U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell issued the following statement on the I-95 tolling plan:

“Any plan that would place further undue burdens on our working families, businesses, farmers, visitors, or folks simply passing through, is just plain wrong. In my eyes, any proposed I-95 tolling plan would be an affront to commerce in our state, especially through many of our rural parts that bless the eastern half of our state.

As further discussions of this wrongheaded plan progressed, I got to work immediately with Rep. Ellmers on H.R. 4174, the No Tolls in North Carolina Act of 2012, to prohibit any tolls along I-95, and also joined Rep. Butterfield to introduce H.R. 5713, the Talk Before You Toll Act of 2012, which would require DOT and the Federal Highway Administration to consider public comment from North Carolinians before any project could be authorized to collect tolls along the highway. In a time where partisan politics often cloud debate, I’m proud we’ve been able to build a bipartisan coalition of members opposed to this.

As with any issue before Congress, if it’s not right by the people I’m blessed to represent, I’ll do everything in my power to protect them from it. We can rein in more and more of Washington’s reckless spending and still be able to invest in our roads and bridges and put people to work—not pass along additional taxes and burdens to the people. They pay enough.”