Letter to Barack Obama, President of the United States - National Infrastructure Bank

Letter

Today, Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) called on President Obama to invest in our nation's infrastructure by developing a National Infrastructure Bank. In a letter to the President, Rep. Braley urged the President to include the development of an Infrastructure Bank as part of his job creation plan he will be unveiling next week. Four other members of the Populist Caucus signed the letter to the President. The Populist Caucus has been advocating for the development of a National Infrastructure Bank for over a year and a half. In February 2010, the Caucus endorsed legislation introduced by Vice Chair Rosa DeLauro to create a National Infrastructure Bank.

"A National Infrastructure Bank would create jobs and improve our country's aging infrastructure" said Rep. Braley. "This plan would leverage both public and private dollars to improve our roads, bridges, tunnels and watersystems, creating jobs all across the country. The plan also has a diverse coalition of support that includes both the business and labor communities. It makes sense for the President to include this public-private partnership as part of his job creation plan."

A copy of the letter, which was signed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Rep. John Yarmuth, Rep. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Peter Welch, is pasted below and available here: http://go.usa.gov/0YF

September 2, 2011

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

We are pleased to learn that you will soon announce a job creation plan. As part of that plan, we encourage you to include a National Infrastructure Bank, which is a true public-private partnership that would have a significant positive impact on our economy.

A National Infrastructure Bank would create jobs and improve America's aging infrastructure. This plan would leverage both public and private dollars to improve our roads, bridges, tunnels and water systems, while building the 21st century high-speed rail systems, smart energy grids, and broadband lines into rural and disadvantaged communities that we need to compete with other economic power centers around the world. This public-private partnership would lower America's high unemployment and it would rebuild our middle class while strengthening businesses around the country. Therefore, we strongly urge you to include the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank as part of your job creationplan.

As members of the House Populist Caucus we have continued to push for passage of the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act in the House. Your inclusion of this component in your job creation plan would help us build more interest in Congress to pass this legislation.

This concept has a wide range of support from the business, finance and labor communities, as well as a bipartisan group of Mayors, Governors and advocacy groups. This diverse coalition includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, SEIU and the American Society ofCivil Engineers. This coalitionrepresents a wide range of support across the political spectrum and the potential for strong bipartisan support for passing this bill.

We look forward to working with you on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

Bruce Braley, Chairman, Populist Caucus
Rosa DeLauro, Vice Chair
John Yarmuth
Mazie Hirono
Peter Welch