[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 16, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1403-H1404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IT IS TIME TO INVEST IN AMERICA

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, today Washington, D.C., was a little bit 
more of a mess than usual. The Metro is shut down. In part, it is a 
consequence of mismanagement for years; but more importantly, it is a 
statement about the deteriorated state of transit in America. There is 
an $80 billion--B, billion--backlog of capital needed to bring existing 
transit--not new transit options to get people out of their cars and 
out of traffic and mitigate congestion--just to bring existing transit 
systems up to a state of good repair.
  As I have been talking about this around the country for the last 
couple of years, I have been saying, you know, things are so bad that 
they are killing people in Washington, D.C., and that is what has been 
happening. It has deteriorated to the point where we had one accident 
that killed six people and a fire last year that killed one person.
  We need to make these repairs. We need them made in America. We have 
the strongest Buy America requirements for transit of any part of the 
Federal Government. It will provide American jobs. It will give 
Americans better commuting opportunities. It will make our people safe 
on transit.
  But this body has failed to bring forward or even allow a vote on 
additional

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funding for transportation infrastructure in this country. It is a 
crisis. We are becoming third or maybe fourth world in our 
infrastructure. Bridges are falling down, potholes, and transit systems 
that are falling apart; it is time to invest in America.

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