[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  1997

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 18, 1996

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the 
Appropriations Committee for the yeoman's job of meeting the numerous 
funding requests in this tough fiscal environment.
  Many of us take for granted and do not recognize the arduous task the 
committee faces each time they are asked to balance fiscal 
responsibility with economic development.
  I would also like to thank the chairman and the members of the 
Committee for having the vision to provide the funding for the Alameda 
Corridor, to support the $400 million in direct loans as requested by 
the President through the Federal Highway Administration.
  While I am disappointed that unfortunate, unforseen circumstances 
caused the Alameda Corridor Project to be removed from this funding 
bill, I stand assured that this important infrastructure project will 
be a part of another funding bill later this year.
  The Alameda Corridor will provide this country with a fast and 
efficient gateway to Pacific Rim trade and will bolster our ability to 
compete in the burgeoning economic area.
  Once completed the Alameda Corridor will generate more than 70,000 
local jobs and close to 200,000 new jobs nationwide. The expanded 
trade, created by the construction of the Corridor, through the ports, 
will create new jobs related to manufacturing, production, and the 
shipping and trucking of goods.
  Today's funding environment requires a strong public-private 
partnership to finance projects of this nature. With over 75 percent of 
the cost of the project funded by State and local sources, the Alameda 
Corridor truly exemplifies the kind of public-private partnership that 
this Congress has long urged States and localities to pursue for 
important infrastructure projects.
  I would like to thank the members of the California delegation for 
working together in a bipartisan manner to effectively move the project 
through this body and to bring to fruition plans and blueprints that 
were conceived long before many of us were sworn into office.
  Let history reflect that the success of the Alameda Corridor is 
rooted in the bipartisanship that has helped to bring us to this point. 
I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues from both 
parties and with President Clinton to see the Alameda Corridor through 
to its completion.
  I yield back the balance of my time.