Troy Nehls: “I would like to highlight some of the stated goals of the INVEST in America Act. The INVEST in America Act creates and…”

“I would like to highlight some of the stated goals of the INVEST in America Act. The INVEST in America Act creates and sustains good-paying jobs, restores global competitiveness, tackles climate change, modernizes infrastructure, and spurs long-term economic growth. These are laudable goals that most if not all of us here support. However, Mr. Speaker, when you focus on the rail title, the INVEST in America Act misses on all of those marks and, in fact, has the potential to turn back the clocks on our envy-of-the-world freight rail system. Freight railroads provide excellent, high-paying jobs, with a Class 1 freight employee's compensation averaging $132,000 per year. On competitiveness, the freight rail industry met the demands of our Nation during the pandemic by never closing and continually moving the goods we needed to preserve public health. They did all of it, I might add, without asking for any bailout money. On the environment, freight railroads are also the most fuel- efficient way to move freight over land. On average, railroads move 1 ton of freight more than 480 miles on 1 gallon of fuel. On modern infrastructure, unlike the rest of our Nation's transportation system, our freight rail system receives the highest grade from the civil engineers for their infrastructure, a B.…”