On the recordJanuary 21, 2015
On Monday a bridge collapsed in Cincinnati, Ohio, killing one person and injuring another. This tragedy calls to mind the collapse of the Schoharie Creek Bridge in New York in 1987, which killed 10 people, and the collapse of the I-35 West bridge in Minneapolis in 2007, which left 13 dead. I don't know if more transportation funding would have prevented these collapses, but I do know that every second of every day seven cars drive on a bridge that is structurally deficient. There are 69,000 structurally deficient bridges in the Nation; there are over 99 structurally deficient bridges in western New York alone. These numbers are unacceptable. Congress is failing the American people by failing to address this issue. Last night we heard from the President a plan to increase funding for infrastructure. That is a start, but I say we can and must do more. I encourage my colleagues to pass an infrastructure bill that is large enough to address the real needs of this Nation. ____________________
