[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 82 (Friday, May 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A BETTER DEAL: INFRASTRUCTURE

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago this June, President Trump 
announced that it was Infrastructure Week. He declared it again last 
August, and then again in February, when he rolled out a proposal that 
was about 15 percent the size of what he promised. And this week, well, 
you won't be surprised that it is Infrastructure Week again.
  In a year and a half of the Trump Presidency, we have had four 
Infrastructure Weeks, but no real infrastructure bill, no solution, and 
no problem solving. Many of our roads, bridges, pipes, electric lines, 
railroads, ports and airports need our help. They are crumbling, 
structurally unsound, or simply out of date.
  Instead of being bold and proposing a plan like President Eisenhower 
did, our current President proposed selling off these critical public 
systems to the highest bidder and sticking local taxpayers with the 
rest of the bill. That is a bad deal.
  Democrats have A Better Deal to rebuild America by putting our money 
where our mouth is, investing $1 trillion in helping to jump-start 16 
million middle class construction jobs. That is a better deal. That is 
what America deserves.

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