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

Floor Speech

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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman DeFazio for yielding and for this transformational bill that has been put forward, a deeply necessary investment in our country's infrastructure.

My amendment would ensure that our Nation has a well-equipped workforce to build climate resilient infrastructure projects. And it does this by adding a critical requirement to study labor, workforce, and equity considerations.

Climate change is compelling us to boldly innovate, and workers will need training to acquire new skills to implement emerging technologies that keep us and our communities safe. As this is unchartered territory, we will need to study how to best support our workers so they are prepared to meet that challenge head on.

We also need to make sure that Federal investment improves, not worsens existing inequities in our economy. Let's fully identify effective strategies to guarantee that jobs are first available to populations that face the greatest barriers to employment and are most vulnerable to the very risks of climate change that we must address.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I have one of those bridges in my district, and we desperately need help. We need revenue to rebuild our Nation's infrastructure. I have a major bridge in my district that was abruptly shuttered.

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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I have a major bridge in my district that connects west Seattle to downtown, and it was abruptly shuttered after growing cracks were discovered in a routine inspection. Repairs and possible replacement will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the people that live in that part of my district--very populated--have no way to get out of that, except for one little place on the south end of that area.

So we desperately need to find these issues before they come up, and we need to invest.

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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, my amendment would set aside an additional $9 million for airplane noise mitigation and other projects to support aviation-impacted communities.

In my district, the rapid growth of Sea-Tac Airport to meet demand has impacted the day-to-day life of many of my constituents who live nearby. In large part, that has been due to increased noise.

While we cannot stop rising demand, we can protect our communities with additional funds for noise insulation and by studying environmentally sound ways to reduce aviation impacts.

The FAA has not taken this issue seriously enough, failing to respond to my constituents' concerns in community meetings and refusing to release congressionally mandated studies on reducing airport noise. That is why my amendment would compel the FAA to devote more resources to aviation-impacted communities across the Nation.

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