March 11, 2004

WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom Petri didn't get precisely the answer he was looking for Thursday when he questioned Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan at a congressional hearing.

As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines, Petri has been traveling the country in recent months to highlight the importance of efficient transportation for a growing economy. As Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Petri asked Greenspan if higher investment in both education and transportation might help to reduce the deficit in the long run by promoting faster economic growth.

"I think education is probably more important than infrastructure if I were to have to choose between the two. I trust that that does not occur," Greenspan replied. "But this is an increasingly idea-related economy, and there are less physical things involved in the value added that we are involved in. So I would put education at the top."

Afterward, Petri remarked that education should be at the top and that the budget deficit is a major problem, but added, "For the sake of our economy and the good things that come from having a strong economy, we need to invest in education and also in highways and other infrastructure in order to get supplies to factories, goods to markets, and workers to their jobs. Of course we need to fight waste, fraud and abuse everywhere we possibly can, but some kinds of spending are pro-growth rather than being a drag on the economy, even if we do have deficits."