Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Clinton Annouces Plan To "Rebuild America"

Today in Rochester, Hillary Clinton laid out a plan titled "Rebuild America Plan for a 21st Century Infrastructure." In the speech Clinton said, "Something is very, very wrong when, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, in the richest country on earth, people are actually nervous about driving over bridges for fear that they’ll collapse. Or they’re worried that their levees may burst, or their highways may buckle. And let’s be clear: the degradation of our infrastructure isn’t just a serious threat to our safety – it is also a grave threat to our economy."

Clinton's plan includes establishing a $10 billion “Emergency Repair Fund” to address the backlog of critical infrastructure repairs and providing states with $250 million to conduct safety reviews of high-priority infrastructure areas. The New York Senator would also like too:

-Increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year
-Invest an additional $1 billion in intercity passenger rail systems
-Increase the budget for the Department of Transportation’s congestion reduction programs by approximately 50% to $600 million annually