Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oregon, the chairman of this committee, and I rise enthusiastically for H.R. 2 because we need to move forward.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman (Mr. DeFazio). For 20 years I have been on this floor fighting for mass transit and the expansion of such and to allow cities like Houston that were delayed 20 years because of opposition by my friends on the other side of the aisle, and we are finally getting a robust commitment to not only fixing roads and schools and housing, but also to dealing with mass transit. We worked on it for a long time.
I want to thank the committee for accepting my amendment dealing with COVID-19. Right now, in Houston, as I rush back to my city, we have the largest number of cases. We have people dying. We have people walking into emergency rooms because they are sick themselves just coming in.
This amendment deals with the aviation area and the airports where money has been given, but, in fact, money has been left out for different businesses, like parking. This amendment requires FAA to assess all of the businesses that have been left out and to prioritize them in our next funding, and I thank the gentleman for that.
But let me, as well, speak about what I know is important in the bill and impacts a project called I-45 in Houston, Texas. This project would erase 158 houses, 433 apartments, 486 condos.
I include in the Record an article from the Houston Chronicle about the I-45 project, dated June 7, 2020. [From the Houston Chronicle, June 7, 2020]
I-45 Project Leaves Neighbors in Limbo: Critics Fearful for Record Number Who Could be Displaced (By Dug Begley)
Wherever Armando Litchenberger looks around Urbana Recording Studio, there are memories. The stool Jose Feliciano sat on to record a couple tracks. Goldie Hawn used the studio to mix the soundtrack for a TV movie she directed. Duran Duran recut a guitar track that didn't test well while on a world tour.
``There are memories here that are not replaceable,'' Litchenberger said as he showed off the Near Northside performance room where the neighborhood's de facto house band, La Mafia, recorded the songs that won four Grammys, which now sit a glass trophy case a few feet from the soundboard.
Beatles memorabilia and signed posters from hundreds of musicians and celebrities line the walls, but it is a pin in the parking lot that draws Litchenberger's attention these days. Driven in by a surveyor, the pin marks the property line for a wider Interstate 45.
``If I stay, I'll be right on the freeway,'' Litchenberger said. ``I would have to close this off and make it a double cinder block wall to close off the sound.''
The I-45 project's toll on local property owners would be unprecedented for TxDOT in Houston, potentially relocating hundreds of families and businesses. Estimated to cost at least $7 billion, the project will rebuild I-45 from downtown Houston north to Beltway 8, and change how it connects with other downtown freeways.
That means rebuilding--by removing--pieces of Fifth Ward, the Northside, Acres Homes and Aldine. Spots south of North Main where third-generation Latino residents help neighbors work on cars in their driveway. Or Tidwell, which bustles with activity as the commercial center and is the only place within walking distance of her apartment where Shondrae McBride, 26, can get her nails done, pick up marinated carne asada and drop off her husband's cellphone for repair across from a Pho restaurant.
``Not everybody has a car to get around,'' McBride said.
Removing some of those businesses, she said, would ``add hours'' to her typical errands.
The latest estimates show the rebuild would impact--the catchword for any structure or dwelling directly touched by the changing road boundary--158 houses, 433 apartments or condos, 486 public housing units, 340 businesses, five churches and two schools. The Houston Police Department would need to relocate its south central police station and the Mexican Consulate in the Museum District, adjacent to I-69, will move to a Westchasearea location.
Mayor Sylvester Turner has called the project ``transformative'' but also called on TxDOT to revise the designs north of downtown to impact fewer homes and businesses while remaining on track to start construction downtown in a matter of months. Work is slated to begin north of Interstate 10 by 2024.
When the work actually begins will depend on decisions made this year and next that some, including Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, worry will displace a historic number of people before getting a full public review despite more than 15 years of planning. Hidalgo and others have called on TxDOT to delay final decisions, which could push back the start of construction for months as more public meetings are planned.
``Given the impacts of the COVID-19 disaster, this delay would give the county and its residents more time to engage with and offer feedback,'' Hidalgo wrote in May.
TxDOT officials have said they welcome the city and county's input, with state Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan, of Houston, saying the goal is a project that ``will work, for the most part, for as many people as possible.''
That still leaves the question of how many people will have to get out of the way. Benefits, at a cost
For those entirely displaced by TxDOT's freeway plans, whether a renter, homeowner or business owner, the outcome of discussions between TxDOT and the city could determine whether they stay or go. Some of the changes under consideration will mean the difference between their home or apartment being adjacent to the freeway--or demolished and a part of it.
Other questions remain, such as how much owners and renters will be compensated and where that money will allow them to go. Renters will scramble to find nearby housing they can afford. Those receiving assistance with housing will wade back into a crowded system.
``There are some properties some residents could go to, but there is not enough room,'' said Arveyiel Fortilla, a resident of the Houston Housing Authority public complex Kelly Village, who has followed the process closely.
