[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 199 (Tuesday, November 16, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H6269-H6270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REAL 21ST CENTURY GROWTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, November 15, at about 3 o'clock 
in the afternoon, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan 
infrastructure bill, which, for a lot of us who have been serving 
around here, was an incredibly gratifying and important moment in terms 
of really finally getting this country ahead of the curve in terms of 
critical investments for infrastructure.
  Last Wednesday night, I held a telephone townhall on the 
infrastructure bill because the House had passed the measure on 
November 5. We had 7,000 people on the call who were either on the 
phone or streaming in. Lots of questions, lots of excitement. 
Connecticut is obviously a State that has been settled really since the 
origins of our Nation and has some of the oldest infrastructure in the 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I would note, however, that some of the questions that 
came in said, Well, only 10 percent of the bill is for hard 
infrastructure, for surface transportation. What's up with that?
  And I was joined by Don Shubert, who is the executive director of the 
Connecticut Construction Industries Association, who was quick to jump 
into the call and point out the fact that if you step back and look at 
this bill, it is a continuation of the last infrastructure bill which 
passed in 2015, the FAST Act, which passed on a bipartisan basis and 
was signed into law by President Obama, and was extended twice by 
President Trump.
  Again, that baseline was kind of keeping the lights on for 
infrastructure. It was not, however, getting us ahead of the curve in 
terms of the changes that are happening in other countries around the 
world. And with the new money that was included in the bipartisan 
infrastructure bill, we are seeing a huge increase, both in roads and 
bridges, but also in rail, also in the electric grid, also in 
broadband, which is now critical for any economic development for small 
communities to be able to tell companies and businesses that they have 
high speed internet.
  So what does that mean in terms of the State of Connecticut? It means 
that the roads and the bridges--which again is a big focus--got a 32 
percent increase in terms of the State's allotment, which will flow 
through the State's Department of Transportation.
  Some of the old bridges in our State--again, the largest vehicle 
bridge is the Gold Star Bridge, which is part of the I-95 corridor, has 
been getting a pounding since it was built in 1943. The northbound lane 
right now, quite frankly, is so compromised that large trucks are 
basically not given permits to travel across that bridge. Again, it is 
part of the Interstate Highway System. It is a $250 million job.
  This bill will make sure that that funding is there. It is a project 
labor agreement, so it is going to be union labor and apprenticeship 
programs incorporated into the work that is there.
  Again, there are countless other small bridges, medium-size bridges 
in the district. There is a swing bridge over the Connecticut River in 
East Haddam, Connecticut, that was built 108 years ago that breaks 
down, interferes with boat traffic going up and down the Connecticut 
River, that now has got full funding and is slated for repairs.
  Also, in terms of the rail piece, which is separate from roads and 
bridges, $66 billion, a big investment in the Northeast Corridor. 
Across the Connecticut River, there is the Old Saybrook Bridge, which 
is 114 years old. Anyone who sails underneath it and sees, again, how 
fragile the supports are for that bridge, it is screaming out for 
repairs. That project now will be fully funded as a result of this 
legislation.
  The Coast Guard Academy, which is in New London, Connecticut, is 
going to get $53 million to repair the barracks and the dormitories. 
Again, anyone looking at the age of those buildings, which some of our 
future leaders for the Coast Guard are going to school there, is 
getting a long overdue upgrade. As well as a city pier in New London 
where the USS Eagle--which is the proud sort of flagship of the U.S. 
Coast Guard--will now be able to tie up to modern infrastructure that 
is there.

[[Page H6270]]

  There is a host of other smaller projects in Tolland and Windham 
Counties that are included in this package. Again, I would emphasize 
that the total funding amount is not what some of the stuff that is out 
there in the media in terms of small fractions for hard infrastructure. 
The fact is when you incorporate the FAST Act baseline that was passed 
in 2015, along with the bipartisan infrastructure funding on top of it, 
the roads and bridges is close to 40 percent of the package. It also 
includes increasing and boosting the electric grid; which as we convert 
to electric vehicle passenger traffic, as we convert to offshore wind, 
which is going to be transmitting voltage to the coastline, we need to 
have a stronger grid.

  All of that is good jobs that is going to be, again, built-in, baked-
in over the next five years. It is not going to create inflationary 
pressures because of the fact that, again, it is spread out over a 
period of time.
  It was a great day for our country. We came together on a bipartisan 
basis to get this done and now we are ready for a real 21st century 
growth that will be beneficial to all communities large and small.

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