[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11928-11929]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 MAKE THE INVESTMENT OUR ECONOMY NEEDS

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, the financial research firm of Standard &

[[Page 11929]]

Poor's reports that for every $1.3 billion invested in our 
infrastructure, 30,000 American jobs are created; it adds $2 billion in 
economic growth; and reduces deficit by more than $200 million.
  Economists at the Council on Foreign Relations explained that ``the 
compelling case is that a dollar in on a macro basis in our economy 
results in more than a dollar out;'' which is to say, Mr. Speaker, that 
to shortchange infrastructure is to reject and undermine economic 
growth in this country.
  Policies that create growth and reduce the deficit should be embraced 
by everybody, including conservatives. Indeed, it was the Republican 
President Eisenhower who initiated the National Highway System, and the 
Chamber of Commerce is a leading voice in calling for infrastructure 
spending today.
  I urge this body to embrace sound economics and the tradition of 
bipartisan support for infrastructure spending, and make the investment 
that our Nation needs to nation-build, not in Afghanistan, not in Iraq, 
but right here at home in America.

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