10: Infrastructure
Building the Future Other Information:
America’s infrastructure networks are critical for economic growth, international competitiveness, and national security.
Infrastructure programs have traditionally been non-partisan; everyone recognized that we all need clean water and safe roads,
rail, bridges, ports, and airports. The current Administration has changed that, replacing civil engineering with social engineering
as it pursues an exclusively urban vision of dense housing and government transit. In the vaunted stimulus package, less than
six percent of the funds went to transportation, with most of that to cosmetic “shovel-ready” projects rather than fundamental
structural improvements. All the while, the Democrats’ Davis-Bacon law continues to drive up infrastructure construction and
maintenance costs for the benefit of that party’s union stalwarts. What most Americans take for granted-the safety and availability
of our water supply-is in perilous condition. Engineering surveys report crumbling drinking water systems, aging dams, and
overwhelmed wastewater infrastructure. Investment in these areas, as well as with levees and inland waterways, can renew communities,
attract businesses, and create jobs. Most importantly, it can assure the health and safety of the American people. The nation’s
ports have become a bottleneck in international trade. America’s exporters sometimes use Canadian ports in order to reach
the world market in a timely manner. With the widening of the Panama Canal, our East Coast and Gulf ports have an extraordinary
opportunity to boost container traffic but require major improvement to remain competitive receivers of large vessels. Interstate
infrastructure has long been a federal responsibility shared with the States, and a renewed federal-State partnership and
new public-private partnerships are urgently needed to maintain and modernize our country’s travel lifelines to facilitate
economic growth and job creation. In the last two years, Congressional Republicans have taken the lead with initiatives like
the FAA Modernization and Reform Act; the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act; and the Coast Guard
and Maritime Transportation Act. The recent highway bill reforming the federal highway program included some key reforms.
It will shorten the project approval process, eliminate unnecessary programs, and give States more flexibility to address
their particular needs. It is a return to the principles of federalism, and it contains not a single earmark. It should be
followed by reform of the 42-year old National Environmental Policy Act to create regulatory certainty for infrastructure
projects, expedite their timetables, and limit litigation against them. Securing sufficient funding for the Highway Trust
Fund remains a challenge given the debt and deficits and the need to reduce spending. Republicans will make hard choices and
set priorities, and infrastructure will be among them. In some States with elected officials dominated by the Democratic Party,
a proportion of highway funds is diverted to other purposes. This must stop. We oppose any funding mechanism that would involve
governmental monitoring of every car and truck in the nation. Amtrak continues to be, for the taxpayers, an extremely expensive
railroad. The public has to subsidize every ticket nearly $50. It is long past time for the federal government to get out
of way and allow private ventures to provide passenger service to the northeast corridor. The same holds true with regard
to high-speed and intercity rail across the country.
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