All Quotes

Well, thank you very much. I appreciate our panelists being here today.

So, I agree that we need to reduce the regulatory burden, but in doing that, we should not undermine the protections that Davis-Bacon offers to our taxpayers so that we can get the best value for our taxpayer dollars.

Workers do need protections, not because of the vast majority of contractors, but because there are people that would take advantage of the law.

The Biden administration has a final rule that will go into effect next month to ease the compliance burden.

I am actually very passionate about streamlining Government bureaucracy.

What we don't want is for sub-par contractors... More workers die. Those projects don't last.

This was a way to ensure that when we use taxpayer dollars, that those dollars were spent for the highest quality work.

I just think it is important that we take a step back as to why we have prevailing wage for projects built with Federal dollars.

Are we concerned that maybe we are putting too much money towards grants movement that way that is going to shortchange us long term?

There is going to be more and more pressure to cut discretionary dollars because nobody really wants to touch the mandatory spending, which is what really is driving the debt.

I think it is important to underscore just what a wide gap exists there, and we must maximize every dollar that we can.

In order to maintain robust clean water infrastructure now and in the future, a robust and effective program is critical.

The Clean Water SRF is an example of good public policy that helps keep wastewater costs down.

Even by congressional standards, these investments are expensive and cannot be handled by simply authorizing and appropriating the same or larger amounts of federal funds.

In my home state of North Carolina alone, there is a documented need of $11 billion for clean water projects.

According to EPA's last 'Clean Water Needs Survey' report to Congress in 2016, the total documented needs for sustainable wastewater infrastructure... are at least $270 billion over the next two decades.

These needs are especially urgent for hundreds of communities trying to fix the problems of combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows.

I am excited to hear from the members of this panel on the issues communities are facing in addressing the nation's water and wastewater infrastructure needs.