Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3080, Water Resources Development Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Madam Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Maloney for his work and Mr. Shuster for his work. We ``dam'' well better get prepared to increase our infrastructure spending, or we will have more problems in this country.

The motion to instruct conferees is well-taken and well-drafted. Our roads, rivers, railways, and runways got a D-plus on the American Society of Engineers' 2013 report card for America's infrastructure. That is inexcusable, a D-plus on our infrastructure. It used to be the pride of our country and one of the ways that we produced jobs and took goods to market. The fact that this score was awarded to a world superpower and a leader in technological innovation is completely unacceptable.

Passing WRRDA is an important step towards turning around our Nation's infrastructure investment program. I was proud to work with and support our outstanding chairman, Chairman Shuster, and Ranking Member Rahall when we passed the bill in both the Transportation Committee and on the House floor.

Our committee understands--I think not totally, I can't speak for the whole committee, but in general--that earmarks aren't a bad thing and earmarks are something that greases the wheels that make the engine of government run and work effectively and bipartisanly. We need to bring those back to make this House work together, Democrats and Republicans, so we all have something invested for our districts. That is important.

People ask about dysfunction here and people not working together. It is because everybody doesn't have some part of the pie, something for their districts that they can be proud of. We need to get that back. People need to understand that article I says this Congress is supposed to appropriate the moneys. That is why our infrastructure has weakened. That is why we have so many projects along rivers where the Corps of Engineers don't have adequate funding and direction to keep our rivers moving and moving commerce forward.

WRRDA doesn't mean that just our Nation's waterways, locks, and dams will be the subjects of targeted investments, which it needs to be. It means that thousands of people will be put to work on making the improvements necessary to improve the national infrastructure.

The effect of sequestration on our Nation's infrastructure is real. It is time to get back on track toward smart investments that make our Nation more competitive in the global marketplace.

The Corps of Engineers has a backlog of authorized projects in excess of $60 billion. The Corps construction account has been reduced by $688 million since 2010. We should be doing more to build that infrastructure and create jobs, not less.

According to a study by the American Society of Civil Engineers, if we don't make new investments in our new water infrastructure, we will lose $416 billion in GDP by 2020 due to increased costs and loss of work productivity. This means real loss for real American families.

Madam Speaker, I think in Turkey they are probably improving their infrastructure. We should be doing the same thing here in America, Madam Speaker. It is important we do that.

Without investment, the average American family would have to adjust their household income to account for a $900 squeeze as a result of rising water rates and falling personal incomes. The longer we put off investment in our Nation's infrastructure, the more that investment will cost and the more people will be out of work and the more difficult it will be for our economy to get righted.

I support this motion to instruct conferees today. I thank Mr. Maloney and Mr. Shuster, and hopefully we can put America's infrastructure investments back on the right back. But to do that in the long run, we need bipartisanship, which will involve earmarks and making the transportation bills like they used to be when Mr. Shuster's father was there and like Mr. Shuster would like to make them. If we can just take Mr. Shuster and clone him, we can work together and have a greater America and more jobs and a greater country.

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