Nick Rahall: “I appreciate the gentlewoman's kind words. Mr. Speaker, when I go home to West Virginia each week and discuss the state…”

“I appreciate the gentlewoman's kind words. Mr. Speaker, when I go home to West Virginia each week and discuss the state of our Nation with my friends and neighbors, I hear about three things: jobs, jobs, jobs. That's what this Congress should focus on. We should stop the political charade of spending time on one bill after another which will not see the light of day in the other body and work together on something that Members of all political stripes should be able to agree upon: creating American jobs and ensuring that our Federal tax dollars are spent wisely. We are here today in support of those twin goals by ensuring that the investments that we make in our Nation's transportation infrastructure truly help rebuild America--our infrastructure, our companies, and our workers. Mr. Speaker, in just a few months' time, one of the largest publicly supported infrastructure projects in this country is scheduled to be completed with the opening of the $6.3 billion east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. But instead of steel cast in the Alleghenies or roadbed segments assembled in Alameda, cars and trucks using the bridge will be driving over 43,000 tons of steel imported from China, which supported 3,000 Chinese jobs and was financed by U.S. taxpayers.…”