112TH CONGRESS 2ND SESSION/SENATE DOCUMENT 112–12

NATIONAL DEBATE TOPIC FOR HIGH 

SCHOOLS, 2012–2013 

Resolved: The United States Federal 

Government Should Substantially Increase 

Its Transportation Infrastructure 

Investment in the United States 

NATIONAL DEBATE TOPIC FOR HIGH SCHOOLS, 2012–2013 

Pursuant to 44 United States Code, Section 1333 

Compiled by the Congressional Research Service 

and the Knowledge Services Group 

Library of Congress 
112TH CONGRESS 2ND SESSION/SENATE DOCUMENT 112–12

NATIONAL DEBATE TOPIC FOR HIGH 

SCHOOLS, 2012–2013 

Resolved: The United States Federal 

Government Should Substantially Increase 

Its Transportation Infrastructure 

Investment in the United States 

NATIONAL DEBATE TOPIC FOR HIGH SCHOOLS, 2012–2013 

Pursuant to 44 United States Code, Section 1333 

Compiled by the Congressional Research Service 

and the Knowledge Services Group 

Library of Congress 

U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, DC 2014 
(II)

44 U.S.C. SECTION 1333 

CHAPTER 13—PARTICULAR REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS 

Sec. 1333. National high school and college debate topics 

(a) The Librarian of Congress shall prepare compilations of pertinent excerpts, 

bibliographical references, and other appropriate materials relating to: 

(1) the subject selected annually by the National University Extension Association as the national high school debate topic and 

(2) the subject selected annually by the American Speech Association as the 

national college debate topic. 

In preparing the compilations the Librarian shall include materials which in 

his judgment are representative of, and give equal emphasis to, the opposing points 

of view on the respective topics. 

(b) The compilations on the high sehool debate topics shall be printed as Senate 

documents and the compilations on the college debate topics shall be printed as 

House of Representative documents, the cost of which shall he charged to the 

congressional allotment for printing and binding. Additional copies may be 

printed in the quantities and distributed in the manner the Joint Committee 

on Printing directs. 

(P.L. 90–620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1270) 

Historical and Revision Notes 

Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., Supp. III, Sec. 170 [Sec. 276a] (Dec. 30, 1963, Pub. 

L. 88–246, Secs. 1, 2, 77 Stat. 802) 
(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

Foreword ................................................................................................................... V 

Introduction .............................................................................................................. IX 

General Information ................................................................................................ 1 

Congressional Hearings ................................................................................... 2 

Government Accountability Office Reports .................................................... 4 

Think Tanks and Transportation Research Board ........................................ 5 

Books, Articles, and Government Reports ...................................................... 13 

Airports and Airways .............................................................................................. 19 

Government Accountability Office Reports .................................................... 20 

Think Tanks and Transportation Research Board ........................................ 23 

Books, Articles, and Government Reports ...................................................... 25 

Bridges and Tunnels, Highways and Roads, Transit ........................................... 27 

Congressional Hearings ................................................................................... 28 

Government Accountability Office Reports .................................................... 32 

Think Tanks and Transportation Research Board ........................................ 38 

Books, Articles, and Government Reports ...................................................... 49 

Maritime: Ports and Waterways ............................................................................ 53 

Congressional Hearings ................................................................................... 54 

Government Accountability Office Reports .................................................... 54 

Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation ................. 55 

Think Tanks and Transportation Research Board ........................................ 56 

Books, Articles, and Government Reports ...................................................... 57 

Railroads ................................................................................................................... 59

Congressional Hearings ................................................................................... 60 

Government Accountability Office Reports .................................................... 61 

Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation ................. 63 

Think Tanks and Transportation Research Board ........................................ 64 

Government Report .......................................................................................... 66 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111–5, 123 

Stat 115) ............................................................................................................ 68 

Congressional Hearings ................................................................................... 69 

Government Accountability Office Reports .................................................... 73 

Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation ................. 74 

Think Tanks and Transportation Research Board ........................................ 76 

Books, Articles, and Government Reports ...................................................... 77 

Agencies and Organizations .................................................................................... 79 

Subject Bibliography ............................................................................................... 90 

(V)

1The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a part of the National Academies and is partially funded by the federal government through the National Science Foundation as well as 

through grants from executive branch agencies. TRB not only receives grants, but also gives and 

oversees research grants on transportation-related subjects. 

