Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, said he does not plan to seek reelection and will focus his final year in office on a new infrastructure bill.
“Rather than focusing on a reelection campaign, I thought it wiser to spend my last year as chairman focusing 100% on working with President Trump and my Republican and Democratic colleagues in both chambers to pass a much needed infrastructure bill to rebuild America,” he said in a statement.
Shuster first told the Washington Examiner of his decision. He recently met with President Trump to discuss pieces of what could become a $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
“On behalf of the nation’s trucking industry, including more than 3.5 million professional drivers, I want to thank Chairman Shuster for his service in the cause of improving and modernizing our transportation system,” Chris Spear, president and CEO of American Trucking Associations, said in a statement.
In 2018, Shuster will complete his third term as chairman. Under House rules, he would be required to give up the position at the start of the next congressional session.
As T&I chairman, Shuster played a critical role in instituting the FAST Act highway funding law, as well as the prior one, known as Map-21. He has also created special panels to focus on intermodal and other freight-specific issues.
Shuster is the son of former Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), who chaired the same transportation committee from 1995 to 2001. No one other than the two Shusters have held this congressional seat since 1973.
