CONTACTS: John Reid/Karen Gaither
(202) 463-5682 / 888-249-NEWS

 

Friday, August 10, 2007

 

 

IRVING, Texas—In a major address, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue condemned the current condition of the nation’s transportation, energy, and water systems and announced a new initiative to spur hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investments.

“We’re rapidly running out of capacity, and it’s already costing us jobs, productivity, competitiveness, mobility, and most tragically, innocent American lives,” said Donohue, who delivered a keynote address at the Transportation 2007 Summit. “We must begin now to build a modern and safe infrastructure system. The business community must lead the way to make this happen.”

 

Donohue announced that the Chamber would organize, fund, and lead a new, multimillion-dollar initiative called “Let’s Rebuild America.” The four key goals of the Chamber’s plan include: (1) documenting the problem with solid research, including state-by-state infrastructure report cards; (2) educating citizens and policymakers about the benefits of infrastructure and the cost of failure; (3) unlocking pent-up private investment by removing legal and regulatory impediments; and (4) boosting public investment through congressional reauthorizations and public-private partnerships and stopping the diversion of infrastructure funds to other programs. An increase in the federal gasoline user fee—which has not been raised in 14 years even as construction costs have soared—should be examined along with other financing options.

 

“We can create American jobs, reduce congestion, clean the air, succeed in a global economy, and save thousands of innocent lives by expanding both private and public investment in our infrastructure,” said Donohue. “The benefits are great. The price of failure is high. We are going to make sure that the American people hear that message over and over again and hold their elected officials accountable.”

 

The U.S. Chamber is the world’s largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

 

The speech can be viewed by clicking here.

 

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