Mark Pryor: “I rise today to speak in favor of the THUD appropriations bill that is on the floor this week. I know all of us have…”

“I rise today to speak in favor of the THUD appropriations bill that is on the floor this week. I know all of us have listened to the speeches and the commentators, and we hear a lot of people around Washington say: Cut, cut, cut. Well, I am for cutting our spending, and I think we need to tighten our belt, but we need to do it in a smart way, and we need to do things such as cut programs that do not work. We need to also make smart and targeted investments in our future. The question is, how do we do that? Well, one of the ways we do that is by supporting this legislation today. By working together and investing in our future, we can do great things for this country, and that is what the THUD bill is about. Yesterday, the FAA announced seven airports in our State would receive a total of $4.8 million from the FAA for infrastructure upgrades. That is part of what the bill is about. Some of these are runway rehabilitations, some are new lighting systems, some may be drainage improvements. These not only promote safety--and certainly they make air travel safer in this country, and that is extremely important--but also they are a way to spur economic activity. It is a great way to reinvest Federal tax dollars into my State and into the other 49 States to create jobs. Let me give Arkansas as an example of this.…”