January 19, 2005

Senator Reid's Speech to the 73rd Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors

Remarks of Senator Harry Reid

(As Prepared for Delivery) When I agreed to speak here today, I was given a list of topics that you wanted to discuss. At the top of the list was “infrastructure investment.” With most people, when you say the word “infrastructure,” their eyes glaze over – and I understand why. So I’m thrilled today to be here -- with the only other people on the planet whose idea of a fascinating conversation is talking about sewer systems. During lunch. I am happy to be here today, and I appreciate the chance to talk to all of you. I’m especially happy to see my friend, “The Happiest Mayor on Earth,” Oscar Goodman of Las Vegas. Oscar and I go back many years, and he’s done so many great things for Las Vegas – he is without reservation Las Vegas’s best mayor. And seriously, I am happy to talk about infrastructure investment. It might not be the most glamorous topic, but as you know, it’s one of the most important. Infrastructure is – both literally and figuratively – the cornerstone on which America is built. We will never accomplish any of our loftier goals if we don’t take care of our most basic needs. • We will never develop a cure for cancer if our researchers can’t turn on the lights in their laboratories. • We will never have true equality for all citizens, unless all citizens have equal access to state-of-the-art communications -- and the education and job opportunities they bring. • And we’ll never learn the mysteries of outer space if our scientists can’t get to work because our roads are too crowded. James Davis, the Executive Director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said, “As a nation, we have taken for granted that our lights will turn on, our roads and bridges won’t crumble beneath us, and that we’ll have clean and safe water when we’re thirsty.” He’s right – we have taken it for granted far too long. Our national infrastructure has been neglected, and now it’s crumbling. Our roads are in a state of disrepair, our airports are overcrowded, our schools are decaying, and our overburdened water and sewer systems are in danger of failing. A crumbling infrastructure is a problem that affects all Americans: in cities and small towns, on the coasts and in the Midwest, in the red states and the blue states. For instance – I helped get some federal funding for the small town of Fallon, Nevada to build a water treatment plant. Fallon has extremely high levels of naturally-occurring arsenic in its water. Fallon is also the site of a cancer cluster – 16 children developed leukemia in five years, and three of them have died. We don’t know how arsenic is linked to those cases, but we know it’s a serious health hazard. We need to get arsenic out of Fallon’s drinking water. Three thousand miles away, in Washington, D.C., people are worried about unusually high levels of lead in the drinking water. Lead is also a serious health hazard -- it causes developmental problems in children. On the surface, you might not think that Washington D.C. and Fallon, Nevada have much in common, but they do -- they both need better water treatment facilities, as do many other towns and cities throughout America. We need to improve our water systems -- and our sewer systems, our flood control systems, our roads, our bridges, our dams, and our airports. In Nevada, for instance – and this is just a small list of what we need to do: • We need to finish the Las Vegas Beltway and its interchanges. Las Vegas has rapid growth – and rapidly growing traffic problems. We’ve gotten some funding, but it has been a slow, arduous process. We could solve our traffic problems quickly if we had more construction funding. • In Reno and Sparks, 450 miles away, we now have a record snow pack. People are praying for the snow to melt very slowly, so we don’t get catastrophic flooding like we had in 1998. We could prevent a disaster with better flood control facilities, but we don’t have the money. • We have the opposite problem in the Las Vegas area, where a severe drought has caused water levels to drop in Lake Mead. We’ll soon need a new water intake pipe, because the current pipes will be exposed. We’ll also need a new waste water system. Those two projects will cost about $1.75 billion. We don’t have that money. We need that money. Those are just three examples from my state. Every lawmaker in Washington can tell you about similar infrastructure needs in their states. This is an example where lawmakers would work together, in a bipartisan fashion, for the benefit of all. Last year the Senate passed a bill to reauthorize TEA-21 -- the Highway Bill -- and improve our transportation systems around the country. Unfortunately, President Bush – even though the legislation didn’t raise the debt one penny – refused to let us move the legislation out of Congress, even though it passed the Senate with almost 90 votes. Democrats were disappointed. The budget for the reauthorization of the Highway Bill comes from a trust fund set up for the purpose, and these transportation projects are desperately needed. It would be irresponsible not to work in a bipartisan manner to pass a highway bill early this year. We also must pass legislation to extend Terrorism Risk Insurance, which is vitally important to our cities. Construction projects in urban areas will suffer if builders find it’s too expensive – or in some instances impossible – to get property insurance. Fear of a terrorist attack could hurt businesses, and our overall economy – even if no attack happens. And I have another plan to address our problems with crumbling infrastructure. In 2001, I proposed an “American Marshall Plan” – some of you may have heard me talk about it before. It’s a comprehensive plan to invest in our cities and rebuild the systems that have supported us for so long. Unfortunately, I introduced my plan a few months before the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Prior to 9/11 we received support from you – and other state and local governments – but the tragedy of 9/11 occurred and the legislation had to be put on the shelf. Congress needed to address urgent security issues, so we couldn’t focus on investing in our cities. But now we should take the legislation off the shelf. Thus, the legislation will be reintroduced this year. In addition to traditional projects, my plan will provide tax incentives to expand our high-tech infrastructure – like extending internet access to inner-city neighborhoods. We need high-tech services if we’re going to bring businesses into neglected areas of our cities, and to rural America. Investing in our cities will be money well spent. Infrastructure projects contribute to the overall economy and cut other government costs. Keep in mind, for every one