[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, my Republican friends are going to be 
asked this month to embrace a budget and a tax proposal with highly 
disputed benefits. But what is not in dispute is it will add $1.5 
trillion to the national debt and up to $4 trillion in cuts to programs 
Americans care deeply about, like Medicaid and Medicare.
  There is a better way. I spent much of this last weekend in Orlando, 
Florida, with leaders of the American Trucking Association. These are 
people who understand the infrastructure crisis America faces because 
they and their employees deal with it every single day. Instead of 
cutting transportation funding or having some mythical program without 
details, they are willing to step up and invest more, raising their 
fuel taxes--they already pay about half the total cost of the Highway 
Trust Fund--to be able to make a difference.
  And I would hope that Congress will look at that example, listen to 
those people, and be able to do its part.
  In no small measure, because of the leadership of many small 
businesses and trucking associations around the country, over half the 
States, since 2012, have stepped up to raise their transportation 
resources, and the States are seeing the benefit. They are seeing the 
economic impact of the construction, and it is making a difference on 
the ground for people and communities.
  It is important that the Federal Government does its part. We need to 
be there for projects that are multimodal, that are multi-State, and 
multiyear. That Federal partnership has played a vital role since the 
enactment of the Interstate Highway System in 1956.
  The trucking industry was able to make the point that the public is 
already paying the cost, about $1,500 a year extra cost for the typical 
family for car maintenance and congestion.
  The transportation industry is paying some $63 billion of cost every 
year due to congestion. For about $2 a week, from the average family, 
we could take critical steps to make sure that we address this 
infrastructure funding crisis.
  If people really want to have some congressional action that will put 
people to work at family wage jobs, not the disputed trickle-down 
economics, it is undisputable that every $1.2 billion invested in 
infrastructure creates almost 30,000 jobs.

                              {time}  1015

  It creates almost about $2 billion of economic activity. For each 
$1.2 billion invested, it will reduce the deficit $200 million.
  Mr. Speaker, it is past time that this Congress stops shirking its 
responsibility. We ought to be in partnership not just with the 
truckers, but with AAA, engineers, contractors, construction unions, 
local government, the vast array, the largest coalition of groups 
dealing with a controversial issue before Congress. If we would give 2 
weeks to hear from these leaders across the country of this broad 
coalition, the case would be made and I think Congress would finally 
step up and do its job.
  Our partners in the private sector, in State and local government, 
and people in the communities can expect Congress to be a partner to 
make our communities more livable, to make our families safer, 
healthier, and more economically secure.
  I hope when some of our friends from the trucking industry join us 
this week on Capitol Hill, that Members will listen to their case and 
be able to have the courage to step up and invest in our future. Our 
constituents deserve no less.

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