[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 70 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5082-S5084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VIRGINIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BI-ANNUAL DINNER
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, the Congress, being an integral part of
the greater metropolitan Washington area, will soon enact legislation
impacting this area, from law enforcement to economic growth. Through
my years in the Senate I have worked with community leaders from
Virginia as well as Maryland and the District of Columbia.
John ``Till'' Hazel, Jr., is one with whom I have had a long personal
friendship--as did our fathers, both medical doctors.
But transcending friendship, we have had our full measure of
agreements, and disagreements, on issues affecting this area.
This month the State of Virginia Chamber of Commerce honored ``Till''
Hazel by inviting him to give his report on the State of the Union of
this greater metropolitan area.
I was present as the audience received with great respect his strong,
outspoken, message.
Since it bears on our present and future responsibility as an
integral part, and voice, of this area, I ask unanimous consent that
his statement be printed in the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Remarks by John T. Hazel, Jr., Virginia Chamber of Commerce
Congressional Dinner, May 8, 1997
It is a personal privilege and great honor to address this
distinguished gathering of political and business leaders
and, particularly, to share with you observations and
concerns regarding Virginia's position in the national and
international economy as we hurtle toward the 21st century.
Virginians are a proud people, we have a wonderful
geographic location, and a history and tradition of
conservative and prudent leadership commitment to our
citizens. However, that tradition cannot allow complacency
which is at times the excuse for lack of vision and often the
enemy of prosperity.
My focus today is upon the future of Virginia and what we
must do to assure a high level of prosperity in a knowledge
driven economy. Change, at the pace we are experiencing it,
challenges us all with deciding what to keep and what to
discard. We face great opportunities if we choose wisely and
great hazards if we do not.
Reference to history and tradition is for the purpose of
perspective. We cannot prosper if we live in the past. It is
the future to which we must look. No day is complete without
reference in print or electronic media of economic
competition on a global basis. No state nor locality is
isolated from economic competition. We must develop a
realistic data base and an exciting vision for the future
with an emphasis upon growth and prosperity. Current data is
not encouraging.
Despite vigorous efforts by Governor Allen and development
agencies, net job growth in the first six years of the 90s
has been only half of net job growth in the 80s. Projections
regarding the future do not suggest a return to the robust
job growth of the 80s without vigorous new efforts. Indeed,
if the technology sector largely based in Northern Virginia
is removed from the data, job growth in Virginia thus far in
the 90s is zero or perhaps negative.
The lack of robust job growth is particularly troubling
since the population of Virginia has increased by more than
one million people since 1980. Measured against the national
average, Virginia is no better than average in the United
States in job growth and, indeed, for the past several years
has been below the national average--ranking 33rd in the
nation. Personal income growth has tracked job growth causing
the income of the average Virginia family to be only
approximately equal to the national average with personal
income growth ranking only 29th in the nation.
EDS, a major national corporation with heavy employment in
Virginia, represents that lack of skilled workers has
affected its employment base and economic health. There are
many other similar examples. Eighteen thousand technology-
based jobs are unfilled in Virginia while employment in
absolute terms is only at or below the national average.
Virginia no longer competes for job growth simply with its
sister states. A recent conversation with the CEO of a
concern with global operations suggests that Ph.Ds in Pacific
Rim countries can be found for a lifetime training cost of
$100,000 versus $1,000,000 in the United States, and
engineers can be hired who do very satisfactory work which is
then exported to the United States from Bangladesh at 20% of
the cost of an engineer in the United States.
Certainly, we as Virginians do and must aspire to be the
best. It is abundantly clear that we are barely average in
the critical areas of job growth and individual income. We,
as business and political leaders, cannot fail to lead our
citizens to achieve the very best.
Where must we look to correct this mediocre or less than
mediocre performance? The answer is investment and
reinvestment in essential infrastructure. Education,
transportation and our financial base.
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Education today is best described as K-L. L does not refer
to law school but to K thru Life. To compete successfully at
the national and international level, education must never
end. Training and retraining are the keys to our economic
future. With 18,000 technology jobs in Virginia unfilled
because of lack of trained employees, the problem is
immediate, clear and compelling.
