[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1417-H1418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LIVABLE COMMUNITIES IN VIRGINIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) 
is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, this week there is a meeting in 
Norfolk, Virginia, of the unsung heroes of the efforts to promote 
Virginia's livability, the town planners and the citizen volunteers who 
are on the front lines doing one of the hardest jobs in terms of coping 
with the problems of growth and development and sprawl in Virginia, but 
sadly, they have fewer tools than almost any State in the country.
  They know what to do, but despite those efforts, the State of 
Virginia has had unbalanced growth over the course of the last 15 
years. The 1990s were a disaster. There was a failure in 1990 to adopt 
minimal State planning goals that would have helped provide form and 
direction.
  In 1995, the legislature in Virginia overwhelmingly defeated 
Virginia's Strategic Planning Act. Today we have a State administration 
that is asleep at the switch, and a legislature that is not helping the 
people of Virginia. There is no tie-in between their transportation 
investments and land use. There is certainly a head-in-the-sand 
attitude regarding paying the bill.
  Even if you are one of those people who still feel that we can pave 
our way out of traffic congestion, and that number is a smaller and 
smaller number across the country, because community after community 
has proven that we do not have enough concrete to pave our way out of 
congestion, but even if one believes that, in the State of Virginia 
there is no plan to deal with over $50 billion of transportation 
investments that are conservatively required over the course of the 
next 20 years.
  The Virginia Department of Transportation, VDOT, which is behind the 
curve as it relates to many of the transportation agencies around the 
country, was seriously damaged in the 1990s. There were ill-conceived 
programs of downsizing which ended up having a number of people who 
were terminated as retired, only to be hired back at higher salaries 
afterwards to try and move transportation projects along.
  But I am pleased to say that there are some signs that things are 
happening in Virginia on the right side of the equation. First and 
foremost is that the citizens at the grass roots level are pushing 
back. There is increasing concern about unplanned growth.
  In Loudon County we saw a sweep of eight smart growth candidates into 
county office, four Democrats, two Republicans, two Independents. It 
was a broad bipartisan effort to try and get back in control of their 
community.

[[Page H1418]]

There were other electoral wins in Fairfax, Prince William, in 
Stafford, in towns and cities across Virginia.
  In the city of Suffolk there is an integrated comprehensive plan and 
zoning to direct growth towards designated areas that can handle it. 
The highly respected Mason-Dixon poll in March showed that growth is 
the number one issue in the Shenandoah Valley. Even the conservative 
newspaper, the Richmond Times Dispatch, has had a 180-degree change 
recently, and recently editorialized on behalf of planning smarter.
  Madam Speaker, Virginia has given much to this country, the home of 
Thomas Jefferson, of George Washington. It was a leader in the 
democratic institutions for the entire world.
  It is my hope that their Governor and that their legislature will 
stop denying the problem, will work with us in Congress, will work more 
importantly, with people at the grass roots level, all working as 
partners for livable communities. If they are willing to do so, to deal 
with those planners, with those citizen volunteers, with simple, 
commonsense steps and structure to make the planning process work 
better, Virginia communities will in fact be more livable and all our 
families can be safer, healthier, and economically secure.

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