Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Arizona for working with us on this very important issue of making sure that veterans in a number of our States are able to get quality care in a location that is convenient to them, and I appreciate his partnering with me and Senator Schumer and others on this issue.

Mr. President, I was going to rise earlier when the Senator from Missouri spoke to talk about the question around infrastructure investment. This is infrastructure investment week, and stakeholders from across the country are here to continue to raise the question that we need to do more to rebuild our Nation's crumbling infrastructure. We all know that recently we passed a 5-year highway bill, and I supported it. The FAST Act--as it was called--was a good bill, but it included only modest increases in funding. Whether we look at our region's Metro or the Memorial Bridge that many of us travel on a regular basis or airports or water systems all over the country, it is clear that we need to look at additional ways to invest in our Nation's infrastructure.

Senator Blunt and I have filed an amendment to the current Transportation appropriations bill that we had before us that would establish a National Infrastructure Financing Authority. The BRIDGE Act that is cosponsored by six Republicans and six Democrats is bringing about a new tool to make innovative ways to finance projects. I believe my friend, the Senator from Connecticut, is a supporter of this type of approach.

Our bipartisan BRIDGE Act creates a $10 billion government loan fund--a loan fund that will repay. It doesn't add a single dime to the Federal deficit. All experts say this modest initial investment ultimately could unlock up to $300 billion in private sector capital to invest in our Nation's infrastructure.

Let's be honest. We all know why we are here. The funding mechanisms that our transportation system relies on are simply unsustainable. We spend more money each year just in maintaining our highway trust fund and highway system than our highway trust fund brings in, yet our needs continue to grow.

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the United States a D-plus grade on infrastructure. I don't know about my friend, the Senator from New York, but I am sure that he often preferred grades better than D-plus when he was a student.

If we look over recent times, this is not a Democrat or Republican issue; this is a problem that has been gnawing at this country for some time. There has been a 50-percent decrease in infrastructure investment as a percentage of our GDP since the 1970s. The United States spends less than 2 percent of our gross domestic product on infrastructure.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, underinvestment in our national infrastructure will cost each American family $3,400 a year. That is wasted time. That is a city in gridlock. That is not being able to get to work and not being able to be with one's family. The most significant gap, of course, is not only in water but, obviously, in transportation, where it has been estimated that an additional $1 trillion is needed across the network--including roads, bridges, rail--during the next decade. Again, I point to many of the Members in this body and so many of the folks who work for us simply traveling across the Memorial Bridge, one of our Nation's icons, which is basically in a crumbling state.

Meanwhile, if we look at nations around the world in terms of what they are doing--remember the United States is under 2 percent of GDP investment and infrastructure--Europe and India spend about 5 percent of their GDP on an annual basis in infrastructure. China spends nearly 9 percent. Australia already has a national infrastructure financing authority. China also has a national infrastructure funding authority that is building out national high-speed rail networks.

Think about it. For most of the 20th century, it was American infrastructure that led to America's economic dominance in the 20th century. Today, whether that is flying into our airports, looking at our rail system, or looking at our crumbling roads and systems, in many ways, America's infrastructure is a disgrace and actually retards economic growth.

As we tighten our belts at the State level--and I say that as a former Governor--and at the Federal level, we need to do everything we can to invest in infrastructure as a means of not only providing jobs but helping the flow of goods and people and services to stay competitive in the global economy.

Despite the recent passage of the so-called FAST Act, only 6 percent of infrastructure funding in the United States is from the private sector. With over $2.2 trillion sitting on private ledgers looking for a place to invest, that meager 6-percent figure, in terms of private sector investment in infrastructure, could be dramatically increased.

The BRIDGE Act, the bill I am working on with Senator Blunt, establishes such an authority. It complements existing Federal programs scattered across several ages. It allows us to consolidate the expertise it takes to go against Wall Street in putting together infrastructure financing programs.

This new authority could provide an important new tool for State and local governments to partner with the private sector to invest in our Nation's infrastructure.

Let me be clear. Infrastructure financing alone isn't a silver bullet. If you finance, you have to pay those dollars back. But when we are looking at interest rates at record lows, failure to take advantage of accessing these private markets with interest rates at these low levels is the equivalent of political malfeasance. In terms of the BRIDGE Act, this program would complement existing programs such as TIFIA and WIFIA, which already provide good work.

My hope is that joining with Senator Blunt and 12 of our colleagues-- equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans--if not on this bill, we will act on the BRIDGE Act and provide this critically important needed infrastructure tool to our tool kit to make sure that our roads, bridges, airports, water and sewer systems are functioning and allow America to compete in the 21st century economy.

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