Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I rise to talk about our Nation's infrastructure and how Congress needs a long-term transportation bill that empowers local and regional planning authorities.

Infrastructure drives our economy. New Jersey alone has more than 38,000 miles of public roads, and nearly 1,000 miles of rail freight lines, connecting every corner of my State to consumers and networks throughout the region.

This means jobs. It means quality of life. It means investment in our communities and moving us forward.

Currently, just 8 percent of our Federal highway dollars are controlled by regional and local interests.

In order to increase the role of local communities in our transportation policy decisions, I introduced today The Local Empowerment Act, which would reward high-performing Metropolitan Planning Organizations, MPO's, with additional, directly-allocated funds.

MPO's that coordinate well with other MPOs in the region, consider performance goals as part of their planning, have equitable approaches to decision making, and demonstrate high technical capacity would be rewarded with additional resources to support their local priorities.

Consider the fact that 3/4 of GDP is generated from within metro areas, 65 percent of the population resides in metro areas, and 95 percent of all public transportation passenger miles traveled take place in metro areas.

As the mayor of Newark, NJ, I learned through first-hand experience how important it is that the federal government partner with local communities to make substantial, long-term investments in our transportation infrastructure.

Federal transportation policy must provide local and regional stakeholders with resources and decision-making power, and take into account how local communities are being impacted by congestion, air pollution and our broader investment decisions.

At all levels of government, there is a dire need for additional, creative policy options that will rind more projects, create more jobs, and rehabilitate and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

I would like to highlight the leadership of Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation, for proposing a program along the lines of this legislation.

Secretary Foxx, like me a former mayor, understands how important it is that Federal programs empower local entities and I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this legislation.

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