Honoring 200th Anniversary of Gallatin Report on Roads and Canals, and Recognizing the Vast Contributions National Planning Efforts Have Provided

Floor Speech

Honoring 200th Anniversary of Gallatin Report on Roads and Canals, and Recognizing the Vast Contributions National Planning Efforts Have Provided

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank both gentlemen for yielding and for their support of this important resolution. I thank Mr. Duncan for his leadership and for supporting this resolution. Mr. DeFazio, of course, has been a champion on these issues for a long time. And in terms of building the infrastructure of America, Mr. Blumenauer has, through his relentless advocacy for building America's infrastructure in an environmentally sound way, has added to the vision of how we want to do this.

I learned about the Gallatin Report, which you talked about, Mr. DeFazio, from Mr. Blumenauer. Imagine 200 years ago, around the time of the Lewis and Clark expeditions and the Louisiana Purchase, a great President

realized that for commerce to flow and for people to move and our country to flourish, we needed to build the infrastructure of our country; and Mr. DeFazio described the immensity of that project by Albert Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury.

Secretary Gallatin said at the time his vision of roads and canals to unite our young Nation could not be left to individual exertion. Contrary to popular thinking at the time, Gallatin had the great foresight to see the long-term benefits of infrastructure investments far outweighed the cost. And because of that, public capital, not just private resources, were necessary.

From the beginning of our country, our Founders and the leaders of our country were entrepreneurs. They were risk-takers. They believed in public-private partnerships, and that is what this was.

At the beginning of the 19th century, it is important I think to note, there were barely 1,000 miles of canals in America. Sixty years later, in part because of the vision of Albert Gallatin, more than 4,200 miles of canals, ranging west to Illinois, north to Michigan, and south to Texas, facilitated trade and mobility across our country.

The Erie Canal, the transcontinental railway, and America's model of planning and investment stand today as legacies of Albert Gallatin's vision. A statue of Albert Gallatin stands today at the entrance to the Treasury Department building in recognition of his many accomplishments.

It is in the tradition of Albert Gallatin that 100 years later, again my teacher and mentor on the history of this vision for America, Mr. Blumenauer, informs me that Theodore Roosevelt launched a similar commitment by convening a White House conference on conservation to preserve America's natural beauty. That led to the creation of the National Park Service and helped a growing America remain a great America and continue on to be an even greater America.

In 2008, 100 years later, 200 years after Thomas Jefferson and Secretary Gallatin, 100 years after Theodore Roosevelt, in keeping with the tradition of visionary leaders like them, we are prepared to invest in America's strength. We again must invest in our infrastructure to do so.

Today that means green solutions such as mass transit and modern solutions such as expanding broadband across America.

Whether we're talking about roads or bridges or mass transit, whether we're talking about canals and waterways, sewage and water facilities, whether we're talking about broadband or we're talking about the grid to transmit electricity, whether it be talking about schools, an investment in infrastructure that serves the needs of our children and their education, all of this infrastructure needs a major, major infusion of capital, and we want to do that in a fiscally sound way.

Just as they did 200 years ago, these infrastructure investments offer our Nation job-creating opportunities to invigorate, reinvigorate America's economies. Anything we're talking about in terms of infrastructure means good-paying jobs right here at home in America. It's not only about creating those jobs; it's about growing our economy.

Today, because of the leadership of Mr. Oberstar, the distinguished Chair of the committee, Mr. DeFazio, who opened the debate here, Mr. Duncan, thank you as well, and the leadership of Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Congress has the opportunity to honor the genius of the Gallatin plan, as the resolution says, establishing a more perfect Union.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in recognition of Secretary Albert Gallatin who, with his plan, encouraged the prosperity and the national unity of America.

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