Housing advocates, such as Amy Dinn with Lone Star Legal Aid, said the potential displacements--some all but inevitable--could strand public housing residents between agencies as TxDOT works with local housing officials and city leaders to come to agreement. The most likely outcome is TxDOT provides local agencies funding and, perhaps, property to relocate residents.
At a December meeting about the project, Dinn said many fear the city will not be a good custodian of those housing dollars if TxDOT decides to simply cut a check. The Houston Housing Authority, she said, faces a housing crunch throughout the city, not just along I-45.
``The concern is they are going to take that money and not help those communities,'' Dinn said.
The payoff, supporters argue, is a much-needed rebuild of the region's freeway spine and downtown system.
``We are building this project for the next 50 to 75 years,'' said Eliza Paul, district director for TxDOT in the Houston region.
Beneficiaries of an improved freeway include tens of thousands of people from Conroe southward who rely on I-45 for daily commutes or trips south to Houston and beyond.
A new freeway and new intersections built to modern standards, proponents note, will mean major bottlenecks are relieved and traffic can flow more efficiently--and more safely--in and around downtown. Preliminary estimates project traffic speeds will increase by 24 miles per hour, an unheard-of leap for a freeway project within Loop 610.
Pulling off those improvements, however, means a much larger freeway, with TxDOT buying an additional 450 acres of Houston property to go with the 1,207 acres the freeway already occupies. At the northwest and southeast corners of the I-45 and Loop 610 interchange, easing the tight curves of the existing ramps means remaking them right through nearby single family homes.
``You work and save for years to buy a house, and somebody comes by and tells you they're taking it. It's just not right,'' said Colleen Wirth, whose house southeast of the crossing is spared, but will have a sound wall running along the back yard. Differing visions
To find anything comparable in terms of homes affected by the I-45 project, one has to go back more than 50 years when freeways barged through some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. When TxDOT remade the I-10 and U.S. 59 interchange in 1959, the new configuration claimed more than 500 flood-prone homes along Buffalo Bayou in Fifth Ward. The I-45 interchange with Loop 610 cut Independence Heights practically in half in the late 1950s.
It is a legacy of freeway building over the oppressed, community groups argue, that continues to today. As anger over the killing of George Floyd spilled into the streets, some argued the systematic issues extend to public infrastructure.
``The cries demanding action emanating from the protests taking place throughout the country have been fueled by the stark reality that racism permeates our lives,'' wrote Bakeyah Nelson, executive director of Air Alliance Houston, in a letter to supporters. ``This shapes how people perceive us and how they choose to interact or don't interact with us . . . It allows for thoughtless decisions to be made about our communities, such as where to put the next concrete batch plant or whether to expand a highway that will cause the displacement of entire neighborhoods.''
City officials, who in the past year have increased their focus on the enormous toll the project will have on neighborhoods bordering the freeway between Tidwell and White Oak Bayou, are trying to avoid a repeat of that kind of upheaval.
``I think part of the city's goals are to honor the neighborhoods around the freeway, and the wishes of the people,'' said Margaret Wallace Brown, the city's planning director.
Many of the people are worried.
In Independence Heights, the project will scrape away more of the history of Texas' first black-formed municipality. It is more than just the small wooden row houses built on block foundations or the triangle of churches that form the core of the community, said Tanya Debose, executive director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council.
``It's the people that make a place,'' she said, noting as residences are removed the inhabitants move to other neighborhoods. ``We're going to get squeezed, until there is nothing left.''
Following two rounds of community meetings by planning officials, Mayor Turner encouraged TxDOT to reconsider many features of the freeway redesign, including staying entirely within the existing right of way north of downtown ``as much as possible.''
For example, the city is asking TxDOT to remove planned frontage roads northwest of the Loop 610 interchange and add two bus-only lanes to the center rather than four express lanes similar to the Katy Managed Lanes along I-10.
While building two bus lanes instead of four managed lanes would limit the need for property along the freeway's edges, it also would reduce some of the benefits to automobile travelers--who will continue to far outnumber transit uses for the foreseeable future.
For that reason, the changes proposed by the city already have been met with some concern.
``Are we really improving mobility in this area,'' asked Galveston County Precinct 4 Commissioner Ken Clark, chairman of the region's Transportation Policy Council. ``With the type of money we are spending on this project and the loss of the HOV lanes, are we really getting improvement?'' Left behind
As the decision to redesign segments proceeds, property owners remain in limbo--likely affected, but not certain how. In Litchenberger's case, the neighborhood molded him, and seeing it change comes with some worry.
The Northside is where members of La Mafia--Litchenberger is the accordionist and producer of the four-time Grammy- winning Tejano group--formed and where the friends started a musical journey entering its fourth decade. When they went on a national tour in 1993, the North Street bridge in view of the studio is where the trucks and buses lined up.
``All that will be gone,'' Litchenberger said, noting the bridge will be demolished to make way for the wider freeway and frontage roads. ``There is a lot of history here, around here, that will just be gone.''
