[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 87 (Friday, May 19, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK

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                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 19, 2017

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
celebration of National Infrastructure Week.
  Here in Washington, meetings have brought together planners and civil 
engineers, builders and innovators, labor unions and developers--all 
dedicated to modernizing our American infrastructure. And it does need 
modernizing.
  In my home state of Rhode Island, for example, one in four bridges is 
deficient, the worst rate in the country. They are battered by storms 
and suffering from aging concrete and steel. Families and businesses 
alike suffer from this infrastructure debt.
  That's why this week I introduced the ``SAFE Bridges Act,'' which 
will provide a renewed focus on the safety of bridges across the 
country. It will create a discrete new way to prioritize those bridges 
most in need.
  Mr. Speaker, it is ``Time to Build.'' We need to invest in bread-and-
butter projects, highways and transit that Americans depend on every 
day.

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