Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from California for leading the hour and for yielding some time. I come from a region of the country in western Pennsylvania--the Pittsburgh area and surrounding region--that knows a little bit about manufacturing. And just as important, we know a little bit about the policies that have led to the loss of manufacturing, not just in western Pennsylvania, but in this country; policies that have given a preferred tax treatment for companies that outsource jobs, that transfer physical assets overseas and then can claim a tax deduction for the cost of moving expenses. We understand that those policies have failed. They do not lead, certainly, to job and economic growth. It's quite the opposite. But they do not help America become more competitive in the global economy, which is what this House is debating right now. And, yes, I do serve on the Transportation Committee, and we are talking about a long-overdue reauthorization of the transportation funding reauthorization. We also, in western Pennsylvania, we have locks and dams. The roads and bridges that we have are in serious decay. Our waterways infrastructure, just as an example, with locks and dams averages 85 years old. Locks and dams that were built to withstand 50 years before they would need to be replaced are now rated in imminent threat of failure by the Army Corps of Engineers. On the transportation side, we in the State of Pennsylvania have over 6,000 structurally deficient bridges.…”