Voting Rights

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share some great news about our efforts to protect Lake Michigan and the rivers and lakes throughout Illinois and the entire Great Lakes region from invasive Asian carp.

Yesterday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that thanks to the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $225 million of new funding is headed to Illinois for the Brandon Road Project. The Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River in Joliet, Illinois, is the last best line of defense against the spread of this invasive species into waterways not just in Illinois but to lakes and tributaries throughout the entire Great Lakes basin.

The economic and environmental consequences of allowing this infestation to spread would be massive, and that is why securing Federal funding for the Brandon Road Project has been one of my most important priorities for several years.

Last year, I joined my colleagues on the Great Lakes Task Force to urge the Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize the Brandon Road Project. And 3 years ago, I hosted members of the then-Republican- controlled Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for a tour of the Brandon Road site so that they could have a first-person look at the importance of this project.

This injection of much-needed funding means that we can move forward on getting this project done and protecting our waterways, and not just our Great Lakes, but the beautiful lakes and rivers that define the entire Great Lakes region for generations to come.

I just wish that more of my Republican colleagues had actually voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill to provide the funding for this great project. Infrastructure

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Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, for decades, Americans have been asking their elected leaders to fix crumbling roads and bridges and modernize our Nation's transportation infrastructure. For decades, politicians of both parties promised to deliver on an infrastructure package. President Trump even promised that he would be the one person to get it done. But he didn't, not even when Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and Presidency.

It was President Biden and this Democratic Congress that finally got it done even though more than 90 percent of my Republican colleagues voted against it. Thanks to this new law, people in my State will benefit from robust Federal investment in the infrastructure that they rely on every day: $11.2 billion for highway and bridge repairs; $1.7 billion to make sure that everyone has access to clean drinking water; $4 billion to enhance public transportation; $616 million for infrastructure enhancements at Illinois airports; and over $100 million for broadband internet expansion.

Just last week, the Department of Transportation announced that $1.4 billion was already on its way to Illinois to repair bridges all across the State. This is the largest investment in our State's bridges since the construction of the Interstate Highway System, and it is just the beginning of the infrastructure investments that will benefit the people of Illinois every day.

I have to say, I look forward to meeting my Republican colleagues at the ribbon cutting ceremonies for all of these projects that they voted against.

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