[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HISTORIC INVESTMENTS IN INFRASTRUCTURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight the work 
Congress is undertaking to make historic investments in our Nation's 
infrastructure and create millions of good-paying jobs in communities 
across our country, coast to coast, communities just like mine.
  Cities like Toledo, Sandusky, Lorain, Lakewood, Cleveland, Parma, for 
too long have received far fewer resources than are needed to keep pace 
with life in this 21st century.
  As we look around our country right now, we bear witness to historic 
water shortages in Lake Mead. On the other hand, in my region of the 
country, we have historic high water levels in the Great Lakes. 
Meanwhile, we have raging wildfires in California. We have watched 
power blackouts in Texas; torrential rains and flooding in New York 
City, in Dearborn, Michigan, and rural farmlands outside Nashville; as 
well as hurricanes that have been ravaging States throughout the Gulf 
of Mexico.
  Truly, in this new century, we must set a firmer course to sustain 
life in our country and, yes, sustain life on Mother Earth herself.
  As a Representative from the Great Lakes, I can say without a shadow 
of a doubt that Lake Erie and the economies and people who truly rely 
on it face growing environmental challenges unlike any we have seen 
before.
  The Great Lakes are the largest source of freshwater on Earth, and 
surely on this continent. They are responsible for transporting our 
Nation's heavy manufacturing materials from ports to factories, support 
our commercial and defense capabilities, and serve as the lifeblood for 
our industrial heartland.
  But the changing climate is impacting these majestic waters, 
requiring sizable investments to correct and overcome.
  Recently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 
included $350 million for a new state-of-the-art--get ready--Great 
Lakes heavy icebreaker for our region. Some Members of Congress said, 
``Oh, you have ice?'' Let me tell you, in the winter, yes, we do. This 
investment will ensure that for decades to come the thousands of miles 
of shipping lanes of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, our 
Nation's longest coastline, are navigable, and that the materials that 
make our country run are able to be delivered and that our freshwater 
bounty is preserved for the future.
  I want to especially thank Chairman Peter DeFazio of the 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for taking up this request 
from our bipartisan House Great Lakes Task Force.
  As co-chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water, 
our members delivered the funding bill necessary to turbocharge 
investments in coastal resiliency across our country; in home 
weatherization programs, as climate changes from coast to coast; to 
modernize the Soo Locks, essential for industry as well as the defense 
of this Nation; and to focus on next-generation energy, solar energy 
technology, and technologies we are inventing. In hydrogen, in various 
types of thermal water technologies there is so much where America will 
lead the world in inventions for the future.
  To succeed, we have to make sure these investments make it through 
this Congress and that infrastructure investment makes it to President 
Biden's desk. Old infrastructure is crumbling, as our climate is 
changing, and we are running out of time.
  We know that a functioning Soo Locks system between Lake Superior and 
the rest of the Great Lakes, for example, supports more than 11 million 
jobs. That is a ``wow'' by any measure.
  And we know that clean energy technologies, like solar and wind, are 
vital to powering our Nation and producing clean and affordable energy, 
and building our future right here, right now at home.
  In northern Ohio, we have brilliant workers at innovative companies 
like Toledo Solar and First Solar that are developing the revolutionary 
solar panels that will power homes, businesses, and factories in every 
corner of our Nation.
  We are literally building the change forward right now, providing for 
our domestic energy security and independence.
  But companies like these need workers, and workers need training, and 
that is what the infrastructure and jobs bill will allow us to do, 
build back better for America's tomorrow, as President Biden knows we 
must.
  We are talking about good-paying, middle-class jobs. We are talking 
about investing in climate resilience and environmental conservation 
that restores communities, puts people to work, and ensures our 
families have wages that meet their needs and allow them to buy the 
vitals they need for life.

                          ____________________