[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E609-E610]
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. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 30, 2020

  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the ``Moving 
Forward Act'' (H.R. 2), a $1.5 trillion plan to rebuild America's 
infrastructure. The critical investments included in this bill are 
needed to repair our nation's infrastructure and prepare for the 
future.
  Our nation has the ability to create a better, brighter and more 
prosperous future by investing much more in our nation's 
infrastructure. H.R. 2 will create millions of well-paying jobs, 
increase sustained long-term growth, and make us more globally 
competitive, while at the same time protecting our environment and 
improving our health. By making significant investments in surface 
transportation, rail and transit systems, aviation, energy production 
and distribution, schools, broadband and housing, H.R. 2 will help us 
meet the demands of a 21st-century economy.
  One of the areas I am particularly proud to see this bill address is 
the need to include high speed broadband internet in our overall 
national infrastructure.
  Electricity was the infrastructure that helped this country move 
forward last century and our leaders made a great investment to ensure 
every American who wanted to be connected to the electrical grid had 
the opportunity to do so. Broadband and gigabit internet access will 
play the same role in the 21st century.
  We see examples of the future today as we grapple with the COVID-19 
pandemic. Students are able to learn outside the classroom thanks to 
advances in distance learning, Americans are able to meet with their 
doctors through telemedicine services, and millions of Americans are 
able to keep their jobs and stay safe by working from home.
  Sadly, the luxury of having reliable high-speed internet access is 
not available to all Americans. Those who live in rural and poor 
communities are being left behind in this technical revolution, as they 
were in the previous century with electricity prior to the investments 
championed by President Roosevelt and funded by Congress.
  This bill makes the needed investment of $80 billion to ensure that 
every American household, business, school, and medical facility has 
access to high speed internet so that they can be a part of the 
technological revolution that will strengthen our economy as we recover 
from the COVID-19 pandemic. I am happy to see that this bill invests 
towards the future by dedicating a set amount of funding to provide 
gigabit internet access. While cities like Dallas are starting to get 
access to this ultrafast internet, we need to make sure that funding is 
available so that the groundwork can be laid to ensure every American 
eventually has access to this new technology. I applaud my colleague, 
Mr. Clyburn for championing this cause as we address the needs of the 
American people. I will also note that as Chair of the Science 
Committee, we voted out a broadband bill last year to address these 
serious needs and I am happy that broadband provisions are moving in 
this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2 also contains a number of high priority 
provisions from the bipartisan Surface Transportation Research and 
Development Act that I introduced with Science, Space, and Technology 
Committee Ranking Member Lucas. As Chair of the Science Committee, I 
want to thank Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman DeFazio for 
working with me to incorporate these provisions in this bill. I will 
list just a few of them. They include the establishment of an advanced 
transportation research and innovation program for long-term, high risk 
research. Among its objectives, this program is intended to improve the 
resilience of transportation infrastructure across diverse regions of 
the United States to natural disasters, extreme weather, and the 
effects of climate change. In addition, there is a provision that 
authorizes establishment of a Multi-modal Transportation Demonstration 
Program for the demonstration of advanced transportation technologies 
for local transportation organizations and transit agencies serving 
populations of 200,000 or less.
  H.R. 2 also contains a provision that requires the Secretary of 
Transportation to enter into an agreement with the National Academies 
of Sciences to develop a long-term research agenda for surface 
transportation that would address advanced technologies and innovation, 
including advancing connected and autonomous technologies. If this bill 
is enacted, these and the other Science, Space, and Technology 
Committee priorities that have been included will go a long way to 
ensuring that the nation will have a vital and robust transportation 
R&D capability.
  In addition, I am pleased to co-sponsor an amendment that we will be 
considering on the Floor to address the significant deferred 
maintenance needs of the Department of Energy's national laboratories, 
some of which date back to the Manhattan Project, and to accelerate the 
modernization of these critical facilities.
  This is an important first step. However, the need and opportunity to 
bolster our nation's research infrastructure across the country and 
throughout the federal government remains. I am going to continue to 
work to ensure that strong support for our national research enterprise 
is included in any future bills that aim to accelerate our economic 
recovery from the current global crisis.
  In addition to the inclusion of these research infrastructure 
provisions, I want to thank the Chairman for working with me to include 
a number of amendments that were included in the INVEST in America Act.
  One amendment provides support for training surface transportation 
workers who may

