Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, a bold plan to rebuild crumbling infrastructure across our country.

For decades, Congress has allowed our infrastructure, roads, bridges, waterways, schools, housing, public transit, energy systems, and broadband to erode under the weight of lack of investment. This inaction has made our people less secure. It has made us less economically competitive in the global marketplace, and it has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable.

We have a responsibility to pass this legislation now at a time when more Americans are unemployed than any time since the Great Depression. This bill will create millions of Americans shovel-ready jobs.

There is no better example of the need to modernize our infrastructure than our schools. Each child needs the guarantee of a safe classroom that is equipped to provide them with the education they will need to succeed in the 21st century.

I call on my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to join me in passing this legislation with a resounding vote. After all, it was a Republican, President Eisenhower, who literally brought our country together with the most ambitious infrastructure project in our history: the Interstate Highway System.

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