[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16500-16503]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REBUILD AMERICA JOBS ACT

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, I rise today to speak in favor of the 
Rebuild America Jobs Act. I, first, just clarify for folks, because it 
is a little confusing, we have had several proposals to create jobs 
that have come to the floor in the last several weeks, and they have 
similar names. The one before us today is the Rebuild America Jobs Act, 
and it is a portion of the larger American Jobs Act that President 
Obama proposed and set out for the Congress to consider in September.
  Let me talk first about that larger bill which the President 
proposed. This American Jobs Act the President proposed would have a 
very significant and beneficial impact on my State of New Mexico. Under 
that legislation, there would be payroll tax cuts for about 40,000 
businesses in my State. There would be an expansion of payroll tax cuts 
for workers that would provide a typical household in New Mexico, 
having a median income of $44,000, with a tax cut of about $1,360 per 
year.
  There would be support for up to 2,600 construction jobs in upgrading 
public schools. There would be $20 million to revitalize vacant and 
foreclosed businesses and homes. There would be over $49 million for 
community colleges in New Mexico. There would be unemployment insurance 
reforms that could help put 32,000 unemployed New Mexicans back to 
work. And there is funding in that legislation for up to 3,100 teachers 
and police officers and first responders to keep those people on the 
job so they can continue to provide services to our schools, to our 
students, and to our communities.
  But despite the fact that all these important investments would be 
fully paid for--and that is made clear in the legislation; not a single 
dollar would be added to the national debt--this comprehensive 
legislation was blocked by a filibuster by our Republican colleagues a 
couple weeks ago. I commend Senator Reid for continuing to fight to 
keep job creation on top of the legislative agenda and for bringing up 
parts of this broader legislation independently to see if we can get 
support for any of these individual parts because each of them has a 
great deal of merit.
  Two weeks ago, we voted on the Teachers and First Responders Back to 
Work Act. This would have helped States and local governments keep over 
400,000 teachers, police, and firefighters on the job during these 
tough economic times. It was disappointing to me that this effort 
failed to get enough votes so we could go ahead and consider the bill.
  The legislation we are discussing would provide $50 billion in 
infrastructure investments in highways and transit and in rail projects 
across the country, and in doing those investments it would create 
thousands of jobs. Among other things, it would put Americans to work 
in improving 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of train tracks, 
restoring 150 miles of airport runways, and in implementing the NextGen 
air traffic modernization efforts that this Congress should be strongly 
supporting. Those are efforts to improve air safety and to reduce 
delays in air traffic.
  So passage of this legislation would mean at least $284 million in my 
home State of New Mexico in immediate infrastructure investments. That 
investment of $284 million would support a minimum of 3,700 local jobs. 
These resources are greatly needed in my State. The Federal Highway 
Administration estimates that about 22 percent of New Mexico's major 
roads are in poor or mediocre condition; 19 percent of our bridges are 
structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to the 
Federal Highway Administration.
  In addition, the bill includes $10 billion to establish an 
independent national infrastructure bank in order to leverage private 
and public funds in advancing a broad range of infrastructure projects 
through loans and loan guarantees. Under this proposal that was modeled 
after bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Kerry and Hutchison 
earlier this year, the bank would help finance large-scale 
transportation, water, and energy projects that are of national and 
regional significance. I am glad to see that the infrastructure bank 
included in this bill would begin to address some of the significant 
challenges we have of stimulating investment in new energy projects. 
There is simply not enough capital available in the country to deploy 
these technologies at the scale we need to deploy them to meet our 
national security objectives and to remain competitive in growing 
international markets for clean energy technologies. So the 
availability of this type of financing through this national 
infrastructure bank could be helpful in developing the transmission 
capacity required to bring renewable energies developed in my State of 
New Mexico to communities throughout the country.
  Let me also briefly comment on the fact that there is revenue raised 
in order to pay for this set of investments that are being proposed; 
that is, there is a so-called offset for the cost of this legislation. 
That is because I think all of us agree the deficit is at unsustainable 
levels. We should not be committing to increased spending without 
finding a way to pay for it, and that is why this legislation contains 
a revenue-raising provision. The legislation would impose a 0.7-percent 
surtax on income exceeding $1 million.
  What does that mean? That means that if a person's annual income is 
$1 million, then this legislation does not, in any way, change the 
taxes they are required to pay. So any garden-variety millionaire who 
only receives $1 million per year in income is not required to pay any 
more under this legislation. But if they exceed that and their income 
is $1,110,000, for example, they would have to pay an extra $700 toward 
the cost of this legislation.
  The reality is, modernizing our Nation's infrastructure and 
stimulating job growth and enhancing policies to assist with our 
economic recovery does cost money. We all wish it did not, but it does. 
Frankly, if we are going to give more than just lip service to 
addressing our persistent deficits, I think it is reasonable to ask the 
wealthiest among us to pitch in to move America forward to get this 
economy moving again.
  In New Mexico, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of taxpayers would be 
impacted by this modest surtax. That means 99.9 percent of New Mexicans 
would not be impacted at all, and the handful of filers who would be 
impacted would only pay the surtax on the portion of their annual 
income that exceeds $1 million.
  I strongly believe this legislation, the Rebuild America Jobs Act, 
that we are going to try to proceed to tomorrow--or whenever we can get 
consent