billion dollars we spend to build a new highway, we create 47,500 new jobs – good, high-paying, private jobs. That’s 47,500 Americans who will be collecting a paycheck instead of an unemployment check. These Americans will then pay taxes, and buy houses, and go shopping. They’ll pay for goods and services that will support other businesses and, in turn, create more jobs. At the same time, we’ll be doing work that needs to be done, and reducing the costly problems caused by an inadequate infrastructure. I understand that we have a ballooning federal deficit. But “investing” is different than “spending.” Wise investments are always prudent. Democrats believe that investing in our cities, investing in our infrastructure, will save us money. In addition to infrastructure projects, there are two other areas where we should invest in our cities: homeland security, and supporting affordable housing. I know homeland security is a big concern for mayors. You have a responsibility for keeping your citizens safe, you have orders from the federal government to keep your citizens safe – but you don’t have the funding you need to keep your citizens safe. In my opinion, two of the ugliest words in the English language are “unfunded mandate.” When the federal government doesn’t do its part, you – our mayors – are left with the bill, and the blame. It’s an unfortunate trend with this Administration – from sticking you with the costs for mandatory education reforms under the No Child Left Behind Act, to leaving you with expensive bills for homeland security. The Bush Administration takes credit for “solving” various problems when, in fact, they have only passed the buck to you. Individual cities cannot be expected to fight the war on terror alone – we must do it together. We must make sure that each city has the funding it needs for homeland security. It is simply not right to hold out the promise of federal funds without delivering. More seriously, it could cause a gap in the safety net that could endanger every one of us. We also need to address our skyrocketing housing prices in America. In many areas, the very people who support our cities – police officers, firefighters, teachers, and nurses – can’t afford to live there. That’s because, all around the country, housing prices are rising faster than incomes. • Housing prices rose 13-percent last year in Phoenix • 8-percent in Minneapolis-St. Paul • 15-percent in Manhattan • 17-percent in Baltimore • 22-percent in the greater Washington, D.C. area • In my home state of Nevada, the median price of a new home in Las Vegas rose 37-percent in one year. • And right now, less than one in five California families can afford a median-priced home in that state. Rising housing prices are good news for those who already own a home. But they are very bad news for young, first-time home buyers – and there are no signs that prices will fall in the near future. The American Dream is slipping further away for our young families, especially young families in our cities. Housing should not be a major economic set of brakes for middle-class Americans. We need to invest in middle-income housing. If we want thriving cities in the future, we need young families to plant roots today. Of course, if housing is a crisis for the middle class, it’s an even bigger problem for low-income Americans. That’s why I was so disappointed to learn that President Bush plans to slash the HUD budget – including the Community Development Block Grants that you have used so successfully. Cities have used these federal grants for low-income housing, but also for day-care centers, recreations centers, and other facilities that have revitalized our cities and offered our most vulnerable citizens an opportunity to taste the fruits of our society. Democrats will fight these short-sighted budget axes. We’ll work to protect these Community Development Block Grants. There is another problem facing American homeowners. Again, it’s an especially big problem in Nevada: sharp increases in property taxes. I hear horror stories from my constituents. They say their property taxes are increasing by hundreds or thousands of dollars a year – and their income is static. They don’t know how they’ll pay the difference, and I don’t have an answer for them. But I do know that the White House and Congress are partly to blame. We slashed federal funding to finance the President’s tax cuts, and we saddled you – our towns and cities -- with unfunded mandates, leaving you with no choice but to hike local taxes. Our popular federal income tax cuts have become your unpopular property tax hikes, state income tax hikes, and sales tax hikes. Shuffling taxes to different government entities is no help for the average American family’s budget. Real tax reform is not about making one branch of government look good at another’s expense. It’s about lowering overall taxes after making sure that our expenses are covered. I want to say a few words about Social Security. We’re facing a huge battle in the federal government over social security reform, and that battle will affect every Americans. I believe Social Security is America’s promise to those who work hard and play by the rules. But I believe the President intends to break that promise. He’s pushing a privatization plan that will cut seniors’ benefits nearly in half – and he’s doing it by fabricating a social security “crisis” that doesn’t exist. Social security is NOT about to go bankrupt. If we do nothing, seniors will get 100-percent of their social security benefits until the year 2055. We need to fine-tune the program, so those who retire more than 50 years from now also get their full benefits. But we don’t need to take these drastic steps. THERE IS NOT A CRISIS. In a nation facing real, serious problems – yes, even real crises -- in health care, education, energy, the environment -- it’s unconscionable that the President has created a fictional “crisis” just to further his agenda. Democrats will fight any efforts to dismantle social security – the most successful social program in the history of the world. (PAUSE) Right now, America is engaged in a noble effort to rebuild towns and cities that were devastated by the tsunami. We’re engaged in a very expensive, but different, effort to rebuild Baghdad and other cities in Iraq. Infrastructure investment – like charity – should begin at home. Like charity, it should not end there. We need to rebuild our home front, so we can continue being a leader around the world. For that, we look to you. Mayors know their cities better than anyone else, and have some of the most innovative solutions to the problems facing us. Those of us in the federal government need your expertise, and we look forward to working with you to build a stronger America. **********

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