Peter DeFazio

Dr. Adam Hersh estimates that the IIJA's additional infrastructure spending will support--pretty precise here--772,400 jobs.

We have 42,966 bridges on the National Highway System in need of substantial repair or replacement.

It basically matched the funding we had put forward and incorporated some of the work we did.

Donald Trump came in and promised us $2 trillion, delivered nothing.

And when faced with a climate crisis and a desperate need for Government leadership in order to decarbonize, again, we delivered with separate legislation.

When faced with crumbling transportation infrastructure that had been neglected for years, we delivered.

I am proud of the work of this committee and this Congress, as a whole, for these last 2 years to break through that inertia and deliver for the American people.

Thirty-six years I have been here working these issues, and the forces of inertia and not getting things done in Washington are quite strong.

We delivered on the challenges to the transportation sector from COVID-19.

The Payroll Support Program worked, full stop.

These essential workers delivered for our nation.

And when you testified, there were leaked documents from the EPA saying between 18 and 71 percent would be impaired, and roughly 50 percent of all wetlands would be jeopardized.

But I do want to just hark back to the threats. And the threats come because of litigation over the Trump 'dirty water rule,' and a conflicted Supreme Court decision from many years ago, two different decisions.

I think there was unanimity among the witnesses that the Clean Water Act is very important, wastewater infrastructure is very important, and those are great points.

I appreciate the little bit of whitewashing. I assume the firm you work for knows your history...

If the Act is to remain relevant and be successful for another 50 years, we must continue to fund its vital programs and enforce the law.

We must be vigilant to ensure that critical investments are targeted to address historically overlooked communities and regions.

Ensuring that Americans have access to clean water is not a political game--our health and livelihoods depend on it.

The IIJA funding is vital for upgrading our nation's clean water infrastructure so that we can realistically achieve the goal of making every body of water fishable and swimmable.

Thanks to bipartisan efforts over decades to implement the Clean Water Act, our rivers and lakes are cleaner and safer.

Clean water is a basic human need and a human right.

Let's get back to those days. Let's do what the American people really want.

I really don't think--and it's like a few other things that have gone on around here in DC this last year--that the American people are going to want to know that suddenly, the local industry can just start dumping crap in the river again…

Let's find out afterwards. How much of the wetlands have we destroyed?

He would be categorically exempt.