Ranking Member Quigley Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2025 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Funding Bill
Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Ranking Member of the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's markup of the fiscal year 2025 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill:
Thank you, Chairman. We had a strong bipartisan partnership during our time together as Chair and Ranking Member on the FSGG subcommittee.
I have enjoyed working with you and appreciate your leadership as we now work together to tackle the nation’s transportation and housing needs.
Throughout America, people are concerned about homelessness and the economy. Nearly every district is faced with a rise in the number of people living on the streets and in shelters, as families are forced to earn more money just to keep pace with the cost of housing.
Travel to and from work or school is often met with congestion on our roads, delays at airports, or bottlenecks at train stations. These slow not only our ability to get from point A to point B, but the efficiency that keeps our economy moving and growing.
But the work of this subcommittee can improve the day-to-day lives of every person in our country. Whether investing in new technologies to advance the movement of people and goods from one place to another, or expanding innovation in housing, this bill has the ability to transform communities.
Unfortunately, in its current form, this bill falls short of making this a reality in some of our communities who need it the most.
While this bill would advance the safety of our airports and skies, expand community development in Tribal communities, and support community-led project funding for both sides of the aisle -- it would also undercut necessary investments for Amtrak and transit projects with shovels already in the ground, push tens of thousands of low-income families out of stable housing, slow new housing construction, and ignore the impacts of climate change.
To make matters worse, there are the several controversial policy riders that unnecessarily attack high speed rail, roll back transportation safety, and weaken civil rights protections for most Americans.
As the Committee that holds the power of the purse, Members in this room know how government can work across jurisdictional and party lines to find balanced and measured approaches that meet the needs of the American people.
To quote Toby Ziegler: “Government, no matter what its failures in the past and in times to come for that matter, can be a place where people come together and where no one gets left behind.” Appropriators know this.
As we learned from our bipartisan visit to the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge after the collapse, local infrastructure has regional and national importance. The shipment of goods, whether transported by water, rail, or road from Baltimore to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and beyond shows us that an investment in one district may be the lifeline for another district’s economy.
As Baltimore and the rest of the country recover from the impacts of this tragic incident, we should be showing the American people and the rest of the world, that the folks here in Washington support all communities - rural and urban, large and small, young and old. And that we are not only able, but are willing to invest in our communities so that they can withstand the test of time or disaster.
Mr. Chairman, I understand the challenges ahead of you and trust your ability to govern. I believe that in the end, we can come to a compromise on a final product that addresses the concerns I have raised.
However, in its current state, I respectfully cannot support this bill. Thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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