[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14914]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            THE AMERICAN CAN-DO SPIRIT IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I rise today to let folks know that the 
American can-do spirit and the spirit of innovation is alive and well 
in southern Minnesota.
  Last week, I visited United Machine and Foundry in Winona, Minnesota. 
UMF is a small business that opened in 1885. It currently employs 35 
people, and produces metal castings for asphalt production, road 
construction, and power generation. UMF's president, Tom Renk, told me 
the only real problem he has is this: that without investment in 
critical infrastructure like roads, the foundry doesn't sell any 
products, and when demand dries up, so do the jobs.
  Building things is in the American DNA. We build roads; we build 
bridges; we create the necessary infrastructure to power this economy. 
Congress has the tools to build again. We have a President prepared to 
break ground. We can create the infrastructure our grandchildren will 
need in the 21st century.
  I visited UMF of Winona to remind myself that building things is in 
our DNA, building things is the American spirit. That spirit will 
create jobs, and it will build the economy we need in the 21st century.

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