IV 

House Calendar No. 194 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 936 

[Report No. 110–544] 

Honoring the 200th anniversary of the Gallatin Report on Roads and Canals, 

celebrating the national unity the Gallatin Report engendered, and recognizing the vast contributions that national planning efforts have provided 

to the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2008 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. WALSH

of New York, Mr. PETRI, and Mr. FARR) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

MARCH 10, 2008 

Additional sponsors: Ms. DELAURO, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. MATSUI, and 

Mr. HINCHEY

MARCH 10, 2008 

Reported with amendments, referred to the House Calendar, and ordered to 

be printed 

[Strike out the preamble and insert the part printed in italic] 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the 200th anniversary of the Gallatin Report on 

Roads and Canals, celebrating the national unity the 

Gallatin Report engendered, and recognizing the vast 


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•HRES 936 RH 

contributions that national planning efforts have provided 

to the United States. 

Whereas President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to provide a new 

vision for transportation that would unite the young Republic; 

Whereas 2008 marks the bicentennial of the report that Secretary Gallatin presented to President Jefferson, which 

proposed transportation improvements not as ends in 

themselves but as means to further national unity, which 

was part of the promise of the American Revolution, as 

James Madison, writing in The Federalist No. 14, emphasized, ‘‘Let it be remarked . . . that the intercourse 

throughout the Union will be facilitated by new improvements. Roads will everywhere be shortened, and kept in 

better order; accommodations for travelers will be multiplied and meliorated; an interior navigation on our eastern side will be opened throughout, or nearly throughout, 

the whole extent of the 13 States’’, and whose words 

have served as a worthy reminder of the needs for transportation infrastructure since that time; 

Whereas Gallatin incorporated the legacy Benjamin Franklin 

bequeathed to the country through his improvements to 

the Postal Service, including Franklin’s route surveys, his 

placement of milestones on principle roads, and his development of shorter transportation routes; 

Whereas the United States, as a result of Gallatin’s legacy, 

has a record of successful infrastructure partnerships, including— 

(1) the partnerships that built the Erie Canal, which 

vastly reduced transportation costs to the interior; 


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•HRES 936 RH 

(2) the partnerships that built the transcontinental 

railway, which united the country; 

(3) the partnerships that built transit projects 

across the country that promote freedom and opportunity; 

(4) the partnerships that built the National Highway 

System, which fostered interstate commerce, national 

unity, and broke down barriers between the States; and 

(5) the partnerships that formed the Tennessee Valley Authority, devised by President Theodore Roosevelt 

as a ‘‘corporation clothed with the power of government 

but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private 

enterprise’’, which brought electricity, conservation planning, and opportunity for thousands in the Tennessee 

Valley and across the country; 

Whereas any national planning endeavor, to be regarded as 

a success, must address and reconcile the needs of different regions of the country; 

Whereas the genius of the Gallatin plan was its alignment of 

the hopes of the Nation with the opportunities presented 

by access to new markets, populations, and territories; 

Whereas the United States currently faces new challenges financing the infrastructure necessary for the future economic needs of the country; and 

Whereas America must have a plan for its future if it is to 

succeed in a world of increasing international competition: Now, therefore, be it 

Whereas President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, to provide a new 

vision for transportation that would unite the young Republic; 


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•HRES 936 RH 

Whereas 2008 marks the bicentennial of the national plan, 

known as the Gallatin Report on Roads and Canals (Gallatin Report), presented by Secretary Gallatin to President 

Jefferson; 

Whereas the Gallatin Report proposed transportation improvements not as ends in themselves but as means to further 

national unity; 

Whereas transportation improvements were part of the promise 

of the American Revolution, as James Madison, writing in 

The Federalist No. 14, emphasized, ‘‘Let it be remarked . . . 

that the intercourse throughout the Union will be facilitated by new improvements. Roads will everywhere be 

shortened, and kept in better order; accommodations for 

travelers will be multiplied and meliorated; an interior 

navigation on our eastern side will be opened throughout, 

or nearly throughout, the whole extent of the thirteen 

States’’; 

Whereas Madison’s words have served as a worthy reminder of 

the needs for transportation infrastructure since that time; 

Whereas the Gallatin Report incorporated the improvements to 

the Postal Service that Benjamin Franklin bequeathed to 

the Nation, including Franklin’s route surveys, his placement of milestones on principal roads, and his development of shorter transportation routes; 

Whereas the Gallatin Report called for an inland waterway 

navigation canal from Massachusetts to North Carolina, 

which was the precursor to the modern day Intercostal 

Waterway system; 

Whereas the United States, as a result of Gallatin’s legacy, has 

a record of successful infrastructure developments, including— 


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•HRES 936 RH 

(1) the Erie Canal, which vastly reduced transportation costs to the interior; 

(2) the transcontinental railway, which united the 

Nation; 

(3) transit projects across the Nation, which promote 

freedom and opportunity; 

(4) the National Highway System, including the 

Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense 

Highways, which fostered interstate commerce, national 

unity, and broke down barriers between the States; and 

(5) the Tennessee Valley Authority, devised by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a ‘‘corporation clothed 

with the power of government but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise’’, which 

brought electricity, conservation planning, and opportunity for thousands in the Tennessee Valley and across 

the Nation; 

Whereas to be regarded as a success, any national planning endeavor must address and reconcile the needs of different regions of the Nation; 

Whereas the genius of the Gallatin Report was its alignment 

of the hopes of the Nation with the opportunities presented 

by access to new markets, populations, and territories; 

Whereas the United States currently faces new challenges in financing the transportation infrastructure that is necessary 

for the future economic needs of the Nation; and 

Whereas if the United States is to succeed in a world of increasing international competition, the United States must 

have a new national plan for transportation improvements 

to provide for the Nation’s future: Now, therefore, be it 


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•HRES 936 RH 

1 Resolved, That the United States House of Rep2 resentatives— 

3 (1) reaffirms the goals and ideals that formed 

4 the impetus for Gallatin’s national plan two hundred 

5 years ago; 

6 (2) calls on the Federal Government, States, lo7 calities, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, 

8 and the citizens of the United States to mark this 

9 important anniversary by recalling the important 

10 legacy of public investment in infrastructure that 

11 connects and enhances the economies, communica12 tions, and communities of our several States; and 

13 (3) supports the creation of a new national plan 

14 to align the demands for economic development with 

15 the resources of the Nation. 

16 That the House of Representatives— 

17 (1) reaffirms the goals and ideals that formed the 

18 impetus for Albert Gallatin’s national plan for trans19 portation improvements 200 years ago; 

20 (2) calls on the Federal Government, States, lo21 calities, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, 

22 and the citizens of the United States to mark this im23 portant anniversary by recalling the important legacy 

24 of public investment in infrastructure, which connects 


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1 and enhances the economies, communications, and 

2 communities of the several States; and 

3 (3) supports the creation of a new national plan 

4 for transportation improvements to align the de5 mands for economic development with the resources of 

6 the Nation. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘Resolution reaffirming the goals and ideals that formed the impetus for Albert Gallatin’s national plan for transportation improvements 200 years ago, and for other purposes.’’. 


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House Calendar No. 194 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 936 

[Report No. 110

–544] 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the 200th anniversary of the Gallatin ReStates. planning efforts have provided to the United recognizing the vast contributions that national tional unity the Gallatin Report engendered, and port on Roads and Canals, celebrating the naMARCH 10, 2008 

Reported with amendments, referred to the House 

Calendar, and ordered to be printed 


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