Hire More Heroes Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chair, it is a sad commentary on the state of this House that the highway bill we are considering is being called a victory, and that the mere act of bringing a bill to the floor is a major step forward.

As a nation with a D+ grade on infrastructure from the American Society for Civil Engineers, we need an ambitious plan to rebuild and modernize. We need to invest in transit, fix structurally-deficient bridges, connect people to jobs, and move goods across the country. We need to put people to work in every community bringing our transportation system into the 21st century. That's why I introduced a version of the President's GROW America Act that would have invested more in our infrastructure.

Instead, we are considering a very modest proposal. It's a six year bill at current funding levels adjusted for inflation, with only three years of funding. The pay-fors include bad and inefficient policies like hiring private debt collectors to harass taxpayers. It dramatically cuts the TIFIA loan program and fails to provide adequate funding for transit. And it needlessly erodes environmental and community review of projects.

This bill does have some positive provisions providing resources for major projects, continuing funding for bike-ped and Safe Routes to School, and strengthening Buy American requirements. I appreciate that my amendment to allow communities to protect consumers from predatory towing has been included in the bill. And I strongly support reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank to open up international markets for American goods.

But I am disappointed that this bill does not go farther to improve and transform our transportation networks. As we begin conference negotiations with the Senate, we must significantly boost investments, eliminate problematic offsets, and restore meaningful project review.

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