Political Quotes

“Mr. Tonko, thank you so very much. You are always passionate about growing the American economy, making the jobs. Often, you talk about research and the important role of research and, today, the important role of infrastructure of all kinds. Earlier, as I was going through some numbers about the GROW AMERICA Act II--this is this year's version of the President's infrastructure bill--I misstated. I said it was about a $167 billion program. Actually, it is a $478 billion program over 6 years. It happens to be $176 billion more than we are currently spending at the same rate, so it is really a terrific boost in the infrastructure. It does cover all of these things: rails, buses, ports, bridges, highways. That is not all that we need to do. The American Society of Civil Engineers laid it out. If you look at our airports, they are getting a D; bridges, a C-plus--you go down through the list--drinking water, a D; energy, a D--just all through the list, all of the infrastructure-- sanitation systems, D; water systems, D. Many of our communities, New York City and others in your area, are communities that are two centuries old, and some of the infrastructure is also two centuries old. We have this enormous need to rebuild our economy. If we do so, we are going to create a lot of jobs. One of my favorite publications that came across my desk recently is this one: ``Infrastructure Investment Creates American Jobs,'' Duke University.…”