Investing in the Nation's Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Mr. McNERNEY. Madam Speaker, this week, the President unveiled a budget proposal that would not only endanger the health and safety of the American people and our environment, but also jeopardize the long- term stability of our infrastructure systems.

It completely ignores what we know about climate change, proposing a 61 percent reduction in funding for renewable energy research and cutting critical enforcement tools and public safety regulations.

It also lacks the foresight to produce a forward-thinking plan that will ensure a stable and resilient infrastructure future. In fact, it seeks to eliminate essential programs like ARPA-E, which supports early stage energy research and development.

Nationwide infrastructure systems like the electric grid must be updated to anticipate severe weather and climate conditions. We have seen the toll that national disasters take on our electric grid.

Smart planning and investment is essential to ensuring that we have the proper resources to maintain and operate these essential structures.

The President has spoken at length about investing in our infrastructure. Now let's see some action.

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