But when we review the commitment of Virginia to education,
we find that legislative studies have identified a $6.2
billion immediate need to enhance local schools. A need
without suggested solution. Virginia ranks only 43rd in
higher education support, and simply to equal the southern
states average will require a commitment of an additional
$200 million per year indefinitely for operating requirements
only. Virginia had achieved in the 80s a slow and steady pace
toward a modest level of quality and funding in its
institutions of higher education. Unfortunately, the
depression of the early 90s and the requirements of a
balanced budget caused the political system to withdraw in
excess of $100 million per year from higher education with an
invitation to the individual institutions to increase tuition
in lieu of an increase in state taxes. This was done and the
budget successfully balanced from the pocketbook of students
and their parents without an increase in taxes. The
predictable result in Virginia public tuition is among the
very highest in the nation.
As the economic crisis ended, funding for higher education
in Virginia continued to be restricted. The average
investment per thousand dollars of individual income dropped
from $12 in 1979 to $6.76 today--a drop of 44% in funding.
This decrease means that Virginia's record for financial
support for higher education is one of the worst in the
nation. The results are evident in every direction. The belt
tightening of the universities, despite serious
restructuring efforts, has reached harmful proportions.
The president of one of Virginia's leading institutions
recently testified that in offering faculty positions to
sustain excellence in a core discipline, 11 of 12 offers were
rejected on the basis of inadequate compensation. The same is
not true with priorities elsewhere. Indeed, we seem to have
no limit to what we are willing to pay for athletic
excellence, but payment for academic excellence is demeaned
and ignored.
Technology is much talked about and little funded.
The community college system--a cornerstone of work force
training and retraining--has been forced to reduce worker
access and increase tuition for programs which are
fundamental to preparation for skilled jobs.
In recent years, capital improvements have been paid for
largely by debt. Now debt increases are frozen to sustain
Virginia's bond rating and no provision made for critical
capital improvements.
In Virginia, a state with a proud heritage from the days of
the Founding Fathers, support of higher education now ranks
at the low end of the nation. Thomas Jefferson believed that
higher education should be available ``within a day's ride of
all Virginians'' and founded a university of which we are all
proud, but today, with the demand for quality education
perhaps more critical to the prosperity of Virginians than
ever before, political and business leadership refuses to
recognize effectively the need. As the economy of Virginia
converts from mining, manufacturing and agriculture, the
principal asset of the citizens of Virginia is their
intellectual power and skill. Intellectual skill must be
enhanced and nurtured. As Governors Godwin, Holton and
Baliles made clear in their landmark statement of January
1995:
``Now is the time to make critical key investments in
Virginia's future. We believe the place to start is by
reaffirming public support for our unique system of higher
education. . . .''
The transportation infrastructure of Virginia continues to
service more citizens with vastly more miles of travel than
ever before without recognition of additional funding
requirements. As gas mileage increases, highway revenues by
mile decrease.
Principal deficiencies impact the entire state. Hampton
Roads has identified approximately $20 billion in
transportation improvements necessary. Bridges and tunnels
are very expensive, but the need cannot be denied.
Virginia requires an upgrade of I-81 now carrying three
times the truck traffic for which it was designed and without
any financial plan for improvement. Roanoke and Richmond have
demonstrated needs of several billion dollars each if their
commerce is to continue to move freely.
Northern Virginia shares with the Washington region
national recognition as the second worst gridlock in the
nation. There are clearly demonstrated multi-billion dollar
requirements. The total of state transportation requirements
over the next twenty years is an absolute minimum of $35
billion and could range upward to over $50 billion by
Virginia Department of Highway estimates. Despite these
needs, the Highway Department can only identify $12 billion
of likely available funds and that number is seriously
suspect as maintenance requirements erode construction funds.
Traffic gridlock is frequently equaled only by political
gridlock in resolving problems. Within a few miles of this
hall, we endure an infamous example of political gridlock. In
1945, the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed a dozen
bridges across the Rhine River under hostile fire. The
political system at Federal and State levels has been
gridlocked in discussions regarding replacement of the
Woodrow Wilson bridge for ten years already and is still
without an action plan for construction. Some years ago the
life of the bridge was determined to be 9 years. By my
calculations we have 7 years, 4 months and 20 minutes before
it collapses into the River. But have no fear, further down
the River even the downsized Army Corps of Engineers at Ft.
