The American Trucking Associations applauded the Senate for adopting a shorter term patch for the Highway Trust Fund in order to pass a long-term, well-funded highway bill sooner, rather than later and urged the House of Representatives to quickly follow suit. “ATA believes quickly passing a long-term, well-funded highway bill is in our national interest and we believe that a short-term patch to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent is the best way to achieve that,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “To that end, by adopting the amendment by Sens. Boxer, Corker and Carper to shorten that patch, the Senate has put Congress on a path to solving these issues this year. “We urge the House to follow suit and to pass the Senate’s Highway Trust Fund fix and then get on to the work of passing a long-term highway bill when Congress returns from recess,” Graves said. “Continuing to manage our nation’s infrastructure by crisis is no way to provide America’s motorists and truckers with the world-class infrastructure they need. A December deadline averts near-term Highway Trust Fund default and provides ample time for lawmakers to resolve the long-term challenge facing the Trust Fund.”