FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, the budget the President released Monday includes more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction and two-thirds of it comes from spending cuts. That puts the Nation on the path toward fiscal sustainability. But it also reflects the urgency to invest now in programs that will pay off for a long time. Investing in transportation and infrastructure is the best way to ensure economic recovery now and economic growth well into the future.

It has been 2 years since the President signed into law the American Recovery and Restoration Act. The investments made in infrastructure over 2 years have either saved or created over a million jobs all across the Nation. In the first year alone, that Recovery Act led to 350,000 direct on-project jobs. Direct job creation from these projects has resulted in payroll expenditures of over $4 billion.

Using this data, the House Transportation Committee calculates that $717 million in unemployment checks have been avoided as a result of this direct job creation.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama challenged us to start rebuilding our infrastructure for the 21st century. Our aging network of roads and rails was built from a long time past. Our infrastructure used to be the best. But let's be honest, America has lost its lead. Mongolia has a more advanced air traffic control system than America. South Korea has faster and easier access to the Internet than America. Europe and China have high-speed rail systems far more advanced than America. Dozens of commissions, academics, groups, the smartest people in America, have all come to the same conclusion: Our infrastructure is old and we need to invest in fixing it.

We have to reduce the debt and deficit. I was a member of the Deficit Commission. I understand it as well as anyone. But the American people do not want us to do this at the expense of critical infrastructure that will be needed to grow our economy.

Unfortunately, the House Republicans currently are in a debate on the floor of the House proposing that we cut off our investments in transportation--right in the middle of the year, right before the construction season. House Republicans are debating that this week.

Their plan cuts billions in funding for roads, rail, and mass transit. It is going to cost us over 300,000 private-sector jobs. Let me repeat that: 300,000 private-sector jobs; not government jobs, 300,000 jobs in the private sector. Can we afford that?

Let me give you some examples of what the House Republican budget cuts. They cut money from the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund--over $1 billion of it. That provides low-interest and no-interest loans to our local communities to help them build and make safe wastewater and drinking water. Most communities cannot afford to do this on their own without raising property taxes through the roof, and EPA's funding is vital if these projects are going to get done. This cut alone by the House Republicans would result in 454 fewer sewer projects and 214 fewer clean water projects across America. And it would cost us over 33,000 jobs.

There is a program called the TIGER grants. Mayors know all about it because what President Obama said is, we are going to cut out the middleman. We are not going through the State capitals and the State departments of transportation. If a mayor comes to us with a good idea of a transportation project right at the local level, we are going to send that money directly in a TIGER grant.

So what did the House Republicans decide to do? They took $1.1 billion from that program. That, unfortunately, would eliminate all funding for this program this year, cutting off this construction season, $500 million worth of investment in our Nation's infrastructure. Worse, it rescinds $600 million for projects that have already been awarded.

The Department of Transportation announced these projects last year. Now the House Republicans want to cut them off. Communities in 40 States across the country have been planning for these funds for up to 75 projects, which would be absolutely abolished by the House Republican action.

The House proposal will literally take away funding promised for these projects, stopping work. Cutting $1.1 billion from TIGER programs will put more than 30,000 private-sector workers out of work in America.

Then they want to cut $7.1 billion from High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Grants. I know all about that because, Madam President, as you know, that route from Saint Louis to Chicago on Amtrak is one of the prime areas for high-speed rail in America. The Republican proposal would completely eliminate it, stop it cold.

Worse, they would rescind more than $6 billion for projects already awarded funding. They take away funding from 54 projects in 23 States across the country. The U.S. Department of Transportation tells us that cutting $7.1 billion from high-speed rail will put more than 200,000 private-sector jobs at risk.

At a time when we should be creating jobs and building the economy and building the infrastructure for even more jobs to follow, the House Republicans have decided to start cutting jobs in America.

As the Speaker said when asked about whether he was concerned about the loss of jobs from the House Republican cuts, he said: So be it.

I am sorry, but the Speaker has missed the obvious message from the American people. They want us to create jobs, preserve jobs, right here in America. Killing jobs in the U.S. House of Representatives was not the mission that anyone was sent on in the last election.

Compare that cutting with the President's budget. The President understands we have to invest in infrastructure. The unemployment rate in the construction industry--a private-sector industry--is over 20 percent. Construction costs at this moment are low, and local governments are moving forward where they can on projects because they are saving money--at the same time the House Republicans want to stop construction in America on these important projects. We need to make these investments in infrastructure.

The President's budget calls for a 6-year, $556 billion reauthorization of national transportation programs, He frontloads this 6-year bill with a $50 billion infusion of investments in fiscal year 2012. This will help us get the biggest bang for the buck. He creates an Infrastructure Bank. Madam President, $5 billion is set aside to provide credit assistance and loans to attract private investment into public infrastructure.

The President is investing $8.3 billion in high-speed rail. He wants to bring that high-speed rail to 80 percent of the American population within 25 years. This is the first step in a long-term infrastructure investment by our country, while the President still freezes spending, reduces the deficit, and brings our domestic discretionary spending to a lower level than it was under President Eisenhower in the 1950s.

We can invest in infrastructure in a way that is fiscally responsible and will lead to stronger economic growth long into the future.

The House is proposing slashing investments in transportation and infrastructure. That will cost us jobs, and it will stop us from the economic recovery we desperately need. We need to enact a balanced plan: cut spending, reduce the deficit, but remember that education, innovation, and infrastructure are critical if America is going to continue to be competitive in the 21st century.

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