The Honorable Earl Blumenauer
United States House of Representatives
1111 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Blumenauer:

On behalf of America’s public transportation industry, which contributes $71 billion to the U.S. economy annually, directly employs more than 420,000 workers, and supports millions of private-sector jobs, I write to express our strong support for H.R. ___, the “Rebuild America Act of 2019”. Critically, this bill addresses the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and will enable Congress to significantly increase investment in our nation’s public transportation systems. We thank you for your leadership on this important issue and urge Congress to take immediate bipartisan action to rebuild America.

Last fall, the Board of Directors of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) specifically endorsed increasing federal motor vehicle fuel user fees by at least 25 cents, indexing those fees to inflation, and seeking alternative, long-term solutions to the Highway Trust Fund. H.R. ___, the Rebuild America Act of 2019, addresses each of these issues, including providing a significant increase in dedicated revenues for the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund.

As you well know, we must significantly increase federal investment in public transportation to address the more than $90 billion backlog of state-of-good-repair needs and expand public transit systems in growing communities. Without this investment, our nation will fall behind in the 21st Century economy. We greatly appreciate your leadership on public transportation issues, and we look forward to working with Congress on a bipartisan basis to address this and other critical infrastructure policies in the 116th Congress.

Sincerely,

Paul P. Skoutelas

President and CEO