By Ron Thaniel
January 31, 2011

"I am a strong advocate of mass transit," said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John L. Mica (FL), as he provided the keynote addressed at the January 19 luncheon of the 79th Winter Meeting of The United States Conference of Mayors. Conference of Mayors President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz said, "Reauthorization of the surface transportation law is a top priority for mayors." Conference of Mayors Co-Chair of the high-speed Intercity Rail Task Force Orlando Buddy Dyer told the mayors, in his introduction of Mica, "I think he probably is the most knowledgeable person in the Congress on transportation issues."

Mica asked the mayors for their help in moving the long-delayed reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) forward. "In 2003, I passed a four year authorization and that law expired in 2007," said Mica. "We have had 17 extensions of that legislation."

"So the first thing out of the box is going to be to move that stalled bill," said Mica. "I plan to get that out post haste." He noted, "Before coming here, I spent the last hour with Secretary LaHood, and he concurs that we need to get that measure moving, and I need your help to move it through the other body, the snail's pace body, the United States Senate."

"The second thing we need to do is we've got to pass a long term, and I hope a six-year robust transportation bill for the nation," said Mica. "Parallel to my efforts on the FAA, we are going to do something a little bit different." Mica told the mayors that he would be hosting a series of listening sessions "to get ideas from you on what needs to be in that bill." Then, the Chairman said, "I hope to come back by the end of February with some of the ideas you have provided and put that bill together and move it out of the House of Representatives as soon as possible."