[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 96 (Thursday, June 30, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S4281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             LINCOLN LEGACY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ACT

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, beyond the debt limit extension, which has 
rightly consumed the attention of this body, we face another 
challenge--the funding for our roads, airports, and railroads.
  Our best estimate is that current needs would total $225 billion 
annually, but revenue from the main source of funding for these 
programs, the gasoline tax, only totaled $90 billion.
  The law requires balance in the transportation trust fund. So how 
would we respond? There are basically three major options.
  Option 1: Let funding fall. This would be a catastrophe, especially 
for the construction industry, where already in Illinois upwards of 30 
percent of construction workers are without work.
  Option 2: Increase the gas tax. But that is one of the most 
regressive taxes that hits the working poor harder than almost any 
other citizen in our country. The slowdown in our economy as a result 
of a gas tax increase would probably cause unemployment to go up and 
could jeopardize our extremely fragile recovery.
  There is a third option, but before I describe that, let me ask a 
question. Arguably, what is the third biggest thing that the Lincoln 
administration was known for? First would be the emancipation 
proclamation. Second would be the victory in the Civil War. What is No. 
3? I argue that it was the 1862 Transcontinental Railway Act--an act 
that, in 1862, when the Lincoln administration was borrowing as much 
money as it could from as many creditors as possible to fund the 
expansion of the Union Army, with credit already stretching to the 
limit--and does this sound familiar--the Lincoln administration 
launched the largest infrastructure development program in the history 
of the United States. We built a 2,000-mile railroad in only 6 years, 
and created 7,000 American towns. We did it with only $50 million in 
appropriations.
  How did we fund the rest? The answer is that this was the ultimate 
public-private partnership. I am particularly worried that in this 
Congress--especially as it considers a transportation bill next year--
we have forgotten our own economic legacy, especially from the time 
that we built one of the largest infrastructure development projects in 
history.
  To recall, the Federal Government granted 20 square miles in 
alternating sections on either side of the railroad for every mile of 
track they laid for those railroads. The railroads were also granted 
timber, stone, and mineral rights on this land. In addition, for every 
mile of track they laid, the railroads were authorized to issue a set 
amount of bonds--loans they received--which interest payments were 
backed by the Federal Government. This guarantee allowed 30-year bonds 
to be issued at a low rate of 6 percent. This was one of the largest 
development projects in the history of the United States. That is why 
it is an example for how we respond to our transportation needs today.
  When we look at our own economic legacy and look at the funding 
shortfall for new roads, airports, and rail, I think we should recover 
that legacy to respond to the challenge for next year. That is why I 
have introduced the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act.
  This legislation removes a number of Federal restrictions on public-
private partnerships, providing States greater flexibility to generate 
transportation revenues and enhanced access to private capital for 
road, rail, aviation, transit, and port infrastructure. Under the 
Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act, we could mobilize over 
$100 billion for new infrastructure investment.
  Specifically, this legislation lifts caps on cost recovery programs 
for highways; it incentivizes partnerships in transit; it removes 
barriers to airport privatization; it increases resources for the 
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, sometimes 
called TIFIA; and it makes improvements to the Railroad Rehabilitation 
and Improvement Financing Program, which are backed by the U.S. High 
Speed Rail Association and the American High Speed Rail Association.
  The legislation also stands on the premise that the taxpayer should 
be protected in these types of arrangements. Indiana showed us what a 
properly structured deal should look like. Governor Mitch Daniels 
reaped a windfall from the 2006 lease of the Indiana toll road that 
netted his State $3.8 billion for new transportation upgrades. Most of 
the money has now been reinvested in highway projects throughout his 
State, but leaders shrewdly placed $500 million in an interest-bearing 
account to fund future road projects. This is one of the many reasons 
why the Indiana economy has grown at twice the rate of the Illinois 
economy.
  We have seen public-private partnerships take off not only in our own 
country, where they were invented, but in other countries, especially 
British Columbia and Australia, where they have authorized $30 billion 
for transportation infrastructure--almost 20 percent of their total, 
using this innovative financing means.
  In these times of deficit and debt, we could let America grind to a 
halt, we could raise taxes and sock it to the working poor, we could 
slow down our economy with a new government burden, or we could recall 
our own economic legacy, written by Abraham Lincoln's administration 
itself, to use public-private partnerships as a way of growing jobs and 
incomes in the United States, without increasing taxes.
  I urge this body to review this legislation as we come up with a new 
transportation bill, and to see it as a way to improve jobs, income, 
and our infrastructure--which is so critical to the crossroads of the 
Nation, Illinois--and do it in a way that doesn't hurt our economy or 
the working poor.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.

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