Paul Tonko: “I think there are a great number of things that we need to invest in in order to make it happen; but let me preface that…”

“I think there are a great number of things that we need to invest in in order to make it happen; but let me preface that response with a description, if you will, of the 21st Congressional District. As I stated earlier, we are a chain of mill towns given birth to by the Erie Canal. The waterways of the 21st Congressional District can easily be defined as the ink that wrote the history of the Industrial Revolution. They were the gateway to the Westward Movement. What you had there were ideas from people working in factories, oftentimes the immigrant patterns entering this Nation, the very first stages of immigrants. So that American Dream was ignited there in a scenario that was very much deemed rags to riches. People came here with nothing but an idea and the hope to build for their families. They provided the fuel that created the Industrial Revolution, and so America became this promised land. Our best days lie ahead of us. We, as a sophisticated society, based on our humble roots, developed some of the primary products that are now manufactured in other nations; but we need, as a sophisticated society, to step up to the plate and do those product deliveries now that are not yet on the radar screen. We have it within our intellect to be able to do that; but when it comes to the infrastructure, we need capital; we need physical infrastructure; and we need human infrastructure.…”