[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 139 (Wednesday, August 4, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5884-S5887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         INVEST IN AMERICA ACT

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for allowing 
me to say a few words tonight, and I want to commend him and the 
Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, for allowing us to have this series 
of amendments.
  The Senate has worked its will and will continue to work its will 
tomorrow. As was said, there have been 22 amendments on the floor. 
About half of them are Democratic amendments, and about half of them 
are Republican amendments.
  I will say, also, there has just been a lot of discussion that has 
ensued because of this amendment process. So a lot of people have had 
the opportunity to discuss their issues to try to improve the bill in 
certain ways, and, frankly, a lot of these amendments were accepted; 
they were voted on positively--well, one just recently with regard to a 
safety issue that was just discussed--and improve the bill. So that is 
the way this place ought to work, and I think it is consistent with 
what we tried to do in this process from the beginning, where we saw an 
opportunity to pull out core infrastructure from a much larger package 
and deal with it without raising taxes but by focusing on bipartisan 
solutions, and that is exactly what the underlying bill does.
  The next step in that, then, was to say: Let's try to have an open 
amendment process too. And sure enough, we have.
  I had some colleagues of mine come up to me tonight and say: You 
know, it is nice to see the Senate working its will again, because 
these are colleagues who were around in previous decades where, you 
know, they saw this more often.
  So, again, I want to thank my colleagues for going through this 
process. It requires some patience. It requires some consensus. Some 
amendments had to be altered in some ways to be sure that both sides 
were comfortable having votes on them. But at the end of the day, we 
are able to say that people's voices are being heard.
  This will continue tomorrow. I just saw a list of about 10 
amendments, and I know there are others as well that people would like 
to offer tomorrow, and I am all for it, as is Senator Sinema. Senator 
Sinema and I are very pleased that Members have the opportunity to 
express themselves.
  I also want to talk a little about what this bill does and why it is 
so important for our country.
  For the past 2 days, we have been working through this amendment 
process, and sometimes we lose sight of the bigger picture here. The 
bigger picture is that we as a country have an infrastructure system 
that is badly in need of repair. We are consistently rated as a country 
with an infrastructure system that, frankly, hasn't kept up with the 
rest of the world.
  There is a group called the World Economic Forum, and they give a 
report card every couple years, and America ends up, you know, 13th or 
14th in the world in terms of infrastructure. That is not where we want 
to be.
  By the way, on a broader gauge of competitiveness, we are right up at 
the top in terms of our trade system, our tax system, our economic 
system generally, but with regard to infrastructure, we are not.
  As some of you have heard me say before, this is about 
competitiveness too. Think about this: China spends three or four times 
more as a percentage of their GDP than we do on infrastructure. The 
reality, as I have looked at those numbers, is that it is even higher 
than that, but let's say three or four times higher. Why? Because they 
get it. They are trying to outcompete us in every way, including having 
better ports, better rail, better airports, and the ability to both buy 
and sell their products overseas, and we here in America want to be at 
the top of that list. That is why it is very important, from my point 
of view, that we focus on the economic impact here.
  If we get this bill passed, it will make our economy more efficient; 
therefore, more productive; therefore, the economy will grow; 
therefore, more tax revenue will come into the coffers.
  There has been a lot of discussion about the pay-fors in this 
legislation. We will know more as the CBO report tells us very 
specifically how it is paid for. But the bottom line is, much of what 
happens in this bill, which is spending for capital assets, this long-
term spending--it is not going to be spent next year. It may be spent 
in 5 years or 10 years. It may be a bridge in Georgia. It may be a port 
in Alabama. Those take years and years and years. The funding we are 
providing, the $550 billion in this bill, will be spent over that 
period of time. It will add to those hard assets. It is, as a result of 
that, on the supply side of the economy, creating jobs, creating hard 
assets, like the bridges and like the ports, and as a result of that, 
it is actually counterinflationary.
  I know there has been concern on the floor, including raised today in 
one of the amendments, about the fact that more spending leads to more 
inflation. Not this kind of spending. The kind of spending that would 
lead to it is more what is called the demand side of the equation--you 
know, as an example, the stimulus checks or even the unemployment 
insurance benefits. That led to more demand in the economy. Yes, that 
did drive up our inflation over the past several months and continues 
to. This is not that. This is spending over the long haul. It will 
create these capital assets that will make our economy more efficient 
and should be counterinflationary.
  We have a number of economists who have spoken to this: Doug Holtz-
Eakin some of you know; also Michael Strain, who is at the American 
Enterprise Institute. The Penn Wharton study on this is very 
interesting. They say, actually, that our legislation, as they analyze 
it, will end up growing the

