[Page: H1169]

Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time to me. I rise in strong support of this amendment.

I would like to remind my colleagues that in the 1950s when the Federal highway program started it was recognized that it was an improper function of the Federal Government. Therefore the Congress back then, they were still recognizing that the Constitution had some effect as well as the President; they had to come up for a reason for the highway projects, so they did it under national defense.

Of course today we do not debate that issue in that light, but I think we see the results of doing something that was not proper. Today it is very expensive, it is very bureaucratic, and we have seen tonight in the debate how it has become politicized.

So if we are looking for a fair way to build highways, a more efficient way to build highways, I think this is the answer. This is not going backwards, this is going forward. This would be the first time we could have a national highway system really controlled by the States where it is supposed to be. The States would have more money, not less money. They would have less regulation, not more regulation.

This is much better than block grants. This is returning responsibility to the States. I compliment the gentleman for bringing this to the floor.