[[Page 16501]]

from our Republican colleagues to proceed to it--I believe is important 
legislation. It is an important step in turning our economy around, and 
I urge my colleagues to support it.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. COONS. Madam President, I rise because this week, once again, the 
Senate of the United States has the opportunity to create jobs, to find 
a way to work together to make a real difference in the long-term 
strength of this Nation, and to finally punch back against this 
recession which has taken so much from the working families of our 
States.
  I rise in support of the Rebuilding America Jobs Act, a bill that 
will invest $60 billion in our Nation's crumbling infrastructure and 
put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work.
  Investments in America's infrastructure are investments in America's 
future, and they could not come at a more critical time for our 
country, our communities, or our future.
  The rest of the world is pouring money into its infrastructure 
because they know it will not only make it easier for them to recover 
from this recession; they know it will make them more competitive for 
their long-term future, for their people, for their countries, for 
their economies. So at a time when our competitors are pouring money 
into fixing, expanding, building their infrastructure, we have turned 
off the spigot. We are starving our roads and our bridges, our sewers 
and our water systems, our tunnels, our ports, our runways, our 
railroad tracks. We are starving them of the repairs they need to 
function properly--not just today but to lay the groundwork for our 
competitiveness for the next generation of Americans.
  China, one of our greatest economic competitors, is spending 9 
percent of its GDP on infrastructure. As anyone who has visited China 
in recent years knows, all across the nation of China there are 
gleaming new highway systems, brandnew ports, brandnew airports and 
runways, brandnew transportation infrastructure that connects newly 
built cities leaping from the ground as if by magic because they have 
invested enormous amounts in a modern infrastructure. Europe broadly is 
investing 5 percent of GDP in modernizing their infrastructure. In the 
United States, where modern infrastructure has for a generation made us 
the envy of the world, we are investing just 2 percent--just 2 
percent--of our GDP. This is foolish.
  Few people argue that infrastructure isn't important. In fact, it is 
one of the few things that seem to enjoy broad support in this Chamber, 
in this city, and in this country. Folks as disparate as the AFL-CIO 
and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agree that investing in modernizing 
our infrastructure is critical, not just for putting Americans back to 
work but getting America working for our country's future. They both 
support the idea of an infrastructure bank because they know investing 
in infrastructure isn't just about rebuilding our roads, it is about 
rebuilding our economy.
  When companies make decisions about where to locate, about where to 
build a new factory, about where to expand production, about where to 
lease a new office, infrastructure is always at or near the top of 
their list. Proximity to a highway means everything if someone is going 
to run or expand a factory. Being close to a port is critical if their 
products need to be exported overseas. Access to airports and railways 
is imperative if someone wants to do business outside their community 
or our country. High-speed Internet can be every bit as important as 
these century-old transportation technologies and can be every bit as 
important as clean water, modern ports or new railroads.
  Infrastructure is important in every State of our Nation and 
especially so in my coastal State of Delaware. The Port of Wilmington 
brings 4 million tons of goods through Delaware each year, providing 
high-wage, high-skilled jobs for the longshoremen and the communities 
immediately around our port that rely so much on its vital link to the 
global economy. Railways allow Amtrak to connect businessmen and women 
from New York to our financial services sector, to our legal and 
banking community in Wilmington, and it is one of the busiest railroad 
stations in America. I-95, the east coast corridor, connects truckers 
and motorists up and down the east coast to our little State.
  But as folks have known for too long, one of the worst choke points 
in the whole East Coast on I-95 was in our State. I used to get calls 
all the time in my role as county executive because folks mistakenly 
thought it was somehow my role to modernize this highway. It was John 
F. Kennedy who cut the ribbon on this modern interstate highway, and 
we, frankly, have failed to invest in keeping up with the times, in 
keeping up with the growth in traffic, in keeping up with the tempo of 
global commerce since then.
  Delaware has finally solved these problems. With the leadership of 
the Obama administration and this Chamber, the investments that were 
made in infrastructure over the last 2 years, we finally have solved 
that chokepoint on I-95. Today, motorists move through at great 
speeds--pay their tolls to Delaware, yes--and are able to get on their 
way, north or south, and engage in commerce at the speed that the 
modern economy demands. That is what we seek to do nationwide. That is 
what the Rebuilding America Jobs Act can do.
  For the last 25 or 30 years, we have been building off the 
infrastructure built by our parents' generation, hoping that a little 
bandage here, a little ointment there, a little wire, a little bubble 
gum would be enough to get us through another year. But that is not a 
strategy for laying the groundwork for a great future for our children. 
It is not even a strategy for keeping up. The chokepoints on America's 
roads can't be allowed to choke America's economy for the next 
generation. One-third of our Nation's major roadways are in poor or 
even mediocre condition, and one-quarter of our bridges have been rated 
structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. We have even faced the 
human suffering and the reputational disaster of having bridges 
collapse across this country in recent years. We have failed to invest 
in our future. As a country, we can keep swerving to avoid these 
potholes, but eventually we are going to hit them.
  The Rebuilding America Jobs Act would fill that pothole, would make 
smooth the rough places of this Nation, and accelerate our economic 
growth for the future. I am a cosponsor of the Rebuilding America Jobs 
Act because this bill would fill the pothole we have been avoiding for 
decades. It would rebuild 150,000 miles of American roadways, maintain 
4,000 miles of train tracks, upgrade 150 miles of airport runways. It 
would restore critical drinking water and wastewater systems for our 
communities, and strengthen our energy infrastructure. In short, it 
would make us competitive. It would put people back to work. It would 
get us on the right road to a sustained recovery. It would put hundreds 
of thousands of Americans back to work in that sector of economy that 
took the first and hardest hit from the recession.
  More than 2 million Americans who worked in construction have lost 
their jobs since this tragic recession hit, including 8,000 in my home 
State of Delaware alone, and we have thousands of folks in the skilled 
building trades ready to go. They need us to get over our differences, 
find a way past these endless, mindless filibusters, and get them to 
work. This week we have an opportunity to invest in those people and 
invest in our country. Infrastructure is such a smart investment, and 
in this economy and in this competitive global environment where our 
allies and competitors are outstripping our investment because they see 
clearly the road to the future, we simply cannot afford to continue to 
refuse to act.
  It was 1 year ago today that the people of Delaware elected me to 
represent them in Washington. Every day since I have wondered when this 
Chamber was finally going to come together across the partisan divide 
and start moving on jobs. The persistent partisanship

