Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 3.djvu/669

 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS-JUNE 5, 1997 111 STAT. 2757 (2) 152 demonstration projects totaling $1,400,000,000 were named in the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987; (3) 64 percent of the funding for the 152 projects had not been obligated after 5 years and State transportation officials determined the projects added little, if any, to meeting their transportation infrastructure priorities; (4) 538 location specific projects totaling $6,230,000,000 were included in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991; (5) more than $3,300,000,000 of the funds authorized for the 538 location-specific projects remained unobligated as of January 31, 1997; (6) the General Accounting Office determined that 31 States plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico would have received more funding if the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act location-specific project funds were redistributed as Federal-aid highway program apportionments; (7) this type of project funding diverts Highway Trust Fund money away from State transportation priorities established under the formula allocation process and under the Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991; (8) on June 20, 1995, by a vote of 75 yeas to 21 nays, the Senate voted to prohibit the use of Federal Highway Trust Fund money for future demonstration projects; (9) the Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991 expires at the end of fiscal year 1997; and (10) hundreds of funding requests for specific transportation projects in Congressional Districts have been submitted in the House of Representatives. (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE. —It is the sense of the Senate that— (1) notwithstanding different views on existing Highway Trust Fund distribution formulas, funding for demonstration projects or other similarly titled projects diverts Highway Trust Fund money away from State priorities and deprives States of the ability to adequately address their transportation needs; (2) States are best able to determine the priorities for allocating Federal-Aid-To-Highway monies within their jurisdiction; (3) Congress should not divert limited Highway Trust Fund resources away from State transportation priorities by authorizing new highway projects; and (4) Congress should not authorize any new demonstration projects or other similarly-titled projects. SEC. 339. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE USE OF BUDGET SAVINGS. (a) FINDINGS. —The Senate makes the following findings: (1) Poverty rates among the elderly are at the lowest level since our Nation began to keep poverty statistics, due in large part to the Social Security system and the Medicare Program. (2) Twenty-two percent of every dollar spent by the Federal Government goes to the Social Security system. (3) Eleven percent of every dollar spent by the Federal Government goes to the Medicare Program.

