United States Senators Tender

Bill Passed by EPW Committee Includes Bridge Investment Act Introduced by Brown Inhofe Wyden Wicker Whitehouse Capito Van Hollen Portman and Markey to Provide Significant Federal Investment in Bridge Repair Apply Buy America Provisions to ProjectsU.S. Senators Sherrod Brown D-OH Jim Inhofe R-OK Ron Wyden D-OR Roger Wicker R-MS Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI Shelley Moore Capito R-WV Chris Van Hollen D-MD Rob Portman R-OH and Ed Markey D-MA secured their Bridge Investment Act in the Environment and Public Works EPW Committee Highway package that passed the Committee. The EPW package includes 3.265 billion to fund the Senators bipartisan bridge bill which establishes a competitive grant program to assist the repair and replacement of deficient and outdated bridges and ease the national bridge repair backlog. The program requires all projects funded by the grants to use American-made steel and iron. In addition to the 3.265 billion provided to fund the grant program initially the bill authorizes an additional 3.265 billion that could be provided to fund the new bridge program in the future. The Bridge Investment Act passed the EPW Committee as part of a highway package that will be combined into a larger surface transportation bill.A report in April found that the pace of bridge repair has slowed despite the fact that more than 47000 bridges in the U.S. are structurally deficient and in need of urgent repairs. The report released by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association estimates it would take more than 80 years to repair the thousands of structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. at the current pace.Rebuilding bridges across the U.S. will create new jobs and make our country more competitive said Brown who serves as Ranking Member on the Senate Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Ohio has more than 6000 bridges that need structural repairs or other updates to make them safer and reduce congestion. But states and cities cant do it alone they need real investment to help fix these outdated bridges that clog up our roads and leave drivers at greater risk of an accident.Bridges are a key part of Americas highway system and need to be a priority as we rebuild our nations infrastructure said Inhofe a member and former chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Oklahomans know how important investing in bridges isat one point our state was in the top five for number of structurally-deficient bridges. Because of my provision in the FAST ACT we made bridge repairs and replacement a priority and now we are a leader in having the fewest number of structurally deficient highway system bridges. Yet more work remains on hundreds of bridges in Oklahoma and we must stay focused on the investment strategy we created. Im proud the Committee has included the Bridge Investment Act in todays highway package to give states the tools to address bridge repairs quickly.All across Oregon I hear concerns from Oregonians about our nations crumbling infrastructure. With over half of the bridges in Oregon being more than half a century old our state is particularly vulnerablesaid Wyden who serves as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. The Bridge Investment Act will provide a critical boost of funding to improve safety and promote economic growth. I look forward to a speedy passage of the Senate highway bill package so we can get to work helping to improve Oregons infrastructure.Many of Mississippis bridges were built decades ago and are in need of major repairs. This problem also exists across the nation. I sponsored the Bridge Investment Act to provide support for rebuilding and repairing structurally-deficient bridges. With a competitive federal grant program specifically designed for bridges states like Mississippi would be able to access much-needed resources to complete these capital-intensive projects said Wicker who serves as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.In Rhode Island and around the country we have thousands of important bridge projects ready to create jobs and boost the economy. Lets do them said Whitehouse who is a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Thats why Im proud to announce that weve successfully included the Bipartisan Bridge Investment Act in this years Senate highway bill package. This funding will address the backlog of local bridge repairs while creating jobs for Rhode Islanders.West Virginia has more than its fair share of structurally deficient bridges something I aim to change through Americas Transportation Infrastructure Act said Senator Capito Chairman of the EPW Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee. The Bridge Investment Act which we were able to secure in our broader surface transportation bill will infuse 6 billion in additional funding to fix bridges in West Virginia and across the country dedicated funding that is essential to addressing the problem. This measure will help ensure our bridges are more reliable and accessibleimproving the safety and mobility of West Virginians and others across the country.People in Maryland and across the country depend on our roads and bridges every single day but far too many of them are in disrepair. In fact our nations infrastructure gets a grade of D from the American Society of Civil Engineers. This legislation will get more funding into the pipeline to address this problem. And for the first time in a long time it will provide federal funding specifically for bridge repairs and rehabilitation projects meeting a need that I hear about from local leaders on a constant basis said Senator Chris Van Hollen.