[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 81 (Thursday, May 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H4146-H4147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Washington (Ms. Jayapal) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, later on this afternoon, in recognition of 
Infrastructure Week, I will be releasing the second annual overview of 
transportation and infrastructure priorities in my district, 
Washington's Seventh Congressional District.
  The report features a number of high-priority transportation and 
infrastructure projects. The report was developed through conversations 
and roundtables, tours, workshops, and planning sessions across my 
district that my staff and I convened.
  We have many cities in the district. People know the district for 
Seattle, which is very, very important, our Port of Seattle, an 
important institution, but we also have cities like Burien, which is 
right next to the Sea-Tac Airport, one of the fastest growing airports 
in the country, and is dealing with the many challenges that comes with 
that growth.
  Each of the priority projects that are covered in this report serves 
our district by enhancing sustainability, improving the community, and 
contributing to economic growth and job creation.
  My hope is that this report provides an overview of the types of 
improvements we desperately need to see in King County, the city of 
Seattle, Snohomish County, Shoreline, Edmonds, Lake Forest Park, 
Normandy Park, Burien, and the Port of Seattle.
  Our challenge, Mr. Speaker, is to keep our district the most livable, 
sustainable, and welcoming community in the country. It is a challenge.
  Just consider the facts:
  In 2016, we spent 54.8 hours in traffic, giving Seattle the dubious 
honor of being one of the top 10 cities for congestion.
  In 2015, the lowest earning 20 percent of households in our State 
spent three times as much, as a percentage of their income, on 
commuting costs compared to the highest income families.
  Especially significant are transit options for my constituents. 
Transit makes the ultimate difference in being able to reach a place of 
employment easily, which, in turn, affects how constituents are able to 
provide for themselves and their families.
  While Sound Transit has seen a 23-percent increase in ridership over 
the last year, we need to ensure that all communities are connected to 
transit networks and not forgotten.
  As King County Metro found in a report from 2015, while 71 percent of 
minority communities live within a quarter-mile of a Metro bus stop, 
only 41 percent live within a half a mile of a stop that has frequent 
service.
  Mr. Speaker, transit is also essential to addressing climate change. 
In our region, nearly 50 percent of our greenhouse gas pollution comes 
from transportation. In 2015, Washington State's transportation sector 
contributed 43 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, making it 
Washington's highest level since 2007.
  Not only do we need to consider impacts to air quality but to water 
quality as well. In our region, clean water is essential to supporting 
our economy and national treasures like our salmon and our orcas. 
According to the Washington Stormwater Center, over 10,000 unique 
chemicals are found in urban road runoff, contributing to the 
continuing pollution of Puget Sound.

[[Page H4147]]

  Yet not a day goes by where I do not draw from the innovations and 
examples set by our businesses, our individuals, and institutions in 
our Seventh Congressional District.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that we are a model for the Nation, 
whether it is through ideas brought to reality, partnerships formed 
across diverse interests, or new mechanisms developed to maximize the 
leverage of any financial instruments.

  But there is a lot to do. Later this year, Congress will consider its 
annual budget and appropriations bills for fiscal year 2019, including, 
I hope, a potential infrastructure bill.
  Democratic Ranking Member DeFazio spoke earlier about the critical 
need for the Federal Government to fund a bold infrastructure plan so 
that our businesses and our communities across the country can succeed.
  That will put people back to work. It will put money into our roads, 
our bridges, our infrastructure needs, our water systems, our schools 
across our country, and our transit.
  Mr. Speaker, that is what I am committed to fighting for here in 
Congress.

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