[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2013

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                               speech of

                         HON. SUZANNE BONAMICI

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 26, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5972) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chair, I rise to urge my colleagues to work 
together to pass a comprehensive transportation bill before current law 
expires at the end of this week. The First District of Oregon is home 
to some of the country's most innovative thinkers, many of whom work at 
the technology giant Intel. Unfortunately, one of the biggest 
challenges of their workday often comes before it even starts, and 
continues after it ends: it is their commute. The roads leading to the 
``Silicon Forest,'' as the technology cluster in Oregon is known, can 
back up for miles--a good sign for the economy, but bad for our 
transportation infrastructure.
  The City of Hillsboro is home to many innovative tech companies. When 
the City applied for a TIGER grant to improve mobility and reduce 
congestion in the Silicon Forest, I supported their application. 
Infrastructure investments like this make it easier for people to get 
to work and they facilitate efficient transport of goods to market. 
This project wasn't selected by the Department of Transportation, but 
the application highlighted an important point. Investing in our 
transportation infrastructure is an economic multiplier. Not only do we 
employ hard-working Americans by building and maintaining 
infrastructure, we also improve the productivity and vibrancy of the 
workers who rely on the infrastructure to get to their workplace every 
morning.
  Infrastructure improvements are important for safety as well. The 
Portland metro area is nationally renowned as a bike-friendly 
community, and our companies attract highly qualified employees in part 
because of the safe, multimodal transportation network in our region. 
Maintaining this infrastructure is critical to continuing to bring new 
businesses into our communities; investment in infrastructure will help 
to keep our roads and transportation routes safe.
  So now, even though virtually every elected official talks about jobs 
as a first priority, somehow this transportation bill is stalling. We 
all agree that passing a surface transportation bill will create jobs. 
Let's do what is best for our constituents and pass a bill that keeps 
our construction workers on the job, reduces congestion for our 
commuters, and supports our struggling economy.

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