Kevin Brady: “I first want to thank the ranking member for his insistence that both parties work together to develop and fund…”

“I first want to thank the ranking member for his insistence that both parties work together to develop and fund infrastructure priorities in America. This is the way it ought to work. This issue has never been partisan in the past. Mr. Graves has made the point, we will go to the table and work together. He is exactly right, and I support his efforts. I rise today to support Representative LaMalfa's amendment to strike certain credit risk premium provisions in the underlying bill. The amendment protects Federal taxpayers all across America, makes sure they are not stuck holding the bag when a specific railroad defaults on its loans. The author of the original provision readily admits that this is an earmark for Texas Central Railroad in Texas. This is a private company that had claimed for years that they would fund this privately and it would be a State railroad, but they have reneged on that. They are now considering one of these loans to build a high-speed rail between Houston and Dallas. But Texas Central's train is so risky and their financial situation so poor, they say they can't even pay the risk premium upfront. And for this reason, they request that legislators change the Federal law in order to help the company qualify for a loan they would never receive under standard rules. This is a huge red flag if I have ever seen one.…”