[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1335]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REBUILDING AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Last night, President Obama argued that rebuilding 
American infrastructure is crucial to job creation, and with 70,000 
structurally deficient bridges, it is long overdue.
  Today, the United States Chamber of Commerce is holding a summit on 
infrastructure investment. According to the U.S. Chamber, our broken 
infrastructure costs $78 billion annually in lost time and fuel, and we 
will experience $336 billion in lost growth over the next 5 years. Our 
decaying infrastructure is a significant drag on the economy. Freight 
rail bottlenecks cost us $200 billion a year--air traffic delays $33 
billion a year. Our inadequate ports will lose up to $270 billion in 
exports by 2020, costing 738,000 jobs.
  Lots of people around here spend a lot of time whining about China. 
China invests 9 percent of its economy in infrastructure. We invest 
less than 3 percent. Stop whining about China and do something about 
it. President Obama and the U.S. Chamber agree that it's time to 
nation-build right here at home, right here in America, and Congress 
should listen.

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