President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union speech before Congress this week, and while he touched on the nation’s infrastructure needs, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said that a more structured Congressional response is necessary.
During Tuesday’s State of the Union, Trump said that infrastructure investment is no longer an option, but a necessity for the United States.
“I know that the Congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill — and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future,” Trump said.
In his 2018 State of the Union, Trump called on Congress to produce legislation that garnered $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment. Tuesday’s address made no mention of a specific dollar figure for such funding.
DeFazio echoed the president’s sentiment in that investing in the country’s transportation infrastructure is a critically important step for U.S. development and has to be met with bipartisan participation.
“None of this can happen, however, if we continue to ignore the looming crisis facing the Highway Trust Fund,” DeFazio said. “We face a $1 trillion surface transportation investment gap over the next 10 years to fix the infrastructure we have, meet future needs, and restore our global competitiveness. Any serious infrastructure proposal must provide sustainable, long-term Federal funding so we can make these necessary investments, create millions of living-wage American jobs, increase economic growth, and decrease congestion and emissions.”