OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

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

Floor Speech

Date: July 1, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Transportation Infrastructure

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2 that Chairman DeFazio has helped craft and the en bloc amendment which is being discussed now.

Transportation is Memphis. Memphis is blessed to be on the banks of the greatest river in our country, the Mississippi, and fortunate to have Fred Smith born there, which brought the greatest air cargo company in the world to Memphis, Federal Express. That is our number one employer.

This bill will help airports, investments in airports, and create jobs, helping FedEx and helping Memphis. It will invest in harbors--we have the fifth largest inland harbor in the country--with dredging. That is important for the Port of Memphis.

We have five Class 1 railroads, and there are investments there, and that produces jobs and moves goods and services.

We have two interstate systems and roads that need improvement. This bill will put money into roads and bridges and create those jobs.

It will further put money into broadband, which it is very important to reach into the inner cities to give an opportunity for young people, African Americans in particular, to get access to the internet and all the information that they need to have a good education and a good livelihood later on.

This bill includes several priorities that I have had, including a DUI law that is part of this en bloc amendment that will see to it that there is a study on why DUI convictions aren't shared by States so that people who have multiple DUIs will be punished accordingly and save innocent potential victims from the carnage of a DUI accident.

It happened in Mississippi. A young Memphis girl was killed by a multiple offender, but nobody knew they were a multiple offender because their convictions were not submitted to a central base.

This also incorporates the Complete Streets Act that makes our planning more in keeping with the 21st century for pedestrians and bicyclers and others who use our roads in alternative ways.

This is an excellent bill. I am proud to support it. It creates jobs. It is good for Memphis. It is good for America.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman DeFazio. There is no more important bill than this.

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