Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2354) making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes:

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chair, I rise to strike the last word.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to object to the offset in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill that rescinds all unobligated funds for the High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program. This is funding that has been appropriated by Congress and awarded to worthy projects. Pulling it back now would break our commitment to our state partners, and cause costly delays for these job-creating infrastructure projects.

In opposing this bait-and-switch to high speed rail funding for our states, I am in no way discounting the need for emergency disaster relief for our friends in the South and Midwest who have survived catastrophic flooding and tornadoes this spring. Additionally, I've consistently been a champion of deficit reduction, believing firmly that we need to pay for what we spend.

However, I rise today to call attention to the absolute charade the majority is engaged in of requiring cuts to vital infrastructure investments to offset the cost of emergency spending. When this body appropriated funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, no other community was made to suffer. When this body appropriated funds for the victims of the California wildfires, no other community was made to suffer. When this body appropriated funds for the victims of the wildfires in Arizona, no other community was made to suffer. Yet, today, on the floor of this House, we are being asked to make a choice between one suffering community and another, for no reason at all.

Mr. Chair, I've come to the floor of this House numerous times explaining the dire economic situation facing my constituents. The foreclosure rate in my district is almost double the national average; three of the top ten cities in the country with the highest foreclosure rates are in my district. My district is home to three of the top ten communities with the highest unemployment in the nation. We have some of the highest poverty rates and lowest per capita income and educational levels in the nation. As if that weren't enough, the San Joaquin Valley also has some of the worst air quality in the nation. In a nutshell, there is no area in the United States that cries out for job-creating infrastructure investments more than my district.

Yet despite this incredible need, this bill proposes to eliminate $386 million dollars of funding for two rail infrastructure projects in my district, resulting in the elimination of over 10,000 direct jobs and an untold number that could be created by private economic development around the train stations. Further, recalling this funding would hobble a project that will ease traffic congestion and help to improve the air quality of my district. And this bill, for the first time, cuts funding for a regional and national priority in order to provide emergency relief. It is simply unconscionable to subjectively and maliciously force one community to suffer due to natural disaster somewhere else. It is simply unconscionable to make disaster relief for one region of the country come at the expense of a region that has been struggling for years due to the economic downturn. It is unconscionable and because of that, I urge my Colleagues to vote no on this bill.

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