[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE REBUILD AMERICA ACT OF 2019

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 21, 2019

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I introduced the Rebuild America 
Act of 2019. This legislation makes much-needed investments in 
America's roads, bridges, and transit systems by raising the federal 
gasoline excise tax by five cents a year for the next five years, 
indexing it to inflation, and expressing Congress' intention to repeal 
and replace the gas tax with a more sustainable funding source.
  The United States faces the largest infrastructure funding gap in the 
world. The sector with the greatest shortfall is surface 
transportation, which the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates 
needs more than $1.1 trillion of investment by 2025. Worse, we are 
paying for 2019 infrastructure with 1993 dollars. Inflation and fuel 
efficiency improvements have reduced the gas tax's purchasing power by 
more than 40 percent since it was last raised in 1993.
  Today, one in five miles of highway pavement is in poor condition, 
and damage due to rough roads costs the average motorist $599 a year. 
Americans waste nearly 100 hours a year stuck in traffic and 
congestion, costing the U.S. economy $305 billion annually--an average 
of $1,445 per driver. These costs fall especially hard on low-income 
individuals, who can't afford the unexpected burden of a blown tire, 
hourly wages lost to congestion, or the steadily increasing cost of 
transportation.
  Since 2010, 35 states with legislatures controlled by both parties 
have voted to raise the gas tax. American families pay far more from 
continued neglect than a gas tax increase. Inaction will cost families 
$3,400 in annual disposable income by 2025, whereas a 25-cent gas tax 
increase costs the average driver less than $3.00 a week and 
contributes nearly $400 billion toward upgrading roads, bridges, and 
transit systems. Investment in American infrastructure is the jobs bill 
that our economy needs and the middle class deserves. Every $1.3 
billion in infrastructure investment adds 29,000 construction jobs, 
yields $2 billion in economic growth, and reduces the federal deficit 
by $200 million.
  This legislation is expected to invest nearly $400 billion in the 
next decade for surface transportation projects and deserves inclusion 
in a comprehensive infrastructure package that rebuilds and renews 
America.

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