[[Page S5885]]

economy, creating more jobs, and actually reducing the deficit, meaning 
more money will come into the coffers than we are spending here that is 
not paid for with CBO-certified official scores because of the economic 
impact of this.
  So this is very important for all of our constituents. It is also 
important for our broader economy, to make sure America stays at the 
forefront and that we can be competitive for our kids and our 
grandkids.
  Let's take the State of Ohio as an example since I happen to be from 
Ohio and why it is going to help my State.
  Ohio is a big infrastructure State. We have a lot of roads and a lot 
of bridges. Ohio's roadway network has a lot of congestion also. It is 
estimated that the congestion in Ohio costs motorists an estimated $4.7 
billion each year in lost time and wasted fuel. That is according to 
the American Society of Civil Engineers, which scored Ohio's roads at a 
D in their 2021 infrastructure report card--a D. Now, the Nation as a 
whole is only a C-minus under their analysis. Ohio is a D. So we are a 
little worse than the Nation as a whole. As a whole, again, we are 
falling behind but Ohio particularly.
  We are second in the Nation for the number of bridges. We have got a 
lot of little rivers and railroad tracks in Ohio, so we have got a lot 
of bridges. We have 44,736 bridges in Ohio.
  By the way, they have looked at these bridges. Their analysis is that 
nearly half of them are not in good condition.
  Our farmers, who are working to plant crops in their fields, want to 
be able to then get those crops to market. They want to get them to the 
elevators. They want to be able to export them. They care about 
infrastructure.

  The moms and dads across Ohio who commute to work every day would 
heck of a lot rather spend their time with their kids than sitting in a 
car in a traffic jam on, you know, I-71 or 75 or I-270 or I-70.
  We have got a lot of great roads in Ohio, but, frankly, they can't 
keep up with the demand, so we have got a lot of traffic jams during 
rushing hour. Those are some of the people who care a lot about 
infrastructure.
  Our manufacturers in Ohio--we make everything in Ohio. We make cars. 
We make washing machines. We make tanks. We are proud of what we make 
in Ohio and what we export all around the world. We have got to be sure 
to get those products to market, too, so infrastructure is really 
important.
  Today, I talked to a company in Ohio that has trucks all over Ohio 
and the country, for that matter. It is the Cintas Corporation. They 
are the uniform company, but they do a lot more than uniforms. They are 
excited about this bill because it is going to help them be more 
efficient in their delivery of their services.
  That is the same with our truckers. I talked to a trucking company 
person yesterday who was interested in how this would affect the 
truckstops and wanted to know about, you know, electric vehicle 
charging stations and so on. But the bottom line was, this person said 
this is going to help because our truckers want to have a safe road and 
a safe bridge. They want to be able to meet their requirements and not 
get stuck in traffic jams and be able to make more money on the road, 
frankly.
  So this is something that helps our constituents across the board. 
But it goes well beyond just our roads. This is also about water 
infrastructure in this legislation. Communities across our State 
deserve water infrastructure that is going to deliver them clean, safe 
drinking water. We have got a lot of old water systems in Ohio that 
need help and need it badly.
  We also have a lot of wastewater systems in Ohio that are in trouble. 
Some of you may know this, but there are new EPA rules that have come 
out over the past couple decades about wastewater systems and 
particularly combined sewer overflow systems, where when you have a lot 
of rain, in many of our systems in Ohio, there is a combination of the 
sewer system and the wastewater system, and that is not safe. Yet 
fixing it is really expensive.
  Those communities--mostly midsize cities in Ohio but some larger 
cities as well--have all said to me: Can you help us a little more on 
water infrastructure?
  With the revolving loan program we have in here, the ability for them 
to get low-interest Federal loans to be able to expand their water 
infrastructure system--they will be able to do that in this 
legislation, as well as receive grants from the Federal Government to 
help them ensure that we do have water systems that work.
  Folks in rural parts of our State--Ohio is an Appalachian State. We 
have about 32 counties considered part of Appalachia. And guess what. 
In most of those counties, we have virtually no internet. I mean, 
sometimes there is real slow internet you can get but virtually no 
internet. This is why, for some of our kids in those counties in Ohio--
these are rural counties that don't have access to Wi-Fi of a speed 
that is appropriate for school, much less work.
  These kids are falling behind, and particularly, of course, during 
the pandemic, when they had to rely on online learning. And the stories 
are out there, and you know them, and the mom that comes up to me when 
I am out and about in Ohio and says: You know what; I had to take my 
kid to the parking lot of the library, which is a 45-minute drive for 
me across rural Ohio roads, to be able to do her homework.
  That makes no sense. We want the digital divide to be closed. We want 
the ability for those kids in rural Ohio to have access to the 
internet, just as kids can get access to it in suburban or more urban 
settings. But even in the suburban and urban settings, we want to help 
be sure those kids have the hookup to their home to get that internet 
and to be able to afford that internet.
  So this legislation is unprecedented in many ways in terms of 
infrastructure--more roads, more bridges, more ports, more water 
systems--but it is also historic, unprecedented in terms of the 
expansion of broadband, finally.
  Again, this is about catching up. There are countries around the 
world that actually have better broadband than we do that are not even 
developed countries. They are poorer countries. You would think they 
might be a little behind, but they are sort of leapfrogging us in terms 
of technology because they realize how important having that internet 
build-out is.
  The other issue is for telehealth. There are more and more people 
relying on telehealth. Part of this comes out of the pandemic, when 
people kind of had to do that. They didn't want to go into a doctor's 
office or hospital for fear of the COVID pandemic. And, frankly, right 
now with the variants--and the delta variant in particular--there are 
some people who are still now, unfortunately, not comfortable going 
into a healthcare setting, but they need to have an appointment. They 
need to have someone to check them out, and they need, perhaps, with 
regard to behavioral health, to have the ability to have a consult. 
They can do that online now, and the Federal government has been 
reimbursing that for the first time, because before, under Medicare and 
Medicaid, that was very difficult. So this is going to be a part of our 
system. It is a good thing, sort of a rare silver lining in a terrible 
dark cloud of the pandemic that we learned how to use telehealth 
better.
  So what if you don't have access to internet? So what if you are a 
veteran in southeast Ohio and you have to drive 2\1/2\ hours to a VA 
clinic, and instead you would like to do telehealth because it makes a 
lot more sense for your situation, particularly during the pandemic, 
but you don't have internet? So, definitely, that is not fair. So 
telehealth is another reason for us to expand internet access.
  Finally, just for our economic benefit in these communities, we want 
more startups. We want more companies to be able to be successful. 
Without the internet--let's face it--it is going to be very, very 
difficult. These are all part of this legislation as well.
  The hard core infrastructure you think of--like roads and bridges, 
yes; water infrastructure, yes; ports, rail, freight--but also the 
digital infrastructure that ties our country together--that is part of 
this legislation as well.
  Again, it is why economists who look at this say this is actually 
going to help make our economy work better, make it more efficient. We 
will be more productive as a country, and we will have more economic 
growth and then more revenue will come in. That is why this is so 
popular.

