Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a mounting problem which is affecting every Texan: our deteriorating infrastructure. Now, I know a thing about infrastructure. When I was a county commissioner, I saw firsthand how a lack of investment directly impacted people in my area. As a State, we regularly have received scores of C and D on our infrastructure. In my own area, it was even worse because of the damage that hurricanes and flooding did on a regular basis. These deteriorating roads and bridges cost Texans over $700 a year in damages and extra vehicle maintenance. That is an entire paycheck for many of the people in my district. On top of that, Houstonians have had to deal with the twin trouble of decaying roads and rapid growth. Harris County is now home to over 700,000 more people than it had in 2010. Without significant investment, we are trying to fit more and more people onto the same deteriorating roads. Mr. Speaker, the traffic is so bad in parts of my city that I and many other Houstonians simply avoid entire neighborhoods altogether. This directly hurts small business owners who depend on infrastructure for people to reach their stores. Mr. Speaker, poor infrastructure does more than hurt families' pocketbooks, it has already cost us lives. Everyone in Texas remembers the winter storm this past February that left millions freezing in their homes without power. The extreme cold weather brought State power systems to the brink of collapse.…”