Cbc Supports Investing in Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and, more importantly, I thank her for her leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus and her leadership on the Committee on Financial Services.

Madam Speaker, we are slowly recovering from the economic mess that we inherited after the last administration. The number of jobs, up. Unemployment, down. Initial claims for unemployment insurance, down. The economy is going in the right direction, but, clearly, not fast enough.

That is why the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are so important. The American Jobs Plan will create funding for the traditional infrastructure, like roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, public transit; also investments in ports.

It also proposes significant investment in broadband. And we have heard how important broadband is because it connects families and businesses to the internet, and connects students to the internet. Those students who did not have connectivity could not take advantage of educational opportunities for over a year, and if they don't get connectivity, they will be disadvantaged going forward.

We need to have universal broadband, and the investments in the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan will go a long way towards universal access to broadband.

We even have electric charging stations for people who are not inclined to buy electric cars if they can't charge those cars on the highway. And people are not building charging stations along the highway because there are not that many electric cars.

The American Jobs Plan will have funding for electric charging stations so that more people will be inclined to buy electric cars. And not surprisingly, as soon as that happens, all of the restaurants up and down the highways will have charging stations so people will be inclined to hook up; and while they are waiting, they will go in and take advantage of the restaurant.

Madam Speaker, those are just some of the investments in the American Jobs Plan.

It also includes school construction. There is an article recently in Virginia that told the story that about 50 percent of the schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia are over 50 years old. That sends a disappointing message to students when they are going into old schools. It gives the impression that education is not important. We need to improve our schools, and we can do that with the funding in the American Jobs Plan.

Madam Speaker, we have funding to improve housing, that we have heard, and many other projects. Creating millions of jobs, good-paying jobs--mostly union jobs--where they are guaranteed to be able to negotiate a decent wage and equal pay for equal work. But those jobs will go unfilled unless we also pass the American Families Plan, which has funding for childcare and early childhood education and improved child nutrition so parents can actually go to work; job training and apprenticeships and improved access to higher education so workers can get the skills needed to perform those jobs.

These bills will create millions of jobs and enable workers to perform those jobs, and these programs will be fiscally responsible because they will be paid for.

Madam Speaker, that is how we will build back a better America.

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