Cory Booker: “our Nation faces an infrastructure investment crisis across the board, but one aspect of our infrastructure that has…”

“our Nation faces an infrastructure investment crisis across the board, but one aspect of our infrastructure that has been particularly neglected by the Federal Government is rail. While the Nation's large freight rail carriers are able to invest in infrastructure with their own funds, the infrastructure used by passenger and many smaller freight railroads is deteriorating at an alarming rate. We need to be doing more to repair and modernize these tracks, roadbeds, bridges, tunnels, and train cars. Nowhere is the investment crisis more pressing than in New Jersey, where a set of tunnels constructed under the Hudson River in 1910-- badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy--must either be replaced or shut down sometime over the next two decades. The shutdown scenario is unacceptable to the economy of not only my State, but the entire northeast region, if not the country. Amtrak has a plan, known as the Gateway Program, to replace these tunnels, as well as the century old Portal Bridge. Executing the Gateway Program will take a significant funding commitment from the Federal Government, and I stand ready to fight for that funding. But, given the significant upfront cost, and the long-term benefits and revenue potential, it makes sense to explore financing opportunities in addition to funding. The Federal Government already has an established financing program in the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program, or RRIF.…”