Transportation

A thriving economy depends on modern, well-functioning infrastructure. The movement of goods and people is critical to ensuring continuing prosperity, and investment in America’s transportation networks has the potential to create millions of good-paying, middle class jobs. For too long, Congress neglected to provide the necessary level of investment to ensure world class transportation infrastructure, until 2021 when Senator Wyden and his colleagues passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This historic law will help meet current infrastructure challenges by investing in everything from repairing America's crumbling roads, bridges and ports, to expanding broadband coverage and protecting our communities from wildfires. It also supports the modernization and expansion of key assets that move goods and people around the country and make up the backbone of the American economy.

Throughout his career, Senator Wyden has been a leader in advocating for increasing direct federal investment in America’s transportation networks. As Chairman of the Finance Committee, he is a lead cosponsor of the Bridge Investment Act, which would provide a historic $75 billion investment in repairing, replacing, and upgrading the nation’s bridges. He is also a key author of the Blueprint to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure, a comprehensive package of bills that would provide $1 trillion in infrastructure funding and create more than 15 million new jobs.

In addition to fighting for more funding, Senator Wyden has long been a champion of providing state and local governments with the financing tools to leverage funding dollars and unlock additional private investment. Senator Wyden helped create the Build America Bond program during the depths of the 2008-2009 recession, which resulted in more than $180 billion in infrastructure investment over a two year period. He is also the author of the Move America Act, which would reform outdated bond rules in the tax code and could leverage more than $225 billion in private sector infrastructure investment.

Airports and Unmanned Aerial Systems  

Senator Wyden has been a steadfast supporter of air service to rural Oregon and a strong supporter of Oregon’s rural airports. He has pushed to ensure Pendleton’s Eastern Oregon Regional Airport has received federal funding, under the Essential Air Service program, to help keep the region connected by air flight. In the 2016 Federal Aviation Reauthorization, he was able to add his Treating Small Airports with Fairness (TSA Fairness) Act, to the Senate FAA bill which ensured that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screenings stay at the Crater Lake-Klamath airport, and other airports of similar size around the country, keeping airlines flying to southern Oregon safely.

Senator Wyden has been at the forefront of innovation and economic growth of the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry in Oregon. UAS product testing thrives in Oregon’s open and rural landscapes, allowing new products to be tested in a variety of conditions. As an early advocate of the technology, he ensured that Oregon was awarded three UAS test ranges, in Tillamook, Warm Spring and Pendleton. In the 2017 FAA bill, Senator Wyden ensured these three ranges would stay in operation with his amendment to extend the authorization of the program.

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