Bill Pascrell: “the fact is that the importance of infrastructure investments to my home State of New Jersey and our Nation cannot be…”

“the fact is that the importance of infrastructure investments to my home State of New Jersey and our Nation cannot be overstated. More resources are desperately required to satisfy unmet needs, to improve livability, to alleviate congestion, to build safer roads, to upgrade and expand our mass transit system, to facilitate commerce, and create good-paying local construction jobs. Every $1 billion invested in Federal highway and transit spending means over 40,000 jobs are created or sustained. Why do we only have an extension on the floor today rather than a good 6-year bill, a full 6-year bill that can benefit all of our States? The administration has been one of the biggest roadblocks in our path. For months, the administration would stonewall on supporting the funding necessary to get a right-sized bill. Their original proposal actively ignored new needs, choosing to keep the status quo. They did not want to make the tough choices in an election year to do what is right. The President has been deafening in his silence on the importance of a highway bill. They choose to hold the highway bill hostage as a credit to their ideology of fiscal responsibility. That is a laugh.”