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WYDEN’S ‘BUILD AMERICA BONDS’
WOULD
EASE TRANSPORTATION BUDGET CRUNCH
Bipartisan initiative introduced today
would let Americans invest in transportation projects; $30 billion
in bonds would fund new construction and create jobs
February 17, 2005
Washington, DC – U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced the bipartisan Build
America Bonds proposal with U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.). This
major transportation construction initiative has the potential
to create nearly 1.5 million new jobs, generate $171 billion in
economic activity and save thousands of lives by improving transportation
safety. Wyden and Talent were able to include a similar proposal
in the Senate highway bill last year, and are working with bipartisan
cosponsors including U.S. Senators Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), Mark
Dayton (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.)
to see this legislation’s passage by the full Congress.
Build America Bonds would provide
$30 billion in additional Federal transportation funding. This
one-time federal bonding program can empower cash-strapped states
like Oregon to complete critical infrastructure projects. These
funds would be in addition to the dollars states receive through
the transportation bill Congress writes every six years.
“The Build America Bonds
proposal looks beyond the bleak budget headlines and taps the
big potential of bonds to create more than a million jobs and
improve our country’s transportation system at the same
time,” said Wyden. “Oregon alone would see thousands
of new jobs and have access to at least $150 million in new transportation
construction funds – if the Federal government will just
use bonds to pay for critical infrastructure projects in the way
businesses, states and local governments do now.”
Thirty-year Build America Bonds
would be available to corporate and individual investors for purchase
in different denominations, so that all Americans can have the
opportunity to support upgrading America’s transportation
infrastructure.
For every $1 billion invested
in federal highway and transit infrastructure, an estimated 47,500
jobs are created. For every $1 billion invested in federal transportation
infrastructure, an estimated $5.7 billion in economic activity
is generated. In addition to creating jobs and economic activity,
the $30 billion infusion of cash from Build America Bonds can
be applied to projects on all modes of transportation including
roads, rail and transit.
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