Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of these en bloc amendments, which includes a bipartisan amendment that I filed with Representative Gallagher of Wisconsin.

Our amendment combats old practices like the performance metric now known as ``level of service'' that provides faster, wider roads with more lanes, rather than a holistic analysis that takes into account increased traffic, induced demand, or alternatives like bike and transit access.

Our amendment improves the existing travel demand study included in H.R. 2 to examine ways we can prevent new projects from inadvertently increasing traffic volume, time, or congestion, all of which are bad for drivers and bad for the environment.

We can and must make smarter investments by using current data and best practices, and that is what this bipartisan amendment is all about.

It is endorsed by Transportation for America, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and the League of Conservation Voters.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this en bloc.

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I give a special thanks to Chair Waters for helping advance this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this en bloc which includes an amendment that I filed with Congresswoman Pressley of Massachusetts, amendment 343, directing the department of Housing and Urban Development to find lead pipes in our Nation's public and federally assisted housing and provide grants to remove them.

Frankly, it is a scandal that we have to bring this legislation to the House floor in 2020, but we do. Chicago has more lead pipes than any other city in the U.S. More than 350,000 homes in my city have lead service lines.

But the problem is nationwide. According to the National Housing Law Project, over 90,000 children nationwide in the Housing Choice Vouchers program have lead poisoning, while another 340,000 living in federally subsidized housing are at risk. These are children.

By now the dangers of lead poisoning are well-known. A 2015 study determined that children in Chicago with lead in their blood were more than 32 percent likely to fail standardized tests by the third grade.

We must remember, removing lead pipes is a racial justice issue.

White flight to the suburbs left some of our oldest municipalities strapped for cash. Most jurisdictions require property owners to pay for the replacement of lead pipes on their own property, and the burden falls heavily on working class Black and Brown communities like mine.

After decades of disinvestment, our Nation's public housing authorities simply do not have the resources to get rid of lead pipes fast enough. It is past time for Congress to act to keep families in this country safe and healthy in their homes. Housing is infrastructure, and I believe that this amendment is an important part of H.R. 2.

I would like to thank Congresswoman Pressley for joining me in offering this amendment, as well as supporting organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Housing Trust.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this en bloc.

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