[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16682]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE ``URGENCY OF NOW''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 27, 2015

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of action--the 
preference for progress of a status quo that is robbing millions of 
Americans of opportunity. Every person in this chamber was elected to 
improve this country and make the lives of our constituents a little 
bit easier.
  Nowhere is it easier to improve the quality of life for Americans 
than in investing for the long-term in our transportation 
infrastructure. The American economy depends upon the rapid delivery of 
goods and services.
  But as the White House pointed out in 2014's ``Economic Analysis of 
Transportation Infrastructure Investment,'' we are failing to support 
this vital network of roads, bridges, railways and other means of 
transportation.
  Last year, the World Economic Forum ranked the United States' roads 
18th in the world; 65% of our major roads are in less than ``good'' 
condition; one in four requires significant repair. These inadequacies 
directly impact us all. Each year, we spend 5.5 billion unnecessary 
hours stuck in traffic--that's a $120 billion in extra fuel and 
unproductive time.
  Those figures cost business and industry an extra $27 billion in 
freight costs and delays. Money that could have gone to employees, or 
shareholders, or to investments in the future.
  But it isn't just corporations paying the price. It is the quarter of 
the 33,000 traffic fatalities where road conditions were a factor. It 
is the 45 percent of Americans who cannot access adequate transit.
  Today, the House voted to fund yet another short-term bill--as it 
should--to keep our surface transportation system moving. At the same 
time, this House voted to delay implementation of a 6-year-old law that 
requires ``positive train control''--a technology that saves lives and 
which I want to see rolled out as soon as possible--because they 
thought it important to provide the rail industry with certainty.
  But the simple fact is those two principles are at odds--because we 
aren't providing any certainty to American industry and American 
passengers and American drivers with a three-week transportation 
funding bill. A trip of a thousand miles may begin with a single step--
but you have to begin with a destination and path in mind.
  It is time this body recognizes the urgency of our problem. 
Transportation investments aren't based on a three-week schedule--and 
federal support shouldn't be either.
  Let's finally get something done on transportation, and pass a bill 
that will fund infrastructure priorities further out than people are 
booking flights for Thanksgiving.