The INVEST in America Act would invest $715 billion to rebuild and re-imagine America’s surface transportation and water infrastructure while boosting American manufacturing and creating millions of jobs. The plan, which helps meet the president’s vision as laid out in the American Jobs Plan, will be carried out by American workers and American ingenuity, thanks to strong Buy America requirements and labor protections, including Davis-Bacon wages. By rebuilding our country with materials made in America, we can create and sustain millions of jobs that cannot be exported—not only in construction, but also in engineering and clean tech manufacturing.

By strengthening manufacturing and creating good-paying jobs, the bill will position the U.S. to compete globally. The alternative is to risk falling further behind other countries. In the 1950s, America’s infrastructure was the envy of the world. More than 70 years later, due to decades of underinvestment at the federal level, the U.S. doesn’t even crack the Top 10 when it comes to the way we move people and goods. That’s left the U.S. in the position of trying to run a 21st century economy on 20th century—and in some places 19th century— infrastructure.

That’s not just bad for the American people who pay in time, money, and safety for poor infrastructure, but also businesses. Farmers, small businesses, and online retailers all need modern roads, bridges, railways, and ports to operate efficiently. Every time you see a truck stuck in traffic or ships backed up at a port, that’s bad news for our economy. The INVEST in America Act does just what it says—it invests in America and puts our nation back on track to have world-class infrastructure once again.