Supporting Invest in America Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of the INVEST in America Act, which will create good paying jobs to rebuild and re- imagine America's surface transportation infrastructure by revitalizing our existing roads and bridges and making investments in passenger rail, public transit, cycling and walking infrastructure, and zero- emission options--while creating safer, more connected communities.

After decades of disinvestment and four years of failed `Infrastructure Weeks,' I believe that now is the time to make desperately needed investments to rebuild our nation.

According to the 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure assessment by the American Society of Civil Engineers, our nation's infrastructure receives the grade: C-. A continued underinvestment in our infrastructure at current rates will cost $10 trillion in GDP, more than $3 million jobs, and $2.4 trillion in exports over the next 20 years.

We cannot wait. It is time to invest, reimagine, and revitalize a new American economy by building the architecture of our nation's future. We need transformative plans like the INVEST in America Act and the American Jobs Plan, a once-in-a-century capital investment in America that will create millions of good-paying-jobs and rebuild our country's infrastructure, including high-speed rail.

We need to recognize the importance of investing in high-speed rail. And I will continue working for more rail investment and ensure that federal dollars fund high-speed rail projects across this country-- including projects in Connecticut, which total almost $10B in CT's new initiative, TIME FOR CT and along the Northeast Corridor which currently has $117B of needed investment through their project titled CONNECT2035 and New Haven's Downtown Crossing, which I was proud to help secure $20 million for New Haven to reconnect its downtown with both the outlying neighborhoods and the train station--helping the local business community flourish.

We can make opportunity real for millions with good-paying jobs. And, we can strengthen our economy. So, let us move boldly. And let us start rebuilding America.

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