[[Page S5886]]

  I mean, when you think about it, what can everybody agree on in 
America today? Not much. We are a country that is more divided, and 
that saddens me. It concerns me, particularly as we face challenges, 
some of which, like the pandemic, are here domestically, and some of 
which are global challenges brought on by some of our adversaries, like 
Russia or China or North Korea or Iran. But we are divided as a 
country. One thing that brings us together is our military. I think 
most people acknowledge and respect the role that our military plays. 
And another is infrastructure. It is an issue where traditionally 
Republicans and Democrats were able to come together and say: We may 
disagree on taxes and healthcare and all sorts of other things, but on 
this issue of strong infrastructure, we can come together.
  Again, I think it makes sense economically, and, also, it is popular. 
People know when they are driving over potholes or getting stuck in 
traffic jams or not being able to get a product because the ports are 
backed up, which they are right now. Our ports are inefficient and 
people literally can't get products. They can't get cars or they can't 
get an electronic device. That is all part of this. So this is 
something that ought to bring us together, and it does bring us 
together.
  The polling out there shows this, by the way. There are two polls in 
the last few months that both said that 87 percent of the American 
people want us to work on this infrastructure project on a bipartisan 
process and get it done. Those numbers were unbelievable, and it was 
exactly 87 percent in both polls, interestingly, even though one was 
CBS and one was CNBC.

