Infrastructure: A Bipartisan Priority
‘So I am particularly happy that the president is proposing to eliminate regulatory barriers and streamline lengthy and over-complicated permitting processes. Historically, infrastructure has been an area of bipartisan cooperation. Our last three highway bills passed with large bipartisan majorities, averaging more than 80 ‘yes’ votes. So did our last three WRDA bills and our last three FAA bills. I hope we can build on this record and make more bipartisan progress on this subject.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the release of the president’s infrastructure proposal and budget request today:
“Today, President Trump put forward his budget request for the next fiscal year. I look forward to reviewing the president’s priorities. With a bipartisan funding agreement in place, Congress and the White House can now work together to begin rebuilding our military, improve care for veterans, and tackle other urgent matters from disaster relief to the fight against drug addiction.
“I especially appreciate the president’s focus on improving America's infrastructure. The quality of our country’s infrastructure affects everything from our long-term economic future to working Americans’ everyday routines. As of 2016, nearly one in ten bridges in our nation is structurally deficient.
“The average commuter loses 42 hours per year to delays. And the average age of our inland waterway locks and dams is over 50 years old. We’re intimately familiar with this in Kentucky, where we ship millions of tons of coal, agricultural products, and other cargo on more than 1,900 miles of inland waterways.
“The problem runs deeper than dollars and cents. American workers built skyscrapers in less time than our government now spends reviewing -- not even building, but reviewing -- plans for new bridges and stretches of highway.
“So I am particularly happy that the president is proposing to eliminate regulatory barriers and streamline lengthy and over-complicated permitting processes. Historically, infrastructure has been an area of bipartisan cooperation. Our last three highway bills passed with large bipartisan majorities, averaging more than 80 ‘yes’ votes. So did our last three WRDA bills and our last three FAA bills. I hope we can build on this record and make more bipartisan progress on this subject.”
Related Issues: Infrastructure, Budget
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