The studio is just a part of that, a gem in the community that because of the bayou and freeway barriers has felt segregated and on its own. The neighborhood will lose homes, with those owners and renters likely heading elsewhere. Businesses will decide whether to wait out slow sales years during construction, or pack up.
``They're coming for us,'' Miguel Castaneda said as he left a convenience store near Fulton and Cavalcade. ``They're cleaning it up and then everybody here can go somewhere else so the developers can move in.''
Businesses and residents of downtown, East Downtown and Third Ward face a brighter picture. Turner and others concede some of the downtown changes are necessary to fix some of the bottlenecks that bedevil commuting. That will leave some people most in need the least protected at Clayton Homes and Kelly Village, two city-run public housing developments.
``If they do this without giving us someplace to go, they are contributing to the homeless population,'' Fortilla said.
At Clayton Homes, along Buffalo Bayou at the junction of I- 69 and I-10, the project is taking all 296 units, many of which were never rebuilt after Tropical Storm Harvey sent the bayou into at least six apartment buildings. TxDOT has offered $90 million for Clayton Homes with the understanding it would pay the money up front and give Houston Housing Authority time to build new affordable apartments somewhere close by and give housing vouchers to residents who want them.
The effect on Kelly Village is less substantial, but could leave residents in even more uncertainty. Fifty of the 270 units at Kelly Village will be destroyed by the freeway expansion, while the rest will remain closer to a larger freeway. Those losing their homes will have the option of taking a voucher or get priority to move into available housing.
Many in the complex, Fortilla said, are resigned to being scattered and given scarce options.
``They have just given up already to what happens,'' she said. ``When a person is used to being beaten up, they don't know any other way.''
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me, just for a moment, say that I would like to enter into a colloquy with Mr. DeFazio about this part of the project.
It would cause the loss of 486 public housing units, 340 businesses, 5 churches, 2 schools. There are additional concerns that the community is raising and, yes, the oldest Black city in the State of Texas--maybe even in the Nation--called Independence Heights. Even a historic trail that is now law called the Emancipation Trail may be impacted. These vulnerable people are not being listened to.
There is a lot going on.
I ask the chairman to respond to the good elements in this bill that would be a litmus test for this project.
I share the gentlewoman's concern. We once had--and it is not in my district, but Mr. Blumenauer's district--planned for a major new highway that would have bisected the city, affecting generally working- class and minority neighborhoods, and we got it killed by, actually, the Secretary of Transportation who was from Oregon at that time. Highway projects have a bad history of dividing our cities, and particularly segregating and dividing communities of color.
So I know the gentlewoman had a specific amendment targeted at this one project, but, actually, the bill, itself, has a major focus on looking for alternatives.
First, the States are going to have to go through--before they do any of these projects, they are going to have to go through a rigorous public process. They are going to have to look at what other options are available to deal with the congestion or whatever issue they are dealing with. So I expect that there are other provisions in this bill that would achieve the gentlewoman's goals as we move forward.
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Will the gentleman yield?
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me thank the gentleman, and I will continue to work on this with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
I want this bill to be passed in the Senate. I want this bill to become law because there are millions of Americans waiting for this bill, H.R. 2, to save them and help them, particularly those in Houston regarding I-45.
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the Amendment to H.R. 2 designated as En Bloc C and specifically to the inclusion of the Jackson Lee Amendment that directs the FAA to report on areas of the airport system that have not received COVID-19 related funding.
H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, is a more than $1.5 trillion plan to rebuild American infrastructure--not only our roads, airports, bridges, and transit systems, but also our schools, housing, broadband access, and so much more.
It has come to my attention that certain support functions essential to airport operations have not received COVID-19 funding.
Mr. Speaker, this transformational legislation makes robust investments in the infrastructure necessary to support the wellbeing of all Americans and connect them with the services and opportunities needed to succeed in the global economy, which will create millions of American jobs rebuilding our country, so desperately needed in light of its wreckage by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, our nation's airports experienced a significant economic impact due to COVID-19 and the level of support to airports and airlines has been generous, but not enough, especially regarding what I have learned about airport parking service areas.
It has come to my attention that certain support functions essential to the smooth operation of our nation's busiest airports.
One area of concern is airport parking, which is vital to the smooth operation of our nation's busiest airports.
Airports serving our nation's largest metropolitan areas that serve hundreds of millions of passengers collectively include:
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) that receives 103 Million Passengers,
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)--84.5 Million Passengers,
O'Hare International Airport (ORD)--79.8 Million Passengers, and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)--75 Million Passengers.
Workers and support services for parking and other essential services need and deserve support from COVID-19 funding.
This Jackson Lee Amendment seeks a report from the FAA and directs that the next opportunity for funding for COVID-19 should prioritize areas that have not yet received funding.
I ask my Colleagues to support this En Bloc and the underlying bill.
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