DeLauro Statement on House Democrats’ New Infrastructure Framework

WASHINGTON, DC – (January 29, 2020) Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement after House Democrats released the Moving Forward Framework: a five-year, $760 billion plan to invest in our nation's infrastructure. The plan would create an estimated 10 million jobs while reducing carbon pollution, improving safety, and growing our economy.

"The biggest economic challenge of our time is that working people are in jobs with wages that do not keep up with skyrocketing costs like healthcare, child care, housing, and education. That problem is compounded when our federal government fails to make smart, long-term investments. That is why it is critical the Congress takes action. The Moving Forward Framework unveiled today by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone, and Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal is a positive first step. By making bold investments in our infrastructure—highways, bridges, transit, airports, high speed rail, waterways, ports, public schools, harbors, drinking water and wastewater systems, energy and telecommunications—we can ensure people have good-paying jobs while protecting our environment from continued devastation. Climate change is an emergency that we must address, and this framework could put us firmly on the path toward zero carbon pollution from transportation."

"As this proposal moves through Congress, I will continue to advocate for a national infrastructure bank as part of the House Democrats' effort in order to leverage public and private dollars in this effort and to help supplement any gaps in our infrastructure financing."

In January 2019, DeLauro reintroduced the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act. Her legislation, modeled after the European Investment Bank, would leverage private sector dollars from institutional investors, such as pension funds, to supplement current funding in our nation's infrastructure. It would provide loans and loan guarantees to projects, issue Public Benefit Bonds with proceeds to fund projects, and make payments to help states and localities cover their bond interest payments. The National Infrastructure Bank would finance surface transportation projects as well as energy, environmental, and telecommunications projects. The bank would consider each project's economic and environmental impacts, social benefits, and costs objectively before selecting projects to finance.

House Democrats' Moving Forward Framework outlines infrastructure investments that:

• Brings existing infrastructure into a state of good repair and enables the completion of critical projects through long-term, sustainable funding.
• Sets a path toward zero carbon pollution from the transportation sector, creating jobs, protecting our natural resources, promoting environmental justice, and increasing resiliency to climate change.
• Ensures a transportation system that is green, affordable, reliable, efficient and provides access to jobs
• Provides safe, clean, and affordable water and wastewater services.
• Prioritizes the safety of the traveling public.
• Helps combat climate change by creating good-paying jobs in clean energy, investing in energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas pollution.
• Expands broadband internet access, adoption for unserved and underserved rural, suburban, and urban communities.
• Modernizes 9-1-1 public safety networks.
• Creates family-wage jobs with Davis-Bacon and other strong worker protections.
• Supports U.S. industries, including steel and manufacturing, through strong Buy America protections