[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H3300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
(Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the United States Department of
Transportation released a proposal to spend $302 billion over the next
4 years on highway and transportation projects in our Nation. Though
this is an improvement on the current pathetically weak investment in
roads and bridges, this is not nearly enough to adequately address
America's broken infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, the American Society of Civil Engineers gives the United
States infrastructure a D grade and predicts that an additional $3.6
trillion investment will be needed by 2020 just to bring America's
infrastructure to a state of good repair.
Making a real investment, going beyond the President's proposal, is
not only an investment in our Nation, it is also an important
investment in our Nation's people. Nation-building right here at home
can't be outsourced and could create millions of jobs and dramatically
lower the unemployment rate.
I urge my colleagues to support large-scale investment in America,
supporting American people and American businesses.
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