•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 oppor-
tunity; 
(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 Val-
ley 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 plan-
ning, 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 dif-
ferent 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 fi-
nancing the infrastructure necessary for the future eco-
nomic 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 competi-
tion: Now, therefore, be it 
Whereas President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his Sec-
retary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, to provide a new 
vision for transportation that would unite the young Re-
public; 
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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 (Gal-
latin Report), presented by Secretary Gallatin to President 
Jefferson; 
Whereas the Gallatin Report proposed transportation improve-
ments 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 facili-
tated 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 place-
ment of milestones on principal roads, and his develop-
ment 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, includ-
ing— 
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•HRES 936 RH 
(1) the Erie Canal, which vastly reduced transpor-
tation 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 Presi-
dent Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a ‘‘corporation clothed 
with the power of government but possessed of the flexi-
bility and initiative of a private enterprise’’, which 
brought electricity, conservation planning, and oppor-
tunity for thousands in the Tennessee Valley and across 
the Nation; 
Whereas to be regarded as a success, any national planning en-
deavor must address and reconcile the needs of different re-
gions 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 fi-
nancing 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 in-
creasing 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 
Resolved, That the United States House of Rep-
resentatives— 
(1) reaffirms the goals and ideals that formed 
the impetus for Gallatin’s national plan two hundred 
years ago; 
(2) calls on the Federal Government, States, lo-
calities, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, 
and the citizens of the United States to mark this 
important anniversary by recalling the important 
legacy of public investment in infrastructure that 
connects and enhances the economies, communica-
tions, and communities of our several States; and 
(3) supports the creation of a new national plan 
to align the demands for economic development with 
the resources of the Nation. 
That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms the goals and ideals that formed the 
impetus for Albert Gallatin’s national plan for trans-
portation improvements 200 years ago; 
(2) calls on the Federal Government, States, lo-
calities, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, 
and the citizens of the United States to mark this im-
portant anniversary by recalling the important legacy 
of public investment in infrastructure, which connects 
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•HRES 936 RH 
and enhances the economies, communications, and 
communities of the several States; and 
(3) supports the creation of a new national plan 
for transportation improvements to align the de-
mands for economic development with the resources of 
the Nation. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘Resolution reaffirm-
ing the goals and ideals that formed the impetus for Al-
bert Gallatin’s national plan for transportation improve-
ments 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 Re-
port on Roads and Canals, celebrating the na-
tional unity the Gallatin Report engendered, and 
recognizing the vast contributions that national 
planning efforts have provided to the United 
States. 
MARCH 10, 2008 
Reported with amendments, referred to the House 
Calendar, and ordered to be printed 
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