Congressional field hearing will delve into Crossing project

? Who: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

? What: A congressional field hearing, featuring presentations by a range of transportation policy leaders and interest groups.

? When: 9 a.m., Monday, Feb. 21.

? Where: Clark Public Utilities building, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way.

A Monday congressional field hearing in Vancouver before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will feature presentations by a range of transportation policy leaders and interest groups, from Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond to anti-tolling activist David Madore.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who requested the hearing, announced details of the session Wednesday. It will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 21, at the Clark Public Utilities building, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way. U.S. Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., the committee chairman, will preside.

Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, who is a member of the transportation committee, requested the Southwest Washington session in advance of work on the upcoming transportation reauthorization bill , which will authorize funding for the federal share of the nation’s infrastructure projects over the next several years. The Columbia River Crossing is expected to be a major topic of discussion at the listening session.

The first hour of the hearing will feature prepared statements and questions from a panel of local transportation experts and stakeholders. Scheduled to take part are Hammond, the state’s top transportation official; Peter Capell, director of the Clark County Department of Public Works; Larry Paulson, executive director of the Port of Vancouver; Don Wagner, co-director of the Columbia River Crossing Project; Chandra Brown, vice president of Oregon Iron Works, a major manufacturer of streetcars; Joe Correy of Goodfellow Bros., a Wenatchee-based construction company that specializes in road, bridge and other major transportation projects; Michael Ennis, director of the Center for Transportation at the Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank in Olympia; and Madore, founder of the NoTolls.com Political Action Committee, which contributed to the 2010 political campaigns of 10 local candidates who oppose tolls on a new bridge across the Columbia River.

Not everyone who wanted to present testimony made the list. The Oregon chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors, which has members in Clark County, requested time on the agenda at the Vancouver session through Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the ranking Democrat on the committee.

Casey Bowman, Herrera Beutler’s spokesman, said dozens of stakeholder groups wanted to be involved and not all could be accommodated. He said DeFazio’s request on behalf of the contractors’ group wasn’t received until Monday night.

Those who didn’t make the list can provide testimony in the second hour of the session, which will be open to the public, and are also invited to submit comments in writing, Bowman said. The committee has scheduled a series of listening sessions around the country over the next few weeks.