Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, for well over a decade we have failed to adequately invest in transportation infrastructure. According to DOT, there is an $808 billion backlog of investment needs on highways and bridges, including $480 billion in critical repair work. Public transit has an $86 billion backlog of critical maintenance and repair needs, which increases by $2.5 billion each year as bus and rail infrastructure ages. The American Society of Civil Engineers has given U.S. infrastructure an overall grade of D-minus because 54 percent of our major roads are rated poor or mediocre. One out of every four bridges in the United States, or 147,000 bridges, is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and 45 percent of Americans do not have access to transit. Federal land management agencies need over $11 billion to address deferred maintenance needs on our roads and bridges. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that the cost of upgrading and repairing our deteriorating bridges is over $106 billion. An investment of $20 billion annually by all levels of government is needed through 2030 to draw down the backlog. Bringing existing transit assets just up to a state of good repair will require an annualized investment level of $18.5 billion through the year 2030, an amount far in excess of current funding levels.…”