Dan Kildee

Americans depend on good roads and bridges to get to work every day and to take care of their families. Good infrastructure drives our economy. Americans depend on water systems to provide clean and safe drinkable water. But in this…

a significant amount of the money would be used for blight elimination, for dealing with the fallout of population loss.

Providing more debt opportunities for those places really does not solve the problem.

I think we need to have a debate in this country about what is the Federal responsibility to sustain a lifestyle in many areas that is not sustainable.

I would argue that the people who live there are still citizens of the Federal--of the United States and have some right to expect us to respond to them.

I do not think the divide in this country--and other people are saying that more recently--I do not think it is Conservative/Liberal; I do not think it is Republican/Democrat; I think it is urban/rural.

I think we have to be much more focused on providing to target, providing significant technical assistance to really weak communities.

There is nothing they could do to stop those external trends from having a devastating impact on their community.

I think those communities are identifiable.

the way the money is used is really flexibly tailored to the unique needs of the communities.

A small-town--the quality, the sustainability of a small town in a rural region, the vibrancy of that little town is just as important to the economic sustainability of that region as, say, the sustainability and the quality of life in the…

The focus of my remarks this morning will be on one particular set of issues, and it has to do with the Federal Government's role in the health, the fiscal and social and economic health of America's cities and towns.

the decisions that we make in terms of the way we invest in infrastructure, for example, can have a very positive impact on a region, but sometimes has an unintended negative consequence on a particular area.

I think sometimes we tend to over correct as a result of, you know, bad actors in a few instances.

There is a clear public, and I think national interest, in the health of America's cities.

The effort that I launched, I do not know, 8 or 9 months ago in my role on the Financial Services Committee is titled, 'The Future of America's Cities and Towns,' because I think there is this false dichotomy that we often do not challenge.

I think we get a lot of pushback on this. I know I do sometimes in my own district where people say, that is not the role of the Federal Government to get involved in broadband access.

I think Congress should pay more attention to that.

the condition that these communities face, in some cases it is the result of their own mismanagement for sure, or their lack of quality leadership.

So I ask the gentleman.

The integrity of those communities are really challenged; and there is a national interest in this.

It was a year ago this very day that Republicans in this House voted to eliminate healthcare for millions of Americans, something we knew at that point, if it went through, would increase premiums on millions of other Americans that still…

I thank Mr. DeFazio both for yielding, but especially for his leadership on this issue. As the ranking member said, this is something that comes up every year. Thankfully, Democrats and Republicans have stood together to protect this…

It is wrong that Republicans continue to pursue policies that clearly benefit only the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, in particular, leaving middle class Americans behind. They have undermined our healthcare system, raising…

I think the history of the country, let alone the history of the world shows us that where people live and work in proximity to one another, they are far more creative.