Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Culver Calls On Congress To Meet America's Infrastructure Needs
DES MOINES – Today, Governor Chet Culver traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss America’s transportation and infrastructure needs with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other Congressional leaders.
“I believe it’s time for a bold 21st century infrastructure plan of action,” said Governor Culver. “This plan should be similar to our shared national goal of winning the race to space a generation ago. We need a clear national vision for infrastructure that supports our nation’s economic and security future while protecting our citizens’ quality of life.”
In his comments, Culver proposed a three-step approach:
- Develop a multi-modal transportation approach, looking at roads, bridges, public transit, rail, trails, air and waterways.
- Invest new funding to completely rebuild and reinvest America’s interstate system.
- Give state governments flexibility and greater control in how to administer Federal infrastructure dollars.
The full prepared text of the Governor’s comments is below.
Governor Culver Remarks (As Prepared)
U.S. House of Representatives – Infrastructure Forum
03.12.08
On behalf of the 28 Democratic Governors, I’m honored to be here today. First, let me thank Speaker Pelosi for calling this important meeting to discuss our national infrastructure challenges. In addition, I want to acknowledge the Democratic leadership team, committee chairs and co-chairs, and the distinguished guests here representing the public and private sector.
We are here today to try to answer one question:
“What is the most appropriate role for the federal government and the private sector to play in planning for and financing our transportation infrastructure needs in the future? “
Well, I believe it’s time for a big and bold 21st century infrastructure plan of action.
This plan should be similar to our shared national goal of winning the race to space a generation ago. We need a clear national vision for infrastructure that supports our nation’s economic and security future while protecting our citizens’ quality of life.
So, we’ve got three things we need to do, immediately.
Number one, we need to develop a multi-modal approach with not just roads and bridges, but broad based plans for public transit, passenger and freight rail, air, information technology, grids, trails, and waterways.
Number two, we need to invest more money so that we can completely rebuild and reinvest in our nation’s interstate system.
Number three, any national infrastructure plan needs to take into account the fact that states and local governments have diverse needs, and therefore must allow for maximum flexibility in how states administer federal infrastructure funds.
The problem is, we’re currently not investing enough in our infrastructure. The National Surface Transportation Commission issued its report earlier this year, and they said the U.S. needs to invest at least $225 billion dollars annually over the next 50 years in our existing transportation network just to remain competitive.
But, as you well know, today we are spending less than 40% of this amount. Putting these facts in perspective, this means in my home state of Iowa, we’ve projected our needs to be in excess of over $67 billion dollars for our public roadway system over the next 20 years.
However, with funding levels at our current rate, unless we make some dramatic changes, we’re looking at an infrastructure funding deficit of nearly $30 billion dollars by the year 2028. That simply cannot be allowed to happen.
Finally, we desperately need maximum funding flexibility at the state and local level that allows for more discretion to better target limited federal funds, in ways that make the most sense to us in the states.
Instead of a prescriptive, “one size fits all” approach, I believe we need a common-sense, cooperative relationship between the states and the federal government. This will empower states to address our particular infrastructure needs, while allowing for greater state and regional flexibility, as we meet our obligations of stewardship and accountability by limiting wasteful spending.
In closing, thank you, Speaker Pelosi and distinguished guests. I believe the national infrastructure challenge is one we can, and must meet. I look forward to working with all interested parties across the country in doing so.