[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15824]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REBUILD AMERICA'S INFRASTRUCTURE

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, how does America, the strongest economy in 
the history of the world, accept a world ranking of 23rd behind Spain 
and Chile in the quality of our roads and bridges--American 
infrastructure? Let's look at the facts.
  In 2005, Congress passed a roads bill that was 35 percent smaller 
than what was needed just to bring our roads and bridges to a state of 
good repair. In 2009, Congress passed an economic stimulus bill, 
directed just 7 percent to our transportation and infrastructure, and, 
last year, we passed a transportation bill that provided less than half 
of what was needed to reverse the decline of our roads and bridges. 
This is not only weak, it is pathetically weak.
  Standard & Poor's reports that for every $1.3 billion invested in 
roads and bridges, it creates 29,000 jobs--American jobs--produces $2 
billion in economic growth, and reduces the Federal deficit by $200 
million.
  Both Presidential candidates talked about a large investment in 
American infrastructure, but I am concerned that the President-elect's 
program may be comprised of tax cuts for already-planned projects. This 
would be selling the American people and the American economy short. 
You just spent $105 billion rebuilding the roads and bridges of 
Afghanistan. You just spent $76 billion rebuilding the roads and 
bridges of Iraq. It is time the Nation built here at home and in 
America.

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