[[Page 16502]]

here that has plagued this body is in my view not worthy of the very 
real human needs of the people who sent us here.
  Last month, folks in this Congress, mostly from the other party, 
prevented us from acting on jobs--not once, not twice, but several 
times. I do not understand the strategy here, but the endless 
filibusters must stop. I know there is debate over how we are going to 
pay for this particular proposal to put $60 billion into 
infrastructure, but as Senator Bingaman commented just before me, this 
is a modest increase in revenue from the very wealthiest Americans that 
I believe is justified in this critical economic time. Too many of my 
neighbors, too many of my constituents, are out of work.
  I don't think we have a choice. We need to act. The President is 
right, we cannot wait to act. The Rebuilding America Jobs Act not only 
invests in America's jobs for today but in our economy tomorrow. We 
cannot wait any longer to fill this pothole. This bill deserves 
bipartisan support and I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for 
it this week.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. BEGICH. Madam President, I rise to speak also on the Rebuild 
America Jobs Act. Our Nation's infrastructure is in a state of 
disrepair. We see it in the potholes in our streets, in the congested 
highways of public transit that lack the capacity to safely and 
efficiently get Americans where they need to go. The American Society 
of Civil Engineers gives our Nation's infrastructure a D grade. One in 
four bridges in the United States is structurally deficient. Our 
deteriorating infrastructure has negative impacts on commerce and our 
economy. We no longer have an infrastructure system that is the envy of 
the world.
  When you invest in public infrastructure, you have two results: You 
create immediate construction jobs and you lay the foundation, the 
groundwork, to improve communities and facilitate commerce. That was 
certainly my experience when I was mayor of Anchorage.
  I became mayor in 2003 at a time of economic slowdown--not quite as 
bad as the national recession we face today, but we inherited huge 
budget deficits and a dramatic slowdown in our economy. Our answer to 
turn Anchorage around was to invest in our basic system of roads and 
water and sewer and power--basic infrastructure. One of the best 
examples of the public infrastructure investment was a small community 
in the northern part of Anchorage called Mountain View. We knew there 
was great potential for economic turnaround in this community. We knew 
it because the community was interested. But in that community the 
public infrastructure hadn't been invested in for decades. We did some 
simple things at first--upgraded the roads, basic systems that move 
people from one end of Mountain View to the other. We invested in 
schools. Then we invested in some public facilities. Today, Mountain 
View is the home of a branch of one of our large credit unions which is 
now their top performer in new accounts. Also new retail was 
established there--restaurant, phone store--and housing developments 
where no housing was being developed in this neighborhood. As a matter 
of fact, this neighborhood--I know it well because I grew up not far 
from there--was the neighborhood where people lived and then they tried 
to figure out how to move out of the neighborhood. Today it is a 
community of choice, a place where people want to go. Well over 140 
housing units have been developed in this community in the last 5 
years. Also additional public offices and a library were developed 
there for the first time in over 22 years. Simple investments created 
private sector investment along with it.
  Another example is, we built a new $100 million convention center in 
our downtown Anchorage. The new Dena'ina Center is now an economic 
engine attracting bigger conventions and meetings and tens of thousands 
of visitors a year. In September alone the new convention center 
generated almost $12 million in revenue supporting restaurants, shops, 
and hotels.
  Again, as someone born and raised in Anchorage, I remember when 
businesses were fleeing the downtown. They saw it as not an opportunity 
for economic development. By making these simple investments, we can 
have a long-term impact. This $100 million may sound like a lot of 
money. Let me give another example--$40,000 we invested in improved 
street lights in a small part of downtown along G Street. Property 
owners had legitimate concerns of safety after dark. When winter hits 
in Alaska, there is a lot less light, so we invested about $40,000 per 
