New Dems Call for Long-Term Fix for Nation’s Infrastructure
Washington, DC – Earlier this week 30 members of the New Democrat Coalition sent a letter to Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi calling for a permanent solution to funding the Highway Trust Fund. The letter’s lead signatories released the following statement after sending the letter:
“It’s irresponsible to continue relying on shortsighted, interim fixes that deprive critical infrastructure projects of the funding needed to restore our nation’s crumbling roads and bridges. The short-term patches we’ve used in recent years have damaged our economy and prevented us from building a 21st Century transportation system.
Right now we have an opportunity to work across the aisle and enact a smart solution that addresses our most pressing needs. We can also use this moment to create a mechanism to maintain responsible funding levels for the Highway Trust Fund for years into the future. We believe the best approach is two-pronged: international tax reform to bring home U.S. tax dollars stranded overseas in the short-term and establishing a sustainable user-fee in the long-term. That way, we can make U.S. companies more competitive, create jobs, and provide needed stability for transportation networks across the country.”
This release was endorsed by New Democrat Coalition Members Elizabeth Esty, Sean Patrick Maloney, Ed Perlmutter, John Carney, and John Delaney. For the text of the letter, see below or click here.
Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi:
As Members of the New Democrat Coalition, we are committed to policy solutions that will grow our economy in every town and city. We have an opportunity in the coming months to agree on a plan that will bring our nation’s infrastructure into the 21st century and maintain our competitiveness globally. Currently, federal infrastructure spending does not meet the tremendous demand in communities across the country. The current state of our roads and bridges has the potential to be our country’s next destabilizing economic crisis and threatens to stall economic growth unless we address it now.
There is bipartisan agreement that Congress should replenish the Highway Trust Fund with revenues raised through international tax reform that includes “deemed repatriation” of U.S. dollars stranded overseas – this will also make U.S.-based companies more competitive. Additionally, we need a sustainable and dedicated user fee model to continue funding infrastructure projects into the future. Coming together around this two-pronged funding approach would allow us to pay for a long-term infrastructure bill that would not only revitalize our nation’s infrastructure, but create and maintain jobs across the country for years to come.
We all believe that the series of short-term patches over the past several years has been shortsighted and damaging for our economy as well as our roads and bridges. We strongly urge you to bring a long-term, sustainably funded highway bill to the House floor without delay. We are eager to support such a proposal.
Sincerely,
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