Political Quotes

“First, Mr. Chair, let me just say that I join my other colleagues in opposition to the drastic cuts that this bill sets forth for the TIGER program, as well as language that would prohibit important environmentally sustainable projects from competing for these grants. We know that smart and targeted investments in infrastructure projects grow local economies, and they create good-paying jobs. I know firsthand the effectiveness of this program in my own district, at the Port of Oakland, for example, and the East Bay Greenway, where local agencies have leveraged flexible TIGER grant funds to bring projects toward completion. These cuts now will reduce private sector investments, which are essential to public-private partnerships. These urban projects around the country need to be able to compete for this important source of funding, and these funding levels and policy provisions simply won't allow that to happen. We spend billions, mind you, billions on infrastructure projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why not in our own country? TIGER grants allow us to nation-build here at home, and we need this desperately. I look forward to working with our ranking member and our chair, so that we can fix the funding level as this bill goes to conference. I think we know on both sides of the aisle that these grants have created jobs and economic opportunities and have helped create and fix our infrastructure. It is very important that we fully fund these TIGER grants.…”