street light, installing some simple street lights, a dozen or so along 
the road there. As a result, the character of the street has 
dramatically changed. We have seen 10 new businesses spring up in a 
three-block section of G Street because it is safer. People move freely 
at any time of the day. There are year-round retail and restaurant 
businesses such as an Urban Greens, Jo Jo A Go Go, Modern Dwellers, 
Alaska Cake Studio, and Octopus Ink--a variety of new businesses. 
Retailers are investing their hard-earned capital, reaching out to 
expand opportunity for Anchorage. These businesses probably would not 
have made the investment without the small investment of the public 
infrastructure.
  In my view, we need to follow this model on a national level. Failure 
to invest in our crumbling infrastructure--our roads, bridges, 
airports--will cost us nearly a million American jobs without this 
investment. It is incredibly important to move our economy forward by 
legislation such as the Rebuild America Jobs Act. We have an 
opportunity to reverse this trend while helping to put hundreds of 
thousands of people back to work. This could put Alaskans back to work 
on important projects--bridge repairs outside the Denali National Park, 
a critical route between Alaska's two population centers and a heavily 
traveled route for tour operators and shippers; intersection upgrades 
on two of the busiest roads in downtown Fairbanks; highway safety 
improvements along the Seward Highway outside of Anchorage that reduce 
deadly traffic accidents and delays; safety improvements along the 
Sterling Highway on the Kenai Peninsula--other areas of high visitor 
traffic in the summer.
  We know these improvements will support local economic growth all 
around Alaska, which is still a very young State compared to many 
States, and has tremendous transportation needs. Two years ago, this 
Congress approved the Recovery Act which funded sorely needed projects 
across my State--projects such as the Gustavus dock, Alaska Railroad 
line improvements, Glenn Highway repairs, and airport upgrades. These 
all created immediate construction jobs and have also improved access 
points so private companies can increase revenues and create long-term 
jobs.
  The Rebuild America Jobs Act not only provides desperately needed 
repair funds, it also provides the seed money for the National 
Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will attract private sector 
capital to help fund a broad range of nationally significant projects. 
The concept for the infrastructure bank has broad bipartisan support 
and is currently being championed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
  Moody's estimates for every $1 spent on roads and water and sewer--
the basic infrastructure of this country--GDP is raised by $1.59. The 
Rebuild America Jobs Act would make some key investments--$27 billion 
to rebuild roads and bridges; $9 billion to invest in public transit; 
$3 billion to invest in our airports and modernization of our air 
traffic control system, which will make aviation more efficient and 
safer.
  For Alaskans, this investment would fund $220 million in much-needed 
transportation improvements and modernization which of course means 
good jobs--an estimated 2,900 jobs in Alaska from this bill.
  Infrastructure development and investment has historically been a 
bipartisan effort. The American people want Congress to work together. 
This is a good bill to deal with our Nation's

[[Page 16503]]

roads, bridges, rails, ports, and runways.
  Let me close by saying I have been here almost 3 years. We have some 
good bills that passed and we argued over some that we wished would 
pass. We have had some success over the last couple of weeks here, when 
you think about the China currency bill, the three trade bills. Now we 
have this bill. We have put three jobs bills up. Two have not been able 
to pass because of opposition from the other side but here is one that 
we know has bipartisan support. The infrastructure bank, the Chamber of 
Commerce is actively promoting this because they see the melding of the 
public and private sectors moving together to invest in the future of 
this economy. They also know when you lay down those roads or that 
better infrastructure on rail or transit, the net result is private 
sector investment will occur either right after it or simultaneously.
  I hope folks on the other side will make the decision that it is wise 
to invest today and move this bill forward so we can have a long-term 
economic impact for our country.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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