A new multiyear highway bill must be a top legislative priority Associated Equipment Distributors’ (AED) 2011 Chairman Dennis Kruepke told a crowd gathered for the Rally for Roads May 25 on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol building.

“A new highway program is about America’s future,” said Kruepke, who is president and CEO of McCann Industries, the Case equipment dealership serving the Chicago metropolitan area with seven branch locations.

“It’s about having the roads and bridges we need to compete in the 21st Century. It’s about getting traffic moving again, reducing the costs of congestion, and wasting less time and less gas sitting in traffic. It’s about a better environment. It’s about having roads that get our families home safely.

“We need a road bill that builds a solid foundation for America’s future economic leadership. And we need it now,” Kruepke told rally attendees.

Held in conjunction with the Transportation Construction Coalition’s (TCC) 2011 Washington Fly-In and spearheaded by the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association and the National Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, the Rally for Roads brought together construction industry leaders and senior members of Congress involved in transportation policy. Speakers from Capitol Hill included House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), House Highways & Transit Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan, Jr. (R-Tenn.), and House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri (R-Wis.).

Several hundred employees of local companies affected by the highway bill participated in the event and AED members Alban CAT and James River Equipment provided construction equipment to help set a dramatic backdrop for the rally.

Earlier in the day, Kruepke spoke participated in an infrastructure roundtable discussion organized by the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

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