Foreword

The 2012–2013 high school debate topic is: ‘‘Resolved: The United States 

federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure 

investment in the United States.’’ 

In compliance with 44 U.S.C. Section 1333, the Congressional Research 

Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress (LC) prepared this bibliography to assist 

high school debaters in researching the topic. This bibliography is intended to assist 

debaters in the identification of resources on the topic. In selecting terms and 

websites for this manual, CRS sampled a wide spectrum of opinions reflected in the 

current literature on this issue. No preference for any policy is indicated by the selection or positioning of articles or websites cited, nor is CRS disapproval of any policy or article to be inferred from its omission. 

The manual is organized by subjects and source areas. For example, General Information comprises Congressional Hearings; Think Tanks and the Transportation Research Board (TRB); 1 and Books and Articles. The other sections in addition to General Information are Airports and Airways; Bridges and Tunnels, Highways and Roads, and Transit; Maritime: Ports and Waterways; Railroads; the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111–5, 123 Stat 115) which is 

included because the Act contained appropriations for immediate expenditures on 

transportation infrastructure and the section contains congressional hearings both 

before and after the appropriation and expenditure of funds; and Agencies and Organizations.

Many of the U.S. government documents listed in the bibliography are 

available either online or in federal depository libraries. These libraries may be 

identified in the Federal Depository Library Directory at: http://catalog.gpo.gov/

fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp. Your local public library may be able to obtain the documents 

that are not available in an online format from these federal depository libraries 

through an interlibrary loan. 

The Library of Congress cannot distribute copies of this publication or other 

materials identified throughout this publication to debaters. This publication and 

other U.S. government documents may also be found online in the Federal Digital 

System at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys.

The bibliography was prepared by John Williamson, Mark Gurevitz, Carol 

Glover and Rita Tehan, Information Research Specialists in the Resources, Science 

and Industry Section of the Knowledge Services Group, and by Audrey Celeste 

Crane-Hirsch, Information Research Specialist in the Humanities Section of the 

Knowledge Services Group, CRS, under the direction of Anne Marie Gwynn, Head 

of the Resources, Science and Industry Section, Knowledge Services Group, CRS. 

Good luck to each debater in researching, preparing, and presenting arguments on this year’s topic. 

Mary B. Mazanec, Director 

Congressional Research Service 

(VII)

NATIONAL DEBATE TOPIC FOR HIGH SCHOOLS, 2012–2013 

Resolved: The United States Federal Government Should 

Substantially Increase Its Transportation Infrastructure 

Investment in the United States 

AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE 

2012–2013 HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE TOPIC 

Compiled by 

John Williamson, Mark Gurevitz, Carol Glover, Rita Tehan 

Information Research Specialists 

Resources, Science and Industry Consulting Section 

Knowledge Services Group 

Congressional Research Service 

and

Audrey Celeste Crane-Hirsh 

Information Research Specialist 

Humanities Consulting Section 

Knowledge Services Group 

Congressional Research Service 

Under the direction of Anne Gwynn, Section Head 

Resources, Science and Industry Consulting Section 

Knowledge Services Group 

Congressional Research Service 

December 2013 

(IX)

Introduction

The 2012–2013 high school debate topic is: ‘‘Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure investment in the United States.’’ 

This selective bibliography is intended to assist debaters as they identify resources and references on the debate topic and includes citations to books, congressional publications, magazine and journal articles, and websites. The annotations 

are drawn from either the Transportation Research Board’s Transport Research 

International Documentation database (TRID, http://trid.trb.org/) or the website of 

the publishers or from specialized databases (e.g., ProQuest Congressional). CRS is 

not responsible for the contents of the annotations. This compilation is not intended 

to supply complete coverage of the topic. Further research on the topic resources can 

be done at high school, research, depository, and public libraries. Also, debaters are 

encouraged to consult international organizations, U.S. Government agencies, private think tanks, and non-governmental organizations (NG0s) and their websites, 

which can provide further information on the topic of transportation infrastructure 

investment. The manual is divided into six subtopics: 

General Information 

Airports and Airways 

Bridges and Tunnels, Highways and Roads, Transit 

Maritime: Ports and Waterways 

Railroads

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111–5, 123 Stat 115) 

Agencies and Organizations 


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