Rebuild America Jobs Act--Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Rebuild America Jobs Act because it responds to two critical needs: the jobs crisis we face throughout this country and the need to improve our national infrastructure, which is obvious to everyone, in every part of this country.
Over the 4 years of this economic crisis, the unemployment rate in Rhode Island has been one of the highest in the Nation. It now stands at 10.5 percent. For many families, it has been a stressful and demoralizing time. Very few have avoided the impacts of this economic crisis in their own lives or in the life of someone close to them.
It has been particularly devastating for those involved in construction, a sector where more than 2 million Americans, including 7,000 Rhode Islanders, have lost their jobs since 2007. It is frustrating for these workers because all around them they can see the need to maintain and improve our infrastructure, which, by the way, is essential to the free-flow of commerce and the economic prosperity of the country going forward. Indeed, all of us, regardless of our economic status, benefit from a sound transportation system.
A few weeks ago, Senator Whitehouse and I joined Rhode Island transportation officials at the Providence Viaduct. This is a 1,300-foot stretch of Interstate 95 that runs directly through the heart of Providence, RI, our capital city. It connects New York and Boston and the whole north-south highway system on the east coast. It is one of 155 bridges in our State alone that have been found to be structurally deficient. It must be replaced within the next few years. It no longer can be repaired time and time again; it has to be replaced.
If it is not replaced, then traffic will have to be rerouted, which will have a major impact on our economy and the regional economy. Route 95 is the highway link between New York City and Boston. If suddenly you put up a roadblock in that highway link and restrict traffic to one lane, you are going to see economic activity throughout the Northeast affected. Already, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has installed wooden planks beneath the viaduct to catch any concrete or debris before it falls on cars and pedestrians below. That is an example of the first signs of the increasing decay. This is the kind of commonsense project this jobs bill addresses, but it is not the only one.
Indeed, 21 percent of Rhode Island's bridges are listed as structurally deficient, while nearly 30 percent are functionally obsolete. There is a huge amount of work that we can do to improve existing conditions that make us more productive going forward. For Rhode Islanders, passing this jobs bill would translate into approximately $141 million of highway funding to help us respond to these obvious needs. Moreover, it would provide approximately $21 million in transit funding, which would provide a real shot in the arm to help maintain an efficient public transportation system. We take pride in that. We have a statewide transportation system. It is oriented around our bus system. It travels the length and breadth of the State. It is very efficient, but it needs support, and this bill would help provide that support.
The bill would also provide funding for airport improvements, which could help Rhode Island's major airport, T.F. Green Airport, with a major runway safety and expansion project. This project would make air travel not only safer, but it would make our airport more capable of intercontinental and international service. Right now we don't have that effective option. If we did, that would be a huge multiplier for our economy, and it is based on sound infrastructure improvement.
These are not new, novel techniques or new, advanced technologies. This is old-fashioned extending a runway, fixing a bridge, getting the economy moving again. Everyone understands that. Everyone on Main Street and East Street and South Street and West Street in every corner of this country understands that, and we have always done it, and this bill will help us do it.
Finally, the bill establishes a national infrastructure bank, which I believe can play a critical role in financing these projects going forward. These projects would include clean water projects, energy projects, as well as transportation projects. There is absolutely no doubt that these investments in infrastructure will benefit our economy.
According to economist Mark Zandi, every dollar invested in these types of projects will generate approximately $1.59 in economic activity, so there is a significant multiplier effect. Importantly, it is part of getting us moving again and building up a self-sustaining momentum. Again, these projects will employ private companies that will hire individuals in all of our home States to begin the work that must be done to improve our infrastructure, to provide the kind of vital transportation links that are critical to any economy. It is also very important to know that this proposal is fully paid for, and you have both business and labor supporting the investments in the bill.
I would hope we could all join together in a sign of not just common unity but common sense and adopt this provision. Build infrastructure. It is paid for, and it puts people to work. That is what the American public is asking us to do and we should do it.
I want to comment briefly on the Republican alternative proposal. It fails to provide the investment to deal with the infrastructure and the job crisis we face today. In fact, it does the opposite. It effectively cuts $40 billion in discretionary funding without addressing the needs of our highway trust fund and other infrastructure improvement vehicles.
More importantly, it scales back important public health protections under the EPA. The Republican package includes the so-called EPA Regulatory Relief Act, the REINS Act, and the Regulatory Time-Out Act. Together these provisions not only threaten our economic progress but also our public health, and they would nullify the EPA boiler rule. This rule has been calculated to produce $10 to $24 in health benefits for every dollar spent, at least a 10-to-1 ratio of health benefits versus dollar spent, preventing approximately 6,600 premature deaths and about 40,000 asthma attacks each year.
This translates, again, into another major crisis we face, and that is an affordable health care system. One way to make the health care system affordable is to prevent premature deaths, asthma attacks, and a host of other things, and that is not incidental to what environmental protection does. That is at the heart of environmental protection.
Finally, it would place a moratorium on most regulations, including financial regulations. We have seen, sadly to our chagrin, the effect of lax regulation in 2008 when our financial markets were on the verge of collapse. Unless we have effective regulation, unless we can effectively deploy the new tool provided under the Dodd-Frank act, unless we can resource regulators to keep a watchful eye on the marketplace, frankly, we are going to once again relive those very dark and daunting days of 2008 when we saw markets on the verge of collapse. And we do so, frankly, in a global economic environment where there are pressures coming from Europe and pressures coming from around the globe, economic pressures. If our markets are not strong and well regulated, can they withstand the backwash from a crisis in Greece, a crisis in Italy, a crisis across the globe?
I do believe the legislation that has been proposed by Leader Reid--proposed essentially by the President--makes sense, and I hope we can unite in common purpose to do what is common sense and invest in bridges and roads in America, fully paid for, and avoid the diversion of this alternate proposal that would essentially impair our health, the public health of America, and not advance our financial stability as a nation.
I yield the floor and I note the absence of a quorum.
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