On the recordApril 18, 2012
The folders that I am holding here represent our dysfunctional Federal bureaucracy. They provide a stark example of the burdensome red tape that a Wisconsin business must go through just to get approval of a single project. Mr. Chairman, in this folder is when the county controls a project. This folder is when the State controls the project. Mr. Chairman, this folder is when the Federal Government controls the project. Well, these examples aren't specifically for a highway project. They are emblematic of the bureaucracy our Federal Government imposes in northeastern Wisconsin and across the Nation. My amendment today will smooth the road for our infrastructure projects by reducing the redundant permitting requirements that prevent us from rebuilding our roads and bridges across this country. My amendment includes many of the practical reforms that I and my colleagues on the Transportation Committee have championed under Chairman Mica's leadership. Today, the average life span of a construction project is 15 years, but only 5 of those years involve actual on-the-ground construction. Let me say that again. At least 10 years of a project are not spent building anything, but instead are spent filling thousands of folders just like these with millions of pages of paperwork. My amendment expedites this process. In some cases we can cut this timeline in half merely by allowing the Federal and State agencies to work together.…
