[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E607-E608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE 
                     TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 30, 2020

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2, the Moving 
Forward Act, a transformative investment of $1.5 trillion to create 
jobs, protect our climate, and modernize our highways, hospitals, 
schools, broadband connectivity, housing, clean water, and energy 
infrastructure.
  The American Society of Civil Engineers evaluated the state of the 
nation's infrastructure in 2017 and gave the U.S. a D+ grade. They 
estimated that we need to invest $2 trillion more than we are today to 
bring our infrastructure to a good state of repair. While this is a 
significant amount, failing to act will lead to an estimated $4 
trillion in lower economic output, including the loss of 2.5 million 
jobs. With the economy still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, this 
legislation takes on an even greater urgency.
  The Moving Forward Act is not only big, it is green. Climate policy 
is a cornerstone of the bill because the transportation sector 
contributes nearly one-third of our country's greenhouse gas emissions. 
The legislation invests $100 billion to make our public transit faster, 
cleaner, and more reliable, taking cars off the road and reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions. These investments include significant funding 
for electric buses which will help transit providers such as SamTrans, 
VTA, and Santa Cruz METRO transition their bus fleets to all zero-
emission vehicles by 2040. The bill also provides $1.4 billion to 
deploy electric vehicle charging stations across the country, $8.3 
billion for state carbon reduction grants, and $70 billion to modernize 
the electric grid to support additional renewable energy, improve 
energy efficiency, and support an expansive electric vehicle charging 
network. Together these investments make the Moving Forward Act one of 
the most significant bills to address climate change ever considered in 
Congress.
  In addition to emission reductions in the transportation and power 
sectors, the Moving Forward Act also includes significant funding for 
environmental restoration, including $125 million for the San Francisco 
Bay. These funds will support ongoing work to restore habitats for 
endangered species and protect cities like Mountain View, Palo Alto, 
and Redwood City from sea level rise. The bill also provides funding to 
reclaim abandoned coal mines, increase drought resilience, and clean up 
drinking water contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances 
(PFAS).
  I'm pleased that the Moving Forward Act provides $3.6 billion in 
guaranteed transit funding for the Bay Area, a 50 percent increase from 
the last highway bill in 2015. It also adjusts the criteria for several 
discretionary grants that will make Bay Area transit projects more 
likely to receive additional federal funding. The dedicated $2.5 
billion for grade separations nationwide will benefit both Caltrain 
riders and communities along the Caltrain corridor which has 42 at-
grade crossings, including the crossing at the top of the California 
Public Utility Commission's priority list. This funding will be a 
welcome relief to my constituents who are choking in traffic, with 
commute times in the Bay Area prior to the pandemic nearly twice as 
long as they were ten years ago.
  The Moving Forward Act also provides $100 billion to ensure every 
American has internet connectivity. Tens of millions of Americans 
across the U.S. still lack basic access to high-quality broadband 
internet service. Access to high speed internet service is essential in 
the 21st Century, particularly as Americans are conducting more of 
their lives online during the COVID-19 public health emergency. I'm 
pleased that two of my broadband bills are included in this 
legislation. My bipartisan Nationwide Dig Once Act of 2020 is 
commonsense legislation that requires the inclusion of conduit--plastic 
pipes that house fiber optic cables--during federally funded highway 
construction. My Community Broadband Act protects municipal broadband 
networks from state laws that thwart the efforts of communities 
establishing their own networks.
  The Moving Forward Act provides $10 billion for hospitals and 
community health centers to make critical capital improvements and 
rebuild their infrastructure to meet the growing demands on these 
health care facilities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Importantly, the bill also creates a pilot program to

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fund upgrades to state and local public laboratories, which are 
essential to our nation's testing capacity as we work to control and 
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  The infrastructure investments in the Moving Forward Act create good-
paying jobs that cannot be outsourced, promote economic growth, reduce 
our greenhouse emissions, and expand broadband to communities across 
the country. I'm proud to support this legislation and urge my 
colleagues to join me in voting for it.

                          ____________________