Matt Cartwright: “Another thing we did in the past to invest in ourselves was the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. This was something…”

“Another thing we did in the past to invest in ourselves was the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. This was something that the greatest generation did, Madam Speaker. They came back from World War II--we just honored a World War II hero of the Bataan Death March--but these folks came home from all of the privations and sacrifices and suffering that they went through in the war, and what did they do? They sacrificed more for us for the future, what was then the future, what is now us. They sacrificed for us. They built the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. What did it do? It greased the skids for American companies, enabled companies to bring their products to market faster and more cheaply and in a way that enabled them to compete with every other country in the world. This is the kind of investment that makes America win in competitions all over the world. You don't have to be an engineer to understand these things. You don't have to be a mechanical engineer to know that this is exactly what we need to be doing in the United States of America these days. It was a wonder that it took until now. Certainly, my entire time in Congress I have been waiting for a major infrastructure bill to come through to beef up our roads and our bridges; our water systems and our sewer systems; our broadband internet; and move us into the next century to compete with China, Europe, Russia, and all of the places that would do away with us if they could beat us.…”