Paul Tonko: “Well, when you speak, Representative Garamendi, about the cost of these repairs or improvements we're talking about a…”

“Well, when you speak, Representative Garamendi, about the cost of these repairs or improvements we're talking about a design team, we're talking about a construction team, we're talking about a maintenance team. And all of that translates into jobs. So these efforts are, yes, an expenditure, but it's putting people to work and addressing not only public safety but commerce. Again, my home county, which is split by a historic river, was the scene of a devastation just over 25 years ago where a New York State Thruway bridge collapsed because of the flooding that was occurring beneath that bridge. A creek that you could walk across, walk through in the middle of summer, was equal to in CFS, cubic feet per second, the flow of Niagara Falls. We lost 10 lives in that incidence, and also saw the impact locally to commerce. It just disrupted the flow of activity to ship goods to whatever section of our area. It totally disrupted that situation. That is just a microcosm of impact of what happens. But you're very right. With the levees that might be at risk that could be a challenge to public safety, the poor ratings of our many, many bridges across this country, the need to begin aggressively to address these situations, means that you can bend that cost curve simply by moving projects forward, because the longer we go in time the more expensive it will be and the more risky it becomes with these deficient bridges.…”