Washington, D.C. (May 23, 2015) – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America made the following statement today on the two-month Highway Trust Fund patch passed by Congress:

With its 32nd short-term patch of the Highway Trust Fund, Congress has demonstrated its ability to excel at failure. It is no wonder the American Society of Civil Engineers gives our nation a D grade for the state of its roads.

There should be no more excuses for the failure of Congress to legislate. Any further extensions that preclude a long-term, sustainable solution to the Highway Trust Fund crisis should be dead on arrival.

Thousands of workers in the construction industry rely on federal transportation infrastructure investment to care for their families, and in the process they build America. They do their jobs, now Congress must do theirs.

Until Congress passes a long-term, well-funded, highway bill, they share responsibility for every bridge that falls, every death or injury from unrepaired roads, and every man or woman who remains trapped in jobless despair when there is great work to be done.

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