Foxx, left, says the country’s infrastructure needs a buzzer beater like the one James provided against the Bulls Sunday.America may have cast aside monarchy long ago, but maybe only a king would be able to take on transportation funding.
Well, a king on the court, that is.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Congress needs someone like NBA all-star LeBron James to step up before the Highway Trust Fund expires at the end of the month.
“We have a clock that is running out. We’ve got 20 days left, and gosh, I wish we had the equivalent of LeBron James when it comes to taking a courageous stance that need to be taken to move this country’s infrastructure forward,” Foxx said during an event Monday, according to a report from the Huffington Post. “But alas, he plays basketball; he’s not in Congress.”
James, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a playoff win over the Chicago Bulls Sunday.
The Highway Trust Fund will run out of money by July or August, and Congress has to extend the funding by May 31 and before lawmakers take off for the Memorial Day holiday.
Foxx made his comments Monday at an event kicking off the start of Infrastructure Week, He said he planned to use the week as a chance to call for a long-term solution for road funding like the President Barack Obama’s six-year Grow America plan, which the White House is pushing this week.
But as the clock gets closer to zero with no solution in sight, it’s become more likely that Congress will just pass a short-term patch similar to the proposal introduced by the House Appropriations Committee to get through the year. Foxx said the delay is only hurting the country’s infrastructure.
“We are not even in a position today to turn on the light switch and go big as a country because we’ve been through 32 short-term extensions over the last six years,” Foxx said. “There is so much uncertainty at the federal level that it is crippling our system.”
