Tom Harkin: “here we are again. Senator Gregg, my friend from New Hampshire, is trying to say we have no obligation to help our local…”

“here we are again. Senator Gregg, my friend from New Hampshire, is trying to say we have no obligation to help our local schools meet safety and fire codes and to renovate and rebuild our schools. I find it kind of an odd argument to say we have no responsibility, to say what he said earlier, that this is a State and local responsibility. After all, we use Federal moneys for rural water systems in this country. Should that be a State and local responsibility? His State gets some of that. There are waste water programs, bridges, highways, all kinds of things that the Federal Government is involved in in terms of construction. As we look around the country, we see our schools are falling down. The average age is 42 years old. Fourteen million kids attend school in buildings that are unsafe or inadequate. So, quite frankly, there is a crying need out there for school construction. The American Society of Civil Engineers, in their report card on America's infrastructure, listed schools as the worst.”