AGC in praise of U.S. House

Recycling Today, August, 2005

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the 2006 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.

The House completed all 11 appropriations measures for 2006, which propose to increase overall spending for construction programs by more than 7 percent over 2005 levels.

"The record strength of the construction industry over the past 15 months has had a great impact on our growing U.S. economy, and we must continue to adequately fund construction programs such as infrastructure spending," says Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC CEO. "AGC is pleased that the House recognizes this need to increase construction spending, given the many other budget priorities facing the Congress."

The House passed spending increases on programs including federal highways, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Military Defense construction.

The appropriations approved by the House include $37 billion to Federal Aid Highway programs--a 5.4 percent increase over 2005.

The House also approved $8.5 billion in mass transit grants--a $900 million increase over 2005.

AGC commended House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and the other members of the committee for completing work on the bills before the July 4 congressional recess.

In a press release, AGC says it looks forward to the Senate completing its work on the spending bills and hopes that Congress will finalize the 2006 appropriations process before the Sept. 30, 2005, deadline.