Washington, D.C.—The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) during today’s hearing titled, "Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Member Day.”
Video of Ranking Member Larsen’s opening statement is here.
More information on the hearing can be found here.
Ranking Member Larsen:
Welcome to the Committee’s Member Day Hearing, which is an opportunity for our House colleagues to testify before the Committee about the transportation and infrastructure priorities that are most pressing for their constituents. Twenty-eight members have signed up to speak before the Committee today.
The robust participation from Members on both sides of the aisle as witnesses demonstrates—as the Chairman and I have said multiple times—that the issues before this Committee are not about which team you are on. They’re about solving problems for the people in your district, solving the transportation and infrastructure challenges they face and creating economic opportunities for the people we represent.
The enthusiasm of members seeking to testify today is not surprising. Thanks to the work of this Committee, we are seeing real and sustained investments in our nation's roads, bridges, rail, airports, and water infrastructure.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering results for communities across the country, and it is essential that this Committee continues to build on that success.
The testimony our colleagues deliver today will no doubt aid us in that effort.
The investments we authorize and oversee in this Committee:
- Promote a safer, cleaner, greener, and more accessible transportation network;
- Create jobs and opportunities for everyone;
- Enhance our global economic competitiveness;
- Build capacity in our communities;
- Restore and protect our environment; and
- Increase the safety of transportation systems in the U.S..
Today’s hearing will help inform our upcoming surface transportation reauthorization legislation, which is vital to maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system.
This bill offers us an opportunity to enhance safety, improve our roads, bridges, transit and rail networks, and invest in our communities to ensure America’s economic competitiveness. I am confident that the ideas we hear today will help us accomplish these objectives.
Thank you, Chairman Graves, for your commitment to working in a bipartisan manner to see this legislation, as well as Coast Guard authorization, pipeline safety, water resources legislation and, most recently, a FEMA reform bill discussion draft that we released last week, and working to get all those things over the finish line this Congress.
Including a wide range of perspectives is essential to ensuring the work of this Committee meets the needs of people from across the country.
Making sure Members can directly advocate for their districts is an important part of this process.
Thank you to all the Members who have made time to come before the Committee today. I am eager to hear your testimony.