[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1910-S1911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
        Wellstone, Mrs. Clinton, and Mr. Dodd):
  S. 471. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 to provide grants for the renovation of schools; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, today we will be introducing the Public 
School Repair and Renovation Act. This legislation will provide grants 
to local schools so they can make the repairs to ensure the safety of 
their students. I am pleased to be joined by Senators Bingaman, 
Kennedy, Wellsone, Dodd, and Clinton on this legislation.
  In 1998, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a Report Card 
for America's Infrastructure which reported serious problems with the 
physical infrastructure in our nation. However, the most alarming 
finding is the failing grade to schools in the United States--the only 
area to receive a failing grade.
  It is a national disgrace that the nicest places our kids see are 
shopping malls, sports arenas, and movie theaters, and the most rundown 
place they see is their school. What signal are we sending them about 
the value we place on them, their education and future?
  Modernizing and repairing our nation's schools is something I've been 
advocating for over a decade now. I secured $100 million in the fiscal 
year 1995 appropriations bill as a down payment on a school 
modernization program and was disappointed when those funds were 
rescinded.
  But we made real progress last year with the passage of a $1.2 
billion initiative to make emergency repairs. That was a bipartisan 
agreement hammered out by Senator Specter and me in negotiations on the 
fiscal year 2001 appropriations bill with Congressman Goodling and the 
White House.
  This was a 1 year authorization and the School Repair and Renovation 
Act will reauthorize this bipartisan plan for 5 years. This program 
provides grants to Local Education Agencies to help them make urgently 
needed repairs and to pay for special education and construction 
related technology expenses.
  Funds will be distributed to the States. States will then distribute 
75 percent of the funds on a competitive basis to local school 
districts to make emergency repairs such as fixing fire code violation, 
repairing the roof or installing new plumbing. The remaining 25 percent 
will be distributed competitively to local school districts to use for 
technology activities related to school renovation or for activities 
authorized under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act.
  The School Repair and Renovation Act is a key component in a two-
prong strategy to modernize our nation's schools.
  In the near future I will join forces with Representatives Johnson 
and Rangel and introduce the America's Better Classrooms Act in the 
Senate to provide tax credits for school construction projects. This 
bipartisan legislation would leverage $1.7 billion in tax credits over 
5 years to pay the interest on $25 billion in school modernization 
bonds.
  I know this approach will work because it mirrors a successful school 
construction demonstration program I started in Iowa in 1997. The Iowa 
demonstration is a two-prong response to our school modernization 
needs. First, we provide grants to local school districts to make 
urgent repairs to remedy fire code violations. Second, grants are made 
to local school districts to subsidize a portion of the cost for a new 
construction project.
  The program has been a big success. During the first 2 years of the 
demonstration, federal funds of $14.7 million supported projects 
totaling $142 million--each federal dollar leveraged $10.33.
  There is a legitimate federal role in helping fix our nation's 
crumbling schools, and we can do so without undermining local control 
of education. This federal role is recognized by President Bush who is 
recommending an expanded use of private activity bonds for school 
construction projects.
  Over the past few years we have had several partisan skirmishes 
related to school construction. This is a new year, a new Congress, and 
a new administration. I look forward to working with my colleagues to 
enact the School Repair and Renovation Act of 2001. I ask unanimous 
consent that a copy of the report card to which I referred be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              1998 REPORT CARD FOR AMERICA's INFRASTRUCTURE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Subject            Grade                  Comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roads..................       D-   More than half (59 percent) of our
                                    roadways are in poor, mediocre or
                                    fair condition. More than 70 percent
                                    of peak-hour traffic occurs in
                                    congested conditions. It will cost
                                    $263 billion to eliminate the
                                    backlog of needs and maintain repair
                                    levels. Another $94 billion is
                                    needed for modest improvement--a
                                    $357 billion total.
Bridges................         C- Nearly one of every three bridges
                                    (31.4 percent) is rated structurally
                                    deficient or functionally obsolete.
                                    It will require $80 billion to
                                    eliminate the current backlog of
                                    bridge deficiencies and maintain
                                    repair levels.
Mass Transit...........         C  Twenty percent of buses, 23 percent
                                    of rail vehicles, and 38 percent of
                                    rural and specialized vehicles are
                                    in deficient condition. Twenty-one
                                    percent of rail track requires
                                    improvement. Forty-eight percent of
