Bipartisan Coalition Supports President Obama’s Call for Strategic Infrastructure Investment

WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama today called for an extension of the surface transportation bill (SAFETEA-LU) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization when Congress returns to the nation’s capitol next week. The current extension of SAFETEA-LU is set to expire on September 30 and the FAA reauthorization is set to expire on September 16. If SAFETEA-LU were delayed just ten days, the country would lose nearly $1 billion in transportation funding, resulting in job loss and halted projects.

Joined by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Chief Operating Officer David Chavern, and the AFL-CIO’s President Richard Trumka, the President also stressed bipartisanship and urged Congress to focus on a long-term vision for investing in America’s infrastructure, including reforms to eliminate waste and give states more control over the projects they invest in.

In response to the President’s remarks, Building America’s Future President Marcia Hale issued the following:

“With interest rates at historic lows and unemployment in the construction sector high, it would be shortsighted to allow the transportation bill to expire on September 30. Now is the time to make smart strategic investments in critical infrastructure projects that will keep goods, people and our economy moving. Even as the global recession has forced cutbacks in government spending, other countries continue to invest significantly more than the U.S. to expand and update their transportation networks.”

Earlier this month, Building America’s Future Educational Fund released a new report – “Falling Apart and Falling Behind” – which examines the transportation infrastructure investments made by the U.S. compared to those made by our economic competitors. The innovative and targeted investments being made by our global competitors have put them on a cycle of investment and economic growth that will improve their standard of living and their citizens’ quality of life. “

“Falling Apart and Falling Behind” contains sobering statistics that illustrate how far the U.S. is falling behind it global economic competitors:

• U.S. infrastructure has fallen from first place in the World Economic Forum’s 2005 economic competitiveness ranking to number 15 today.
• China now boasts six of the world’s top ten ports – and none of the top ten are located in the U.S. The Shanghai port now moves more container traffic a year than the top seven U.S. ports combined.
• The U.S. is one of the only leading nations without a national plan for public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects or a National Infrastructure Bank to finance large-scale projects and leverage private capital.

For the full report and more information, please visit www.BAFuture.org/Report.