On the recordJune 30, 2020
I know a steel company in western Pennsylvania that makes compressors and turbines. They compete against General Electric, but they have found a way to survive as a hometown company that pays a union wage. Yet we tax this company. We tax them with our poor infrastructure. They ship their goods out of the Port of Philadelphia which should only be a 300-mile drive from their location, but it is a 900-mile trip for their trucks to find roads and bridges that can withstand the weight of their loads. So this company that builds American, that hires American, and that has stayed with us when so many have left pays three times what they should just to get their goods to market. For how long? How long until GE simply outlasts them? Or how long until they have to cut jobs because they simply cannot cut these trucking costs? So we can pay now by saving these jobs and create new ones building things, or we can pay later with more unemployment and the damage done by bad roads. That is the choice we are presenting with today's bill. Does it cost money? Yes. It is money that will go into the hands of people with jackhammers, shovels, and trucks. That is money well spent. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
