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Regional Economic and Infrastructure Development Act of 2007

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 4, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Infrastructure


REGIONAL ECONOMIC AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 04, 2007)

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Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for his leadership. I thank the Chair of the subcommittee, Ms. HOLMES NORTON, and I thank Mr. Graves for his good work.

Mr. Speaker, this commission is going to be very helpful to Vermont. We have in the northern tier of Vermont six counties, Caledonia, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Franklin, Orleans and Essex. It is among the most beautiful parts of Vermont. It has among the most industrious people in Vermont. But it has the highest unemployment rate and the lowest wages, about $10,000 below the national median. We want economic development in our northern counties. This legislation is going to give that impetus that is going to allow our regional economic commissions that have been providing excellent leadership but on threadbare resources the opportunity to use local decisionmaking, local ingenuity and local people committed to a prosperous economy in that region to get a leg up.

What is tremendous about this legislation, modeled after its predecessors, is that it is a bottom-up approach. So if we have a proposal from folks in Caledonia County that broadband penetration is going to be what they need, or if we have folks in Franklin County who are going to do an agriculture-to-energy-related project, or something with dairy and that is what they need, they are going to have the opportunity for that to become a reality.

This is a situation where we actually have bottom-up leadership integrated into this legislation where the Federal Government here in Washington is going to be a partner, not an impediment, to the goals, the aspirations, and the accomplishments of people back home. This bill is really about hope for the future. It is about confidence that local people in those counties in Vermont can make the best decision for themselves, and it is about Congress finally working as a partner with our local communities and local leadership.

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