[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Infrastructure

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I have good news for the people of 
Louisiana and good news for the American people: We have an agreement 
on an infrastructure package.
  Now, OK, an ``infrastructure package''; what does that mean? Let's 
just talk.
  There will be $110 billion for roads and bridges nationwide--$40 
billion for bridges. By the way, Louisiana has the third most bridges 
in poor condition. So, if you are stuck right now in traffic trying to 
get over the Sabine River or the Calcasieu River or the Mississippi 
River or any of our other rivers which have bridges in poor condition, 
there is relief for you. There is $47 billion for resiliency.
  Now, my State is flooded more than other States, but every State, it 
seems, has had an issue with flooding. There is $47 billion; a 
significant portion of it is for flooding issues, for coastal 
restoration, and other things regarding resiliency.
  There is permitting reform. Right now, we know it can take 6 to 10 
years for a bridge project--an Army Corps of Engineers project--to be 
permitted. Sometimes it takes so long to permit that the facts on the 
ground have actually changed, and the permit almost is inaccurate. In 
building upon pilot projects which have shown that permitting can be 
shortened from 6 years to 2 years, this infrastructure package has that 
permitting reform. There will be less money for bureaucrats and 
attorneys, and there will be more money for construction--what a major 
advance.
  By the way, some people have confused this bill with the $3.5 
trillion Democratic tax-and-spend extravaganza. They are two different 
bills. This bill is for roads and bridges and broadband and resiliency 
and flood control and coastal restoration. The other is for who knows 
what.
  This bill, the infrastructure bill, has been judged by economists as 
to not contribute to inflation. The $3.5 trillion bill, obviously, is 
going to make the inflation we have now worse. The bill we have does 
not raise taxes. The $3.5 trillion bill is estimated to raise hundreds 
of billions of dollars in taxes.
  One bill I love; the other bill I hate. The infrastructure bill that 
is going to shorten someone's commute time across a bridge, to make 
their home less likely to flood, to extend broadband to areas of our 
country which are not served at all or are poorly served is the bill I 
love, and I think that it is the bill that the American people 
desperately need.
  Let me conclude by saying, again, if you are stuck in bridge traffic 
in my State or in any other State right now, wondering why this bridge 
in poor condition can't get fixed, help is on its way. If you are in a 
place in our country, but particularly in my State, which has either 
flooded or is at risk of flooding or if you live near a coastline, and 
that beachfront, which 30 years ago when you bought that home was 
hundreds of feet out and now waves are lapping up on the road in front 
of your house and coastal erosion has endangered your property and your 
life savings, help is on its way. If you have seen an initiative to 
build a bridge but have been so frustrated that it has taken so long to 
get the permits, that is about to change. This is legislation--
bipartisan, paid for--that will address all of those issues.
  I conclude the way I started.
  We have good news. There is a bipartisan infrastructure bill that 
begins to address the needs of the American people--to create jobs, to 
take away frustrations, and to provide more security--that all 
Americans should support.
  I yield the floor.

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