To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to the operation of vehicles on certain Wisconsin highways, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for yielding. I too rise in support of H.R. 4268.

In Mississippi, U.S. Highway 78 cuts diagonally through the foothills of the Appalachians to Memphis. This is the highway that our most famous native son, Elvis Presley, took as he made his way from his hometown and my hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, to find his way to Sun Studio in Memphis.

While there were others whose careers may not nearly have been so visible, they made the same road. People came home from World War II, and they felt their only option in Mississippi was to leave to find a better way of life for their families, so they made their way to Memphis and then north.

For the three decades following the end of World War II, they settled in and around the Great Lakes. There were small towns in Illinois and Wisconsin that had neighborhoods literally dotted with families from Mississippi, neighborhoods in Waukegan and Zion, Aurora and Kenosha and Racine; and you go on the streets, and you find people from Baldwyn and Marietta, Mantachie and Booneville.

In recent years, we have had a renaissance of advanced manufacturing in Mississippi. This growth has been driven by regional cooperation among our local leaders, tough decisions that were made at the State level, but it has been primarily driven by the strong work ethic of those same people from Appalachia.

In fact, a few months ago, I was visiting in one of the advanced manufacturing facilities involved in automobile manufacturing parts, talking to a man in Mantachie. He smiled, and he said: The great news about this job is I got to come home.

In order to accommodate all this new growth, we found it important to upgrade U.S. Highway 78 and make it Interstate 22. A lot of work has been done by Federal, State, and local stakeholders.

We are about ready to make that transition, but there is one more

change that needs to be completed. A small tweak in the law is necessary.

While advanced manufacturing is a very important part of our economy, agriculture is still a very important part of our economy as well.

Under the existing law, ag products on the way to the market have to obtain a permit that they can carry an additional 5 percent weight on U.S. Highway 78. In the absence of that bill, that permit would not be available.

To make it clear, this bill is no loss, no gain. The roadway that is in use today is the exact same roadway that will be used as Interstate 22. The mile markers, as you have heard, are specified in the legislation. There is not one additional vehicle that can legally travel this road under this law that would be able to do so under a new law.

That is why I urge passage of this bill. I want to thank the ranking member, I want to thank the chairman, and I also want to thank the senior member of the Mississippi delegation for his cooperation in making this possible.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2353) to amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to the operation of vehicles on certain Wisconsin highways, and for other purposes.

Yes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill before us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

U.S. Highway 41 between Milwaukee and Green Bay is slated to become part of the U.S. interstate system early next year. H.R. 2353 would simply allow trucks that exceed Federal weight limits but are currently authorized to operate on this road to continue to operate after the interstate designation.

This primarily involves agricultural crops during harvest season, milk, timber, scrap metal, and garbage. No new trucks in excess of Federal weight limits would be allowed on the new I-41. This would just maintain the status quo and not disrupt the current flow of commerce.

This is not unprecedented, as other roads which have become part of the interstate system have received this grandfather, including I-39 in Wisconsin, with no ill effect. In fact, the Wisconsin State Patrol, which is responsible for truck safety enforcement, has issued a statement in support of this bill, and is noting the safety benefits of not forcing these trucks off the safer interstate and onto State and local roads which are not designated to carry such traffic.

The bill before us is also supported by Republican and Democratic members of the Wisconsin House delegation, our two U.S. Senators, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and many State and local officials and organizations. I ask my House colleagues to approve this bill, which is so important to my State.

I reserve the balance of my time.

It is without an amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague from Wisconsin (Mr. Ribble).

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation before us, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4268) to amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to United States Route 78 in Mississippi, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill before us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 4268, a bill to amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to United States Route 78 in Mississippi, and for other purposes.

H.R. 4268 allows commercial vehicles currently operating on United States Route 78 in Mississippi, between mile marker zero and mile marker 113, to continue to operate after that segment is designated as part of the interstate highway system.

This bill is similar to H.R. 2353, a bill which I sponsored, that provides a similar allowance for commercial vehicles operating currently on Highway 41 in the State of Wisconsin. That bill passed the House by voice vote on July 22, 2013.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 4268. It allows for commerce to continue in Mississippi in an orderly way. It would not involve any new use of the roads.

The only thing that would change is the designation of the highway from U.S. to interstate. Otherwise, people that had special permits to operate or were operating under State law on the previous highway would continue operating. No new use would be permitted.

I urge my colleagues to support this limited, basically technical piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague from Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee).

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the bill before us, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you, Chairman Petri.

I also want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Rahall, for working with us. We advanced this bill through committee, and it passed our committee by voice vote.

Mr. Speaker, the bill is very simple. Chairman Petri mentioned it maintains the status quo on a single highway in Wisconsin that is being changed from a U.S. highway to a U.S. interstate. Highway 41, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Milwaukee, is slated to become an interstate next year. To do that without any disruption to safety, it's important that we grandfather the current weight limits that are currently on the road, and this bill does exactly that.

It ensures that any trucks that drive on the road today will be able to drive on the road after the conversion. Without this bill, shippers would simply have two options, and neither would be good for safety. One option would be to move these trucks onto side roads, which, in Wisconsin, are often rural or through small towns that are not suited for truck traffic. The other option would be to put more trucks on the highway in order to comply with the lower weight limits. Neither option is good for safety, and neither option is good for Wisconsin.

As Chairman Petri mentioned, it is supported by the Wisconsin State Patrol; it is supported by the Governor of Wisconsin; it is supported by the Wisconsin State Assembly, including the majority and ranking members; it is supported by the Wisconsin State Senate; and it is supported by the Wisconsin DOT.

As the ranking member mentioned, this is not a precedent-setting piece of legislation. In fact, it has happened in other parts of the country. I am in support of this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Congress has previously grandfathered truck weights on roads that obtained interstate designation, including Interstate 99 in Pennsylvania, Interstate 39 in Wisconsin and Interstate 68 in Maryland. I point that out to note that what is being proposed in the pending legislation is not without precedent or justification.

While I support this legislation, consideration by the House of this bill should not be construed as an indicator of movement on the broader debate of whether to increase truck weights generally. This is a limited extension of current standards on one road in one State, and I am evaluating it as such. I support this bill, and I urge its adoption.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.