[[Page E610]]

lose their jobs due to increased automation of services.
  It is clear that due to COVID-19 and other pandemics that may occur, 
there will be more ``contactless services'' in the future and the 
transportation industry will indeed be impacted. My concern is for the 
employees who are at risk and on the front lines, who lack the training 
needed to both service and operate our future transportation systems. 
The Moving Forward Act includes a $50 million Surface Transportation 
Workforce Training Grant Program that will help our current workers get 
ready and prepare themselves for these automated vehicles (AV) that 
will use artificial intelligence (AI) to operate and maintain our 
surface transportation systems.
  It is encouraging to see that this bill contains provisions that 
support the development of high speed rail and its financing options. 
We have much work to do in the immerging development of high speed rail 
in the United States. We have been left behind by other countries in 
this much needed era of transporting people efficiently from one part 
of our nation to another. I am a strong supporter of the development of 
high-speed rail in the United States.
  It my state, Texas Central is working to develop high-speed rail 
system connecting Dallas and Houston in less than 90 minutes and at 
speeds up to 205 mph. This high-speed train will provide a faster, 
safer and more environmentally friendly mode of transportation that 
will serve two of the top five largest metropolitan statistical areas 
in the United States, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, as well as the 
greater College Station area, through the Brazos Valley station.
  One of the major issues that has arisen during the development of 
this major infrastructure project is the access to large scale of 
Capital Financing required to ensure the success of this project. While 
the project is estimated to cost $32 billion, with the government of 
Japan expected to pay up to half the cost, financing a project at this 
scale is something that programs like the Railroad Rehabilitation and 
Improvement Funding (RRIF) program would have great difficulty in 
accomplishing due to the Credit Risk Premiums rules that would 
adversely impact the borrowers or such large scale projects. I am 
encouraged that my amendment to provide a workable option for Texas 
Central to meet the CRP was included in the bill.
  Another area of importance that I am happy to see included in this 
legislation is the improvement of Amtrak's cybersecurity capabilities.
  Millions of Americans use Amtrak each year, the incorporation of 
technology in the Amtrak system has allowed the company to grow while 
providing a safer and more customer friendly experience for passengers. 
But technological advances continue, the risk of cybersecurity threats 
only rises. I am encouraged to see provisions included in this bill 
that allow Amtrak to procure the needed cybersecurity technology to 
combat attacks against the operation of its rail system.
  To address Amtrak's cybersecurity needs, my amendment directs the 
Secretary to establish a cybersecurity enhancement grant program, which 
will permit Amtrak to acquire active cyber defense capabilities to 
implement cyber resiliency improvements for train control systems and 
other IT assets systemwide.
  In my time serving in this chamber, I've learned that no single piece 
of legislation is perfect. I hope to continue working with the chairman 
of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee to address issues 
related to strengthening our nation's freight rail network and in 
particular Union Pacific and a number of issue raised with this bill.
  I also want to say just a few words about the Disadvantaged Business 
Enterprise or DBE program. Over the almost 40 years since the DBE 
Program was first enacted, we have made progress--but not nearly 
enough. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has 
collected enormous amounts of evidence that illustrates just how 
stubborn and harmful institutionalized bias and systemic racism really 
are to people of color. The bottom line is that DBEs have to fight 
twice as hard and still usually end up getting far less money than goes 
to firms owned by non-minority males.
  Not only that, but discrimination means that even starting a business 
is harder for minority and women owned firms. The recent disparity 
study conducted for Texas DOT used Census data to examine this issue. 
The study found that the business formation rate for white males was 
5.4 percent, but the rate for African Americans was less than a third 
of that--1.6 percent. For Hispanic Americans it was 2 percent, for 
Native Americans it was 2.9 percent, and for white women it was 3.1 
percent. For Asian/Pacific Islanders it was better--5.2 percent but 
still lower than for white males. Texas Department of Transportation 
Disparity Study 2019, Colette Holt & Associates, 2019, at 133. The 
disparities for firm formation in construction in Texas were even 
worse. White men formed construction firms at a rate of 10.3 percent, 
but for Asian/Pacific Islanders the rate was only 9.5 percent. For 
white women it was 8.9 percent. Shockingly the construction firm 
formation rates for Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and African 
Americans were 4.9 percent, 3.5 percent and 2.9 percent respectively. 
Id. at 135.
  Think about what this means--as bad as the economic disparities are 
for firms owned by minorities and women, the current data actually 
understates the problem, since it doesn't take into consideration all 
the firms that could never even get off the ground. How can minorities 
and women ever erase the gaps in business inequality if discrimination 
keeps them from even forming the businesses they need to compete? This 
is exactly what makes the DBE program so important--while it doesn't 
fully level the playing field, it provides a demand for businesses 
owned by minorities and women and gives those businesses that do exist 
at least a fighting chance to compete.
  Mr. Speaker, enactment of H.R. 2 will allow our nation to move 
forward with critical improvements to our nation's roads, tunnels and 
bridges, our ports and harbors, airports, and rail systems. It will 
fund improvements in safe drinking water and wastewater systems, and 
create more affordable housing. The bill will help to modernize 
schools, invest in the postal service and provide high speed internet 
to underserved areas. Most of these proposals are long overdue and we 
cannot wait any longer to move our country forward. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation.

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