[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Himes) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because we are told that this 
week is Infrastructure Week. After four contentious months of a new 
President, and all that has been contained in those 4 months, I 
actually saw a glimmer of hope and possibility around the idea that we 
might finally come together to do something for our constituents in an 
area that they tell us is absolutely essential.
  I worry, Mr. Speaker, that we are going to let this opportunity be 
lost in the political roil that is already consuming this idea of a 
week that we devote to infrastructure.
  So I want to stand here, Mr. Speaker, and say, let's not let this 
idea go. It is too important. The improvement of our roadways and our 
bridges, our airports, and our railways is absolutely essential to the 
quality of life of every single constituent of every single Member of 
this House.
  As I talk to the business leaders in my district, the fact that they 
have a challenge in moving their people and their goods, that sometimes 
getting to work is a 2-hour proposition, are the things that hold them 
back.
  I know that the Republicans and the Democrats disagree on an awful 
lot, but we have to be able to agree on the fundamental notion that if 
we don't have a functioning transportation infrastructure, if our 
airplanes and ships and rails and cars don't move well, this country 
cannot be great, and our economy will be damaged.
  These last 4 months have been pretty rough. We got--kicked off with a 
repeal of the Affordable Care Act; and I understand that my Republican 
friends had been promising that for years, but it was a brutal 
experience. It failed on the floor. The American public hates the bill 
that so many of my Republican friends were cajoled into voting for, 
much to their political peril.
  There was an alternative start to this Presidency. There was this 
fantasy alternative start that has the President, shortly after his 
inauguration, saying to the American people: I know that this campaign 
was tough and the rhetoric was as ugly as it ever has been in an 
American campaign, but we are going to come together now, in January of 
2017, to restitch the Nation, literally and figuratively. Literally 
means we are going to work together to rebuild the infrastructure of 
this country.
  Sadly, that is an alternate reality that did not happen, and so we 
are consumed in Twitter feuds and partisanship and some of the most 
difficult to pass legislation that ultimately is not likely to become 
law, but which will continue to split the parties in this Chamber.
  It is not too late, though, Mr. Speaker. I think we can still turn 
this around.
  I have the privilege of chairing the New Democrat Coalition, 61 
Democratic Members who, as challenged as they feel by this President's 
positions and behavior, are hoping for that moment when we can work 
with Republicans, when we can get something done with this President 
that will be meaningful to our constituents. And I know they, and many 
other Democrats, will be there for that conversation.
  To my conservative, even to my Freedom Caucus friends, there is 
nothing more conservative than the idea that you keep your house in 
order; that you invest so that your children can have the kind of 
prosperity that we were able to experience.
  And to the President, I would say: Sir, you seem to be a builder. You 
seem to have recognized the need for this kind of program when you 
promised a $1 trillion infrastructure investment. And, sir, I would 
say, if you look at some of our highways that were built in the 1950s, 
at the entrance ramp to those highways you will see a sign that says 
the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. Sir, there is no 
reason why those signs couldn't have your name on them.
  So, Mr. Speaker, this problem is so urgent, it is so potentially 
bipartisan in its solution, that I want to close with the observation 
that we need to lift this out of the partisan maw and observe, Mr. 
Speaker, that yesterday we celebrated the Greatest Generation because, 
73 years ago yesterday, they stormed the beaches of Normandy. That is 
part of why we call them the Greatest Generation. But the other part 
and the other reason we call them that is because they came back to 
America and they set aside their differences and they invested in 
projects like the Interstate Highway System that we all use every day. 
That is a big part of why we call them the Greatest Generation. They 
built our country.
  And now that generation looks at us and they have a question, and 
that question is: What will you do with that legacy that we built for 
you?
  Mr. Speaker, let's answer that question in a way that will make them 
proud.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their 
remarks to the Chair.

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