Welcome to the third installment of CR4's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. We began on Monday, with "A Giant Nationwide Engineering Project" and continued on Tuesday with Roots of the Roads. Check back with us all week as we cover "Adventures in Civil Engineering, and "The Road Ahead".
The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System is monument to engineering and a testament to compromise. Although President Dwight D. Eisenhower deserves credit for the network of roads that bears his name, many actors played important roles both behind the scenes and upon the national stage. To his credit, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay, a retired engineer and former governor of Germany, to lead the President's Advisory Committee on a National Highway Program. Other members of the Clay Committee included Steve Bechtel of Bechtel Corporation, Sloan Colt of Bankers' Trust, Bill Roberts of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing, and Dave Beck of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Francis C. (Frank) Turner, a veteran of the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), served as the committee's executive secretary and provided expert knowledge of highway financing.
In its 1955 report to Congress, the Clay Committee recommended the creation of a Federal Highway Corporation that would issue bonds worth $25 million. Increased revenues from gasoline taxes would retire the bonds over 30 years. Sen. Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia, Chair of the Finance Committee, objected to paying $12 billion of interest on the bonds and instead favored a pay-as-you go approach. Consequently, the Senate defeated the Clay Committee's plan and approved a continuation of the current federal-aid highway program sponsored by Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Sr. The House rejected both the Clay Committee's plan and a highway bill from Maryland Rep. George H. Fallon which would have raised user fees and increased the federal government's share of payments to 90%. As Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn told reporters, "The people who were going to have to pay for these roads put on a propaganda campaign that killed the bill." President Eisenhower's call for a "modern, interstate highway system" in January of 1956 marked the start of a new legislative offensive. Four events helped turn the tide. First, the BPR identified the remaining sections of the interstate system and provided detailed maps to each member of Congress. Second, the trucking industry agreed to a one or two-cent hike in gasoline taxes in exchange for more modest increases in user fees. Third, political lobbyists from companies such Firestone and General Motors increased their contacts with Congress. Fourth, President Eisenhower dropped his bond proposal and endorsed the pay-as-you-go financing mechanism in a highway bill from Louisiana Rep. Hale Boggs. Years later, Eisenhower recalled that "though I endorsed General Clay's recommendations, I grew restless with quibbling over methods of financing. I wanted the job done."
Although the House approved the Boggs bill by a decisive margin, passage in the Senate was not assured. Sen. Byrd endorsed the outlines of the House's self-financing highway plan, but was concerned that expenses would exceed revenues. To ensure that the proposed Highway Trust Fund did not run a deficit, the Senate passed the Byrd Amendment, which authorized the Secretary of Commerce to reduce apportionments to the states on a pro rata basis in the event of a revenue shortfall. The Senate's version of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 was similar to the Boggs bill, but still required the efforts of a House-Senate conference committee. After a contentious, two-month period, the conferees reported a final version to both chambers. According to the final bill, the federal government would fund 90% of the $34 billion program, apportioning revenues over a 13-year period and working closely with the American Association of State Highway Organizations (AASHO).
On June 26, 1956, the Senate approved the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways by a decisive 89 to 1 margin. The sole "no" vote was cast by Louisiana Senator Russell Long, who opposed the bill's gas-tax increase. On that same summer day, the House approved the highway legislation by a resounding voice vote. Three days later, President Eisenhower signed the landmark legislation while recovering from a painful attack of ileitis at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Although Ike signed the bill without fanfare, White House Press Secretary James C. Haggerty told the press that the President "was highly pleased".
Resources:
http://www.konnections.com/airlift/lclay.htm
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su10.htm
Click here for our fourth installment "The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System: Adventures in Civil Engineering."
The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System: The Politics of Passage
