•HRES 567 IH 
Whereas the emergence of the automobile and truck after 
1900 created a public demand and economic need for im-
proved roads, highways, and byways; 
Whereas the mileage of paved roads in the United States rose 
from 204,000 in 1910 to 369,000 in 1920, therby greatly 
enhancing public mobility and interstate commerce; 
Whereas by 2020 the number of registered vehicles in the 
United States is expected to grow from 225,000,000 to 
about 275,000,000, requiring improvements to roads and 
highways; 
Whereas the construction of roads and highways requires the 
skills of numerous occupations, including suppliers, man-
ufacturers, builders, and those in engineering, pavement, 
and gravel industries; 
Whereas the industries which design, construct, and maintain 
roads and highways generate $200,000,000,000 for the 
economy annually and sustain about 2,200,000 jobs; 
Whereas the advent of the truck, and technological advances 
expanding its cargo capacity, dramatically increased the 
ability of the United States to transport goods more 
quickly and efficiently; 
Whereas the trucking industry had $606,000,000,000 in 
gross freight revenues, representing 87.5 percent of the 
Nation’s freight bill in 2000; 
Whereas intercity trucks logged 1,093,000,000 ton-miles in 
1999, representing almost 30 percent of the total domes-
tic intercity ton-miles logged by all modes; 
Whereas 
commercial 
trucks 
consumed 
more 
than 
44,000,000,000 gallons of fuel and paid $30,500,000,000 
in Federal and State highway-user taxes in 1999;
•HRES 567 IH 
Whereas by 2013 the total number of commercial trucks will 
increase by a third, from 6,000,000 to 8,000,000; 
Whereas there were 3,090,000 truck drivers in 2000 and 
9,900,000 employed throughout the United States econ-
omy in jobs that relate to the trucking industry in 1999; 
Whereas trucks transported more than 83 percent of the 
value of trade between the United States and Mexico and 
more than 73 percent between the United States and 
Canada in 1999; 
Whereas prior to the development of a national system of 
roads and highways for automobiles and trucks, the rail-
way system served as the primary mode of interstate 
travel for the American public and facilitated goods 
movement throughout the United States; 
Whereas America’s freight railroads carry more than 40 per-
cent of the Nation’s intercity freight, including approxi-
mately 70 percent of vehicles from domestic manufactur-
ers and more than 65 percent of the Nation’s coal to 
coal-fired plants; 
Whereas railroads in the United States originated nearly 
33,000,000 carloads of freight, including more than 
9,000,000 intermodal trailers and containers, and had a 
freight volume of 1,530,000,000,000 ton-miles in 2000; 
Whereas on average it costs 29 percent less to move freight 
by rail in 2000 than it did in 1981 and 59 percent less 
in inflation-adjusted dollars; 
Whereas from 1980 to 2001 Class I freight railroads invested 
more than $290,000,000,000 to maintain and improve 
infrastructure and equipment and reduced the number of 
train accidents per million train-miles by 64 percent;
•HRES 567 IH 
Whereas the railroad industry employed more than 230,000 
workers in 2001, including engineers, conductors, clerks, 
executives, and maintenance workers; 
Whereas railways and railroads move people and commodities 
in 
an 
efficient 
way 
and 
contribute 
more 
than 
$30,000,000,000 to the economy through wages, fringe 
benefits, purchases, and taxes; 
Whereas the public transportation system in the United 
States includes buses, trolley-buses, vanpools, jitneys, 
heavy railways, light railways, commuter railways, cable 
cars, monorails, aerial tramways, and ferryboats; 
Whereas Americans used public transportation a record 
9,500,000,000 times in 2001 and transit ridership has 
grown 23 percent since 1995; 
Whereas public expenditures to operate, maintain, and invest 
in public transportation systems in America amount to 
about $15,400,000,000 each year; 
Whereas there are more than 360,000 transit employees who 
work to operate, maintain, and manage America’s public 
transportation system; 
Whereas public transit helps to reduce vehicular traffic con-
gestion on roads and highways and leads to cleaner air; 
Whereas public transit continues to be one of the safest 
modes of travel and helps conserve energy and reduce 
America’s dependency on foreign oil; and 
Whereas public transit has provided the elderly and millions 
of Americans with disabilities expanded mobility and free-
dom to travel United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog-
nizes the trucking, railroad, and passenger transit indus-
•HRES 567 IH 
tries, and the workers in industries which operate, design, 
build, and maintain the rights of way along which trucks, 
freight trains, buses, and commuter trains travel— 
(1) for the immense contribution they make to 
the economy by facilitating international and inter-
state commerce; 
(2) for their contribution to the freedom of the 
traveling public which uses roads, highways, and 
railways for the purposes of business and leisure; 
and 
(3) for their conscientious effort to improve 
safety, increase efficiency, and better the environ-
ment in communities throughout the United States.
Æ