Investing in America's Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, last night, America witnessed a tragic accident that occurred when the Amtrak train going from Washington, D.C., to New York derailed outside of Philadelphia. We mourn the loss of lives and those that were injured, and our thoughts and prayers go to the families who were involved in that tragic accident last night. And while we do not know the cause of that accident, we do know that America desperately needs to invest in its infrastructure.

Yes, this week is National Infrastructure Week, and we have 6 legislative days left to fund America's national transportation system--6 days. For 2 years, we have been kicking this can down the road, and I suspect we will find some temporary means of funding before the end of this month. However, America needs a long-term means of investing in its infrastructure, a long-term means that will allow for 5 years of planning for investments in our roads, our bridges, in our transit systems, in our railway systems, and in our water infrastructure.

We are experiencing a terrible drought out in California, and it is long overdue that we invest in California and in America's water systems.

So as we acknowledge this week being National Infrastructure Week, it is important that we remember that it is long overdue that Congress come together in a bipartisan fashion to provide long-term funding that will allow long-term planning to provide the same kinds of investments that our parents and our grandparents made in this country years ago that we are living off of today.

THE HMONG VETERANS' SERVICE RECOGNITION ACT

Mr. COSTA. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the service of Hmong and Lao Americans who fought for the United States during the Vietnam war.

The Central Intelligence Agency in the 1960s covertly trained Hmong men and women in Laos, and the Hmong special guerilla unit was formed, otherwise known as the SGU. They directed them in the compact to support U.S. forces.

These indigenous forces conducted direct missions against communists, fighting side-by-side American soldiers and saving countless American lives. That is why President Ford, in 1975, signed an executive order granting these Hmong soldiers and their families the ability to gain access as permanent residents for their service to our country if they could make it to America, and many of them did.

More than 100,000 Hmong soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice. Today, approximately 6,000 of those veterans are still with us.

To honor and to recognize the service of these brave veterans, the gentleman from California, Congressman Paul Cook, and I will be reintroducing a bipartisan piece of legislation, the Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act. This legislation would allow the burial of these Hmong veterans who live here today and their families in national cemeteries, like the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Merced County.

This recognition is long overdue. We granted it to Filipino soldiers who fought side-by-side with American soldiers in World War II.

I hope my colleagues will support this legislation to ensure that those Hmong veterans and their families receive the proper recognition by providing them the burial rights that they have earned. Again, it is long overdue. There are less than 6,000 of them that are still alive today in America. I think it is appropriate that we finally honor them.

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