirkin is the executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference, visit www.civilrights.org.