Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as a Member from the heart of America's transportation network, Chicago, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, and I thank our chairman for a great job.

This bill produces needed investment in our Nation's infrastructure, from housing to broadband to transportation.

As a founding member of the Future of Transportation Caucus, I am fighting to ensure that we make bold reforms to the status quo and ensure that we recognize transportation policy as the social justice issue that it is.

For too long, we have starved Black and Latino communities from opportunities and segregated communities with train tracks, boulevards, and highways. This bill promotes equity by adopting sustainable technologies, prioritizing maintenance and repair, and investing in transit, pedestrian, and bike access.

This bill includes my top priorities. It makes transit-oriented development more equitable. It improves access to jobs and services and increases training for our frontline transit workers.

Congress must pass H.R. 2 and give Americans the 21st century infrastructure that we need.

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman DeFazio for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of amendment 293, which ensures that we study the safety of automated vehicles and that we also study their environmental effects.

H.R. 2 requires us to study transformative technology--in this case, autonomous vehicles--to make sure that it is implemented safely and that we understand its impact on jobs.

My amendment makes sure that we study air quality and climate and energy consumption effects from automated vehicles, because any equitable investment in transportation requires protecting air quality and advancing climate solutions for all communities.

I thank my cosponsor, Representative Schakowsky, and supporting organizations like the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the League of Conservation Voters.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this amendment.

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lipinski for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of amendment No. 274, which protects transportation workers during the COVID pandemic, including the many who worked in Chicago. I thank my cosponsors: Carbajal, Lynch, Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez, and Jayapal.

Mr. Speaker, voluntary adoption of CDC guidelines just won't cut it. Reports we have and continue to receive from workers in the transportation sector make this clear: Frontline workers, many Black and Brown, are getting sick at alarming rates.

My amendment expands protections to more frontline employees, including maritime, freight rail, motorcoach, and longshore workers. It also requires passengers on all modes to wear a mask to protect themselves, employees, and the traveling public. Finally, it would hold employers accountable for failing to provide proper protective gear for transport workers.

This amendment is supported by our friends in labor, including AFL- CIO's Transportation Trades Department, the Teamsters, our pilots, Electrical Workers, Transportation Workers Union, train workers, Sheet Metal Workers, and many others.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill.

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