July 1, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 121 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 121
(Extensions of Remarks - July 01, 2020)
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[Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E609-E610] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT ______ speech of HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of texas in the house of representatives Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the ``Moving Forward Act'' (H.R. 2), a $1.5 trillion plan to rebuild America's infrastructure. The critical investments included in this bill are needed to repair our nation's infrastructure and prepare for the future. Our nation has the ability to create a better, brighter and more prosperous future by investing much more in our nation's infrastructure. H.R. 2 will create millions of well-paying jobs, increase sustained long-term growth, and make us more globally competitive, while at the same time protecting our environment and improving our health. By making significant investments in surface transportation, rail and transit systems, aviation, energy production and distribution, schools, broadband and housing, H.R. 2 will help us meet the demands of a 21st-century economy. One of the areas I am particularly proud to see this bill address is the need to include high speed broadband internet in our overall national infrastructure. Electricity was the infrastructure that helped this country move forward last century and our leaders made a great investment to ensure every American who wanted to be connected to the electrical grid had the opportunity to do so. Broadband and gigabit internet access will play the same role in the 21st century. We see examples of the future today as we grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Students are able to learn outside the classroom thanks to advances in distance learning, Americans are able to meet with their doctors through telemedicine services, and millions of Americans are able to keep their jobs and stay safe by working from home. Sadly, the luxury of having reliable high-speed internet access is not available to all Americans. Those who live in rural and poor communities are being left behind in this technical revolution, as they were in the previous century with electricity prior to the investments championed by President Roosevelt and funded by Congress. This bill makes the needed investment of $80 billion to ensure that every American household, business, school, and medical facility has access to high speed internet so that they can be a part of the technological revolution that will strengthen our economy as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. I am happy to see that this bill invests towards the future by dedicating a set amount of funding to provide gigabit internet access. While cities like Dallas are starting to get access to this ultrafast internet, we need to make sure that funding is available so that the groundwork can be laid to ensure every American eventually has access to this new technology. I applaud my colleague, Mr. Clyburn for championing this cause as we address the needs of the American people. I will also note that as Chair of the Science Committee, we voted out a broadband bill last year to address these serious needs and I am happy that broadband provisions are moving in this bill. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2 also contains a number of high priority provisions from the bipartisan Surface Transportation Research and Development Act that I introduced with Science, Space, and Technology Committee Ranking Member Lucas. As Chair of the Science Committee, I want to thank Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman DeFazio for working with me to incorporate these provisions in this bill. I will list just a few of them. They include the establishment of an advanced transportation research and innovation program for long-term, high risk research. Among its objectives, this program is intended to improve the resilience of transportation infrastructure across diverse regions of the United States to natural disasters, extreme weather, and the effects of climate change. In addition, there is a provision that authorizes establishment of a Multi-modal Transportation Demonstration Program for the demonstration of advanced transportation technologies for local transportation organizations and transit agencies serving populations of 200,000 or less. H.R. 2 also contains a provision that requires the Secretary of Transportation to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences to develop a long-term research agenda for surface transportation that would address advanced technologies and innovation, including advancing connected and autonomous technologies. If this bill is enacted, these and the other Science, Space, and Technology Committee priorities that have been included will go a long way to ensuring that the nation will have a vital and robust transportation R&D capability. In addition, I am pleased to co-sponsor an amendment that we will be considering on the Floor to address the significant deferred maintenance needs of the Department of Energy's national laboratories, some of which date back to the Manhattan Project, and to accelerate the modernization of these critical facilities. This is an important first step. However, the need and opportunity to bolster our nation's research infrastructure across the country and throughout the federal government remains. I am going to continue to work to ensure that strong support for our national research enterprise is included in any future bills that aim to accelerate our economic recovery from the current global crisis. In addition to the inclusion of these research infrastructure provisions, I want to thank the Chairman for working with me to include a number of amendments that were included in the INVEST in America Act. One amendment provides support for training surface transportation workers who may [[Page E610]] lose their jobs due to increased automation of services. It is clear that due to COVID-19 and other pandemics that may occur, there will be more ``contactless services'' in the future and the transportation industry will indeed be impacted. My