[Davis Democrats] Voluntary action opportunity: Put Americans Back to Work Rebuilding our Roads and Bridges-from U.S. Congressman Mike Thomson

[John Chendo]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Congressman Mike Thompson <RepMikeThompson at mail.house.gov>
Date: 24 Feb 2012 11:12:19 -0500
To: <jac07 at dcn.org>
Subject: Put Americans Back to Work Rebuilding our Roads and Bridges

     
 February, 2012 Having trouble reading this email? Click here
<http://mikethompson.house.gov/news/email/show.aspx?ID=J5OQLPXOZQPOUCAPCQMIC
NJN4I>  to view the web version.
    
  
  Dear Friend, 
 While accepting the Democratic Party¹s nomination for President in 1932,
Franklin D. Roosevelt pledged to our nation and himself a New Deal for the
American People. At the time, America was facing some of the Great
Depression¹s darkest days. Infrastructure investments were the centerpiece
of the New Deal because these investments were one of the strongest jump
starts for a struggling economy. Americans from all corners of our country
were put to work modernizing our roads and bridges.
 
 Nearly 80 years later, our nation is once again faced with high
unemployment and slow economic growth. And once again we need bold
investments to rebuild our nation¹s crumbling infrastructure. The best way
to get our economy moving again is to put Americans back to work fixing our
roads, schools and bridges.
 
 This isn¹t a Republican priority or a Democratic Priority, it¹s an American
priority. As House Majority Leader Eric Cantor recently said, job creation
is the most important priority facing our country as a whole. However, the
Republican led House has kicked the can down the road, not once, but twice
in the last year, refusing to pass long-term legislation that will fund
transportation projects ­ instead passing very short-term extensions.
 
 Now that a vote is expected on long-term legislation that would fund
surface transportation projects, the Majority¹s bill is filled with poison
pills. The bill halts funding for high-speed passenger rail projects. It
opens up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska for oil
drilling. It ends important competitive grant funding for road improvements,
port upgrades, bridge maintenance and light rail. It defunds bike and
pedestrian projects. It ends funding that is used to build safer routes to
schools. And it would allow for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline
though an environmentally sensitive area before environmental reviews are
complete. 
 
 Our national infrastructure earns a grade of D from the American Society of
Civil Engineers. We cannot keep playing games while jobs and infrastructure
are at stake. We must pass a bill that is free of these poison pills so we
can get construction projects moving and put folks back to work. We did this
in 2005 by an overwhelming vote of 412-8. Now it is time to come together
and do it again. 
 
 According to the American Crisis in Transportation Coalition for every $1
billion invested in transportation, more than 30,000 jobs are created. A
transportation bill free of poison pills would invest more than $300 billion
in our roads and bridges, meaning we could create more than nine million
jobs. 
 
 By that estimation, our local communities will feel the positive economic
impact of a bi-partisan transportation bill. In Solano County, by updating
the I-80/680/12 interchange, we can create 1,350 jobs. In Lake County,
improvements to Highway 29 would create 900 jobs.  In Napa County, updating
the 1st Street/SR-29 intersection would create more than 500 jobs. In Sonoma
County, US Route 101 widening and bridge maintenance would create more than
9,000 jobs. And in Mendocino County, finishing the second phase of the
Willits Bypass would create more than 1,800 jobs.
 
 Hard working families across our district are looking for a fair shake.
They want jobs. They want to get to work. And they want to know that if they
work hard and play by the rules, then they will be able to put food on the
table and gas in their car, make their mortgage payment, send their kids to
college and save for retirement.
 
 When FDR accepted the presidential nomination in 1932, folks across our
county knew that making this fair shake a reality meant committing to shared
responsibility ­ if we shared in the responsibility of building a great
nation then we would share in the success of a great nation.
 
 We made that commitment then. I know we can do it again.
 
 It¹s time to put partisanship aside and work across the aisle to make that
fair shake a reality. No more poison pills. We need to get America working
again for the folks who work for a living ­ and creating jobs by rebuilding
our schools, roads and bridges is the best way to make that happen.
 
 Sincerely,
   
     Mike Thompson
 Member of Congress
 

 
     
  
------ End of Forwarded Message