Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on Monday, President Trump unveiled his proposal to improve America's infrastructure. Today he will host committee chairmen and ranking members at the White House for a bipartisan, bicameral meeting on that subject. I am grateful the President is prioritizing this and reaching across the aisle.

Experts agree that America's aging infrastructure needs a lot of help. Nationwide, 9.1 percent of our bridges are considered structurally deficient, and 13.6 percent are considered functionally obsolete. One recent study suggests that road congestion costs us $160 billion a year--for road congestion. The answer is not simply to throw new money at old problems.

It took American workers less time to build great skyscrapers, start to finish, than it now takes bureaucrats to review--not even build, but review--proposals for new bridges and roadways. We need to streamline regulations, reform the permitting process, and get government out of the way wherever possible. Once projects are proposed, they should be reviewed in a safe but reasonable amount of time and then completed as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

This is a prime opportunity for bipartisan cooperation. Our last three highway bills, our last three WRDA bills, and our last three FAA bills all passed the Senate easily, averaging more than 80 votes. I hope we can renew that consensus when the time comes.

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