Belvoir should be able to erect a pontoon crossing to save us
from the fruits of political gridlock.
Finally, in reviewing the infrastructure in Virginia, we
must look to the fiscal situation, and it is grim.
Philosophically, Virginia was a few short years ago a no debt
state--one of the few in the nation. How different today. The
fastest growing item in the Virginia budget is debt service.
During the 90s to balance the budget, a series of emergency
measures were utilized. There was a pledge to citizens who
voted for the lottery that proceeds would be only for capital
construction. Yet now lottery proceeds exceeding $300 million
annually are a vital part of the general fund despite that
commitment. In addition to the transfer of lottery funds to
the general fund, a series of single shot annual measures
have been utilized to balance the budget. The most onerous
being increased tuition.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of the current problem
was the recent discussion of what new lottery game could be
adopted to provide additional revenue for the general fund
without encouraging addictive gambling. I never knew until
the General Assembly discussion that some lottery games were
addictive and some were not. In any event, a new lottery game
and the fortuitous settlement of the litigation allowed the
state to eke out a balanced budget last Session.
Virginia has a serious structural deficit in state
finances. General fund revenues do not cover expenses. It is
politically convenient to ignore the deficit, and it is
policy apparently on a non-partisan basis to continue to
promise no tax increases and talk tax cuts without
reference to financing commitments, expenditures, income
and investment in our future.
Where is Virginia as we look forward to the future--a
future which should be founded upon optimism, enthusiasm and
strength? The people of Virginia are intelligent, committed,
and have high level of work ethic an integrity. Mr.
Jefferson, as did other Founding Fathers, believed that an
informed public was fundamental to prosperity, health and
enjoyment in the democratic system.
Unfortunately, the difficulty in today's world is in
assuring an informed public. Virginians have indicated in
overwhelming numbers at all levels an awareness that higher
education is the key to individual prosperity and a desire to
have a transportation system that functions. Yet we are, at
the political level, unwilling to make it clear what the
needs are and how they will be paid for. Business has failed
to demand political accountability and politicians have
failed to inform.
We are in the early stages of yet another political
campaign in which the prevailing political wisdom apparently
is directed at ignoring needs and, thus, the costs.
In higher education, there is a determined effort to reduce
costs by reducing the number of students to be educated which
is simply to deny access to education to a significant number
of citizens. There are those who sponsor denying education to
those who are ``below average''--a shocking thought when
contemplated seriously. There is a suggestion that faculties
are commodities and quality in a faculty is not related to
quality in the educational product.
There is a complete denial essentially by silence of the
urgent and compelling needs of transportation.
Business leadership must demand that candidates for any
office be required to address in specifics what programs they
intend to dismantle, and what new commitments they are
unwilling to make. Thus far, we have been treated to denial.
The people of Virginia deserve better. We need leadership
which will understand the need for reinvestment and new
investment in Virginia's future--who will understand that we
are part of an international economy in a knowledge driven
world of technology and that the only competitive edge we
have is our infrastructure.
While my comments have focused principally on higher
education, transportation and fiscal needs which are the
fundamentals, if other areas of the infrastructure are not
enhanced the capability of Virginia to compete is further
weakened.
Without investment and reinvestment, we cannot expect to be
competitive as we enter the next century. No business leader
can fail to invest in the future. Why should our great state
be denied investment in the future? We cannot allow Virginia
to be weakened at this time of intense global competition by
denial of problems and refusal to debate the issues because
the solutions may be politically uncomfortable. Virginia has
the capacity for investment. We lack the political will.
The citizens of Virginia are entitled to be informed and to
decide whether we should settle for mediocrity in job growth,
in education,in transportation and in our financial base. We
cannot accept a political leadership which denies Virginians
the tools necessary for future prosperity.
Our goals must be a system of higher education among the
best in the country. Not a quibble over 43rd or 44th. A K-12
system which prepares graduates for accelerated
[[Page S5084]]
learning and successful participation in the workplace, a
first class system of transportation, and a financial
structure with bi-partisan support that addresses with
political honesty funding requirements.
Virginia must create a competitive position in global
markets in the new century with an unrestricted commitment to
excellence in providing our citizens with the tools of
prosperity in a world of intense competition.
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