  But forget the polls for a minute and just go home and talk to 
people. They do want to make sure that we are not raising taxes to do 
this. They don't want to see us helping the economy long-term with 
infrastructure but hurting the economy short-term with higher taxes. 
And I agree. And we don't do that here. That is what is particularly 
great about this approach. It is that we said that we are going to pull 
out core infrastructure only and we are not going to raise taxes.
  So we have the funds in here to be able to help with regard to our 
highways, our bridges, our ports, our waterways, our broadband 
expansion. But we also have the ability for us to do that in a way that 
makes sense for all Americans.
  In Ohio, it is going to help us do something else that is important, 
and that is to help with regard to some of our big infrastructure 
projects. I will talk about one tonight briefly--the Brent Spence 
Bridge. This is in my hometown of Cincinnati, OH. It is a critical 
bridge because it is where I-75 and I-71 come together, and therefore 
it is a bottleneck. Twice as many cars drive on that bridge every day 
as it was built for. Twice as many cars drive on that bridge every 
day--and trucks--as it was built for. It is the reason that there is a 
traffic jam there during rush hour. But it is also the reason that it 
is unsafe, because over time the shoulders have been removed to create 
another lane. So if there is an accident on that bridge, there is 
nowhere to go. We had an accident 2 months ago with two trucks that 
collided, and we had to close it down, actually, for several weeks, and 
it was a mess.
  And talk about the effect on the economy. Think about this. There are 
roughly 3 million people in the metropolitan area there, with Dayton 
and Cincinnati on one side, and the other side has about 1 million 
people in Covington, KY. And you have traffic going all the way north 
and south from Canada to Mexico, and all of a sudden you don't have a 
bridge available because of the safety concerns that led to the 
accident. So we need a solution with regard to that bridge, and we have 
been talking about it for years. For 25 years, I have been involved in 
the effort to try to find the funding to replace this bridge because it 
needs it. Finally, we will have the ability to do that. We will have 
the ability to help, with Kentucky and with Ohio and with the Federal 
Government working together with the local community, to complete this 
Brent Spence Bridge corridor project. Why? Because we are putting an 
unprecedented amount of money into not just bridges but bridges like 
this one--bridges that are major commercial bridges; bridges that are 
functionally obsolete, which ours have been for years; bridges that 
desperately need the help.
  We also have a big aviation industry in Ohio. We support a lot of 
jobs through aviation, our second biggest industry after agriculture in 
Ohio. There is $25 billion for new spending for airports in here. That 
is going to help airports build on the momentum that we need right now 
in Ohio to be able to expand our aerospace industry.
  On the shores of Lake Erie, on the north coast of Ohio, we will also 
have help. Lake Erie supports fishing and tourism industries that total 
over $10 billion. It provides drinking water for 10 million people.
  It is the top tourist attraction in our State, but as anyone who 
visits the lake will tell you, they have some serious long-term health 
challenges with the lake. We have invasive species. We have a problem 
with toxic algal blooms. We have pollution. We have rising levels of 
the lake. This bill helps with regard to all of that. With regard to 
rising levels of the lake, there are communities on the lake that will 
tell you their water systems don't work because the lake water has 
risen to the point where the outtake valve which is next to the intake 
valve is now actually underwater, so the system doesn't work well. In 
fact, the system is incredibly expensive to replace. So this will help 
with regard to that.
  As cochair of the Senate Great Lakes Caucus, I am very pleased to see 
this investment because it will support the infrastructure and 
infrastructure investments in communities all along Lake Erie and every 
one of our Great Lakes.
  Finally and crucially, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 
before us helps more than 300,000 Ohio households that lack access to 
this high-speed internet. That is incredibly important. Our legislation 
does everything that I have talked about in terms of infrastructure, 
and that is important.
  Again, we have the studies out there that I talked about, including 
one from Penn, from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. They 
talked about how the economic growth from this study will actually make 
our economy better and create more jobs, and they say that, actually, 
over time, it reduces the deficit, based on looking at our study and, 
specifically, our proposals. So all that is true.
  The final thing I guess I want to say is that it goes beyond 
infrastructure. It goes to how to get Washington back to a point where 
Washington is solving problems for the American people. And this bill 
is not perfect for anybody--no Republican, no Democrat. Why? It is a 
bipartisan compromise.
  You know, again, we started off with a product that President Biden 
introduced that was $2.65 trillion--a huge package called 
``infrastructure,'' but most of it was not for infrastructure. It had 
huge tax increases in it--the highest tax increase, it would have been, 
in American history. It would have made our country less competitive, 
in my view.
  We said: OK, let's find a group of Democrats and Republicans, and 
let's agree to pull out the core parts of this, the core 
infrastructure, and find a way to pay for it without raising taxes. 
That is what we did, and we worked hard to create a product that was 
fair for everybody. But that means finding that consensus, and that is 
not easy.
  You know, we all had to make concessions, but, at the end of the day, 
we got a product--$550 billion over the next 5 years, which will be 
spread out, spent over many, many years, that will put America back on 
top in terms of infrastructure.
  It will put us in a position where, for our kids and our grandkids, 
they are going to have a more productive and a more efficient economy--
one that produces more, one that has the ability for America to say to 
the world: Look at us again. We are back. We are back. We now have an 
infrastructure system with our ports and our roads and our bridges, 
with our water infrastructure, and with our broadband that can be, once 
again, a model for the rest of the world and help move us forward and 
ensure that every American has the opportunity to succeed.
  So this bipartisan process in and of itself, I think, is an 
accomplishment of this legislation. The underlying bill is what is most 
important, I suppose, but

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just being able to show that Republicans and Democrats can come 
together in this town and get something done that is positive for our 
country, that in and of itself is an accomplishment.
  With that, I yield the floor.

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