[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 18, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H2705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WATER AND DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, this week, we 
recognize infrastructure week, where we highlight infrastructure 
development in our country and its importance to our districts.
  Now, we might think that infrastructure isn't very important, but we 
depend on it in all aspects of our daily lives. Developed roads and 
bridges help to take our children to school or to take our kids to our 
national parks. Our bridges, dams, and water are the infrastructure 
that help to produce energy and provide us with clean drinking water. 
Broadband infrastructure ensures that everyone has access to learning 
and to information.
  But, unfortunately, our infrastructure is deteriorating at an 
alarming rate. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that 
our crumbling infrastructure is costing each of us, each family, $3,400 
a year of our disposable income. When we take into consideration the 
increasingly high cost of living, for example, in Orange County, 
California, where I live, then we see that our families are, once 
again, footing a bill, and yet we are not making the investment that we 
need. In fact, the United States spends significantly less of its GDP 
than most developing countries for our national infrastructure.
  Unfortunately, this lack of investment is apparent throughout our 
country. We saw it in Flint, Michigan. When infrastructure fails to 
provide clean water, our communities suffer. In my home State of 
California, Porter Ranch, California, a massive gas leak released 
100,000 tons of methane gas into the air. These failed pipelines reach 
back to the 1950s.
  With respect to our roads, the Department of Transportation found 
that nearly 68 percent of California's roads are in poor or mediocre 
condition, and almost 30 percent of California's bridges have been 
recognized as structurally deficient.
  As California enters its fourth year of a drought, we are seeing just 
how crucial water infrastructure dollars can be during times of 
turmoil.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we have to look no further than my home district to 
see the positive effects of investing in infrastructure to help our 
communities. Since I was elected to the Congress almost 20 years ago, 
the very first project that I championed was building a large factory, 
the largest in the world, to reclaim our water, to recycle our water, 
and it is the world's largest advanced reclamation project. Today, that 
project has recycled nearly 188 billion gallons of water, and it really 
continues to be the flagship of water recycling.
  I have also fought to bring high-speed rail to California and led 
sending a letter to President Obama urging investment in the project, 
which will bring increased commercial and leisure travel.
  With respect to transit, I recently led a letter from the California 
delegation asking for $3.2 billion to fund the Capital Investment Grant 
Program, a program which funds projects all the way from northern to 
southern California. The Capital Investment Grants will help fund 
projects in my district, like the Orange County Streetcar, which 
increases transportation transit through my area so people get out of 
their cars, we protect the environment, and we move people more 
efficiently.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress needs to get its act together and invest 
in infrastructure.

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