Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of National Infrastructure Week. I do this proudly as the daughter and granddaughter of civil engineers--men who built bridges, roads, airports, and dams all across this country and all across the world. However, Mr. Speaker, sadly, today I need to recognize that America is not getting a good grade in infrastructure. In fact, just this last month, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America's infrastructure a grade of D-plus. Now, before we despair, we can be happy it is not as bad as 4 years ago when it was a D. But there is no parent in America who will cheer when their child comes home and says: I made it all the way from a D to a D-plus. America can and must do better, and this Congress needs to fulfill its duty under the Constitution and under the basic tenets of what a government is supposed to do by meeting the needs of the American people. There is no better time than now, and there is no better place than here, in the people's House, for us to take up this call because, at the end of the day, infrastructure is about jobs. It is about putting people to work right now replacing those bridges, roads, dams, airports, and rails. But, more importantly, it is about getting people to work safely and on time tomorrow and getting home in time to see the soccer game. So we are going to go through, a little bit, some of what these grades were.…”