                                    rail maintenance buildings, 65
                                    percent of all rail yards and 46
                                    percent of signals and communication
                                    equipment are in fair or poor
                                    condition. The investment needed to
                                    maintain conditions is $39 billion.
                                    It would take up to $72 billion to
                                    improve conditions.
Aviation...............         C- There are 22 airports that are
                                    seriously congested. Passenger
                                    enplanements are expected to climb
                                    3.9 percent annually to 827.1
                                    million in 2008. At current
                                    capacity, this growth will lead to
                                    gridlock by 2004 or 2005. Estimates
                                    for capital investment needs range
                                    from $40-60 billion in the next five
                                    years to meet design requirements
                                    and expand capacity to meet demand.
Schools................        F   One-third of all schools need
                                    extensive repair or replacement.
                                    Nearly 60 percent of schools have at
                                    least one major building problem,
                                    and more than half have inadequate
                                    environmental conditions. Forty-six
                                    percent lack basic wiring to support
                                    computer systems. It will cost about
                                    $112 billion to repair, renovate and
                                    modernize our schools Another $60
                                    billion in new construction is
                                    needed to accommodate the 3 million
                                    new students expected in the next
                                    decade.
Drinking Water.........        D   More than 16,000 community water
                                    systems (29 percent) did not comply
                                    with the Safe Drinking Water Act
                                    standards in 1993. The total
                                    infrastructure need remains large--
                                    $138.4 billion. More than $76.8
                                    billion of that is needed right now
                                    to protect public health.
Wastewater.............       D+   Today, 60 percent of our rivers and
                                    lakes are fishable and swimmable.
                                    There remain an estimated 300,000 to
                                    400.000 contaminated groundwater
                                    sites. America needs to invest
                                    roughly $140 billion over the next
                                    20 years in its wastewater treatment
                                    systems. An additional 2,000 plants
                                    may be necessary by the year 2016.
Dams...................        D   There are 2,100 regulated dams that
                                    are considered unsafe. Every state
                                    has at least one high-hazard dam,
                                    which upon failure would cause
                                    significant loss of life and
                                    property. There were more than 200
                                    documented dam failures across the
                                    nation in the past few years. It
                                    would cost about $1 billion to
                                    rehabilitate documented unsafe dams.
Solid Waste............         C- Totals non-hazardous municipal solid
                                    waste will increase from 208 to 218
                                    million tons annually by the year
                                    2000, even though the per capita
                                    waste generation rate will decrease
                                    from 1,606 to 1,570 pounds per
                                    person per year. Total expenditures
                                    for managing non-hazardous municipal
                                    solid waste in 1991 were $18 billion
                                    and are expected to reach $75
                                    billion by the year 2000.
Hazardous Waste........       D-   More than 530 million tons of
                                    municipal and industrial hazardous
                                    waste is generated in the U.S. each
                                    year. Since 1980, only 423 (32
                                    percent) of the 1,200 Superfund
                                    sites on the National Priorities
                                    List have been cleaned up. The NPL
                                    is expected to grow to 2,000 in the
                                    next several years. The price tag
                                    for Superfund and related clean up
                                    programs is an estimated $750
                                    billion and could rise to $1
                                    trillion over the next 30 years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
America's Infrastructure G.P.A. = D. Total Investment Needs = $1.3
  Trillion
 
A = Exception
B = Good
C = Mediocre
D = Poor
F = Indequate
 
Each category was evaluated on the basis of condition and performance,
  capacity vs. need, and funding vs. need.


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