Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, first I wish to dedicate my remarks tonight in memory of our former colleague, James Oberstar, who knew the transportation system of this Nation like the back of his hand. And I know the first thing he would say if he were down here. He would say transportation investment, infrastructure investment is the largest job creator that this Congress and this Nation can provide to the American people.

Infrastructure creates jobs. It is the highest form of development we can give to the American people. What are they asking this Congress for?

They are asking us for jobs, and they are asking us to fix the roads. Every place I go the public is complaining about potholes because of the bad winter in the part of the country that I represent.

We know, where do these jobs come from? The construction industry, the landscape industry, the paving industry, the fencing industry, the stone quarries, the concrete manufacturers. The list is endless.

In public transit we are talking about building rail cars to serve a growing population. America isn't declining in population. By 2050 we will have 500 million people in this country, up from 310 million today.

So communities across our country are asking for our help. They asked for $9.5 billion in high-priority infrastructure projects just this year, 15 times more than the current funding.

So what does the majority do?

They cut the current funding by 80 percent, down to $100 million, when the American people are saying--the mayors, the county commissioners, the Governors across this country--help us out.

TIGER has proven to be a successful program. It is not stove-piped. It is multimodal.

The Vice President, Vice President Biden just visited Cleveland. What did he see? The largest transit point in Ohio, where Amtrak comes right next to the major switching stations for all of the rail cars that serve Cleveland, Ohio.

Cleveland is waiting. It is only one of hundreds of places in America that are waiting for this Congress to do what the public wants us to do, and that is build this country forward.

Underinvestment will only hurt our people and cost us more in the long run. We know TIGER works.

The President recommended doubling the current funding to $1.25 billion, up from 600 to $800 million, to begin to meet the needs of our country. But remember, I said the public was asking for $9.5 billion.

TIGER has provided already $3.5 billion for 270 critical infrastructure projects across 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

In prior years, we know that transit and rail passenger projects have received only about one quarter of TIGER funds available, and there is typically no other predictable dedicated funding source for this type of project.

Without TIGER, and a few other Federal programs, mass transit and the shape of our Nation's highway system and rail system would be so much worse.

Americans increasingly look to this Congress and say, what are they worth?

This is one of the places where we should be worth something for the American people. So we rise tonight to say this is really a misguided decision. We need to take funds from elsewhere.

We send funds all over the world. We are building dams in Afghanistan. Who is going to take care of it after we leave?

Hundreds of millions of dollars in other places, and yet our own people are having to go get their cars realigned and buy new suspension systems because they are having to ride through all these potholes all over the country.

We ought to do our job. We ought to find a way to fund this program and repair this country from one end to the other.

I ask myself: If we had to build the Hoover Dam again, would this feckless Congress have the guts to do it?

So we have a problem like TIGER that, coast to coast, works. Where's the majority? Out to lunch.

No wonder the public doesn't have respect for the Congress of the United States. We are not at one with where the public is. The mayors are begging us. Our county commissioners are begging us. Our Governors are begging us. Our transit systems are saying measure up, Congress. Wake up. Wake up.

I rise in strong support of restoring the funding and, frankly, funding at the level that the President has proposed, $1.25 billion. But even that is only about one-seventh of what the country has asked for, so it is severely underfunded for the needs of the Nation.

We know it is the best job creator. We know it has a proven record, and we know the American people want it. What more do we need to know?

I can just hear Jim Oberstar talking to me now.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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