concern is for the employees who are at risk and on the front lines, who lack the training needed to both service and operate our future transportation systems. The Moving Forward Act includes a $50 million Surface Transportation Workforce Training Grant Program that will help our current workers get ready and prepare themselves for these automated vehicles (AV) that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to operate and maintain our surface transportation systems. It is encouraging to see that this bill contains provisions that support the development of high speed rail and its financing options. We have much work to do in the immerging development of high speed rail in the United States. We have been left behind by other countries in this much needed era of transporting people efficiently from one part of our nation to another. I am a strong supporter of the development of high-speed rail in the United States. It my state, Texas Central is working to develop high-speed rail system connecting Dallas and Houston in less than 90 minutes and at speeds up to 205 mph. This high-speed train will provide a faster, safer and more environmentally friendly mode of transportation that will serve two of the top five largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, as well as the greater College Station area, through the Brazos Valley station. One of the major issues that has arisen during the development of this major infrastructure project is the access to large scale of Capital Financing required to ensure the success of this project. While the project is estimated to cost $32 billion, with the government of Japan expected to pay up to half the cost, financing a project at this scale is something that programs like the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Funding (RRIF) program would have great difficulty in accomplishing due to the Credit Risk Premiums rules that would adversely impact the borrowers or such large scale projects. I am encouraged that my amendment to provide a workable option for Texas Central to meet the CRP was included in the bill. Another area of importance that I am happy to see included in this legislation is the improvement of Amtrak's cybersecurity capabilities. Millions of Americans use Amtrak each year, the incorporation of technology in the Amtrak system has allowed the company to grow while providing a safer and more customer friendly experience for passengers. But technological advances continue, the risk of cybersecurity threats only rises. I am encouraged to see provisions included in this bill that allow Amtrak to procure the needed cybersecurity technology to combat attacks against the operation of its rail system. To address Amtrak's cybersecurity needs, my amendment directs the Secretary to establish a cybersecurity enhancement grant program, which will permit Amtrak to acquire active cyber defense capabilities to implement cyber resiliency improvements for train control systems and other IT assets systemwide. In my time serving in this chamber, I've learned that no single piece of legislation is perfect. I hope to continue working with the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee to address issues related to strengthening our nation's freight rail network and in particular Union Pacific and a number of issue raised with this bill. I also want to say just a few words about the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise or DBE program. Over the almost 40 years since the DBE Program was first enacted, we have made progress--but not nearly enough. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has collected enormous amounts of evidence that illustrates just how stubborn and harmful institutionalized bias and systemic racism really are to people of color. The bottom line is that DBEs have to fight twice as hard and still usually end up getting far less money than goes to firms owned by non-minority males. Not only that, but discrimination means that even starting a business is harder for minority and women owned firms. The recent disparity study conducted for Texas DOT used Census data to examine this issue. The study found that the business formation rate for white males was 5.4 percent, but the rate for African Americans was less than a third of that--1.6 percent. For Hispanic Americans it was 2 percent, for Native Americans it was 2.9 percent, and for white women it was 3.1 percent. For Asian/Pacific Islanders it was better--5.2 percent but still lower than for white males. Texas Department of Transportation Disparity Study 2019, Colette Holt & Associates, 2019, at 133. The disparities for firm formation in construction in Texas were even worse. White men formed construction firms at a rate of 10.3 percent, but for Asian/Pacific Islanders the rate was only 9.5 percent. For white women it was 8.9 percent. Shockingly the construction firm formation rates for Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and African Americans were 4.9 percent, 3.5 percent and 2.9 percent respectively. Id. at 135. Think about what this means--as bad as the economic disparities are for firms owned by minorities and women, the current data actually understates the problem, since it doesn't take into consideration all the firms that could never even get off the ground. How can minorities and women ever erase the gaps in business inequality if discrimination keeps them from even forming the businesses they need to compete? This is exactly what makes the DBE program so important--while it doesn't fully level the playing field, it provides a demand for businesses owned by minorities and women and gives those businesses that do exist at least a fighting chance to compete. Mr. Speaker, enactment of H.R. 2 will allow our nation to move forward with critical improvements to our nation's roads, tunnels and bridges, our ports and harbors, airports, and rail systems. It will fund improvements in safe drinking water and wastewater systems, and create more affordable housing. The bill will help to modernize schools, invest in the postal service and provide high speed internet to underserved areas. Most of these proposals are long overdue and we cannot wait any longer to move our country forward. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. ____________________