New York

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, first, I would like to welcome back my colleagues, including our Senate Acting President pro tempore back to the Senate after celebrating the July 4th holiday.

Today, my thoughts are with all New Yorkers impacted by the flash floods that barraged the Hudson Valley, particularly Orange County where the West Point Military Academy is located, as well as other parts of Upstate New York, particularly Ontario County. The situation on the ground remains dangerous. Streets have been turned into rivers; houses have been swept away in their entirety; and, sadly, at least one person has lost her life.

I have been in contact with the local first responders on the ground to ensure we are doing everything we can in my office to help.

Today, I also called on FEMA to be ready to grant any request from the State for a major disaster declaration. And I urge everyone in New York and across the Northeast to exercise caution in the coming days. The danger is not over.

I will continue to monitor this situation and bring the long arm of the Federal Government to help in every way that it can.

Madam President, now, when people think about the July 4th holiday, they think about fireworks, barbecues, family. But last week, many Americans saw something else too. They saw more construction workers hard at work in their communities. They saw more hard hats and shovels and cranes and cement trucks operating day and night. They saw, in other words, Democrats' agenda in action, an agenda that has created over 35,000 new infrastructure projects over the last 2 years. These projects will mean millions of new good-paying jobs across the country for years to come. New York is a terrific example.

Last week, I was proud to announce that nearly $7 billion in Federal dollars has been approved for the Gateway Tunnel project, in what will be the largest Federal transportation grant in history for the most important infrastructure project in America.

Gateway has been a true passion of mine for more than a decade, a labor of love that I have been focused on for a long time. It is critical for our economy in the Northeast and, in fact, in the entire country. Should the tunnels under the Hudson not be usable, the Northeast--and probably the country--would go into recession. So this affects everybody.

And the funding I announced was as a direct result of the terrific work we did in Congress to pass generational infrastructure legislation. Our work over the past few years is paying off. The Gateway project alone will create 72,000 new jobs--good-paying jobs-- and generate over $19 billion in ancillary economic activity in addition to the dollars that are being spent.

And our infrastructure agenda is not just about bridges and tunnels either. The administration announced recently over $42 billion in broadband funding is heading to the States across the Nation--more money so kids can access high-speed internet at home and so more families in both rural and urban communities can stay connected across the country.

I thank my colleagues who worked over the July 4th weekend to announce all the great projects happening around the country. Implementation will remain a top Democratic priority.

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