Jim Costa: “The time is now to make historic investments in families, workers, and communities across the country. Everyone, no…”

“The time is now to make historic investments in families, workers, and communities across the country. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, deserves access to modern, dependable infrastructure to maintain the quality of life for Americans in the 21st century. That is why we must pass the President's bipartisan infrastructure package tomorrow. We are living off the investments our grandparents and parents made generations ago. In many communities, that is no longer sustainable. In my home State of California, we are suffering from the devastating effects of climate change, historical fires, and droughts. Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, which I represent, also need an infrastructure that reflects their ability to put food on America's dinner table every night. The devastating dry conditions and the lack of water have led many of them to fallow their fields, hundreds and thousands of acres of productive farmland. It is as simple as this: Without food from our farmers, Americans don't eat. It is a national security issue. Therefore, we must fix our broken water infrastructure system. The only way to ensure farmers have the water they need to feed our Nation is to build and improve more conveyance and storage facilities. This infrastructure package will help that, as well as efforts that we are pursuing under the reconciliation package. We need to capture and improve and store water for times such as now.…”