The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Infrastructure (Executive Session)” mentioning Bill Cassidy was published in the Senate section on page S5124 on July 28.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Infrastructure
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I have good news for the people of Louisiana and good news for the American people: We have an agreement on an infrastructure package.
Now, OK, an ``infrastructure package''; what does that mean? Let's just talk.
There will be $110 billion for roads and bridges nationwide--$40 billion for bridges. By the way, Louisiana has the third most bridges in poor condition. So, if you are stuck right now in traffic trying to get over the Sabine River or the Calcasieu River or the Mississippi River or any of our other rivers which have bridges in poor condition, there is relief for you. There is $47 billion for resiliency.
Now, my State is flooded more than other States, but every State, it seems, has had an issue with flooding. There is $47 billion; a significant portion of it is for flooding issues, for coastal restoration, and other things regarding resiliency.
There is permitting reform. Right now, we know it can take 6 to 10 years for a bridge project--an Army Corps of Engineers project--to be permitted. Sometimes it takes so long to permit that the facts on the ground have actually changed, and the permit almost is inaccurate. In building upon pilot projects which have shown that permitting can be shortened from 6 years to 2 years, this infrastructure package has that permitting reform. There will be less money for bureaucrats and attorneys, and there will be more money for construction--what a major advance.
By the way, some people have confused this bill with the $3.5 trillion Democratic tax-and-spend extravaganza. They are two different bills. This bill is for roads and bridges and broadband and resiliency and flood control and coastal restoration. The other is for who knows what.
This bill, the infrastructure bill, has been judged by economists as to not contribute to inflation. The $3.5 trillion bill, obviously, is going to make the inflation we have now worse. The bill we have does not raise taxes. The $3.5 trillion bill is estimated to raise hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes.
One bill I love; the other bill I hate. The infrastructure bill that is going to shorten someone's commute time across a bridge, to make their home less likely to flood, to extend broadband to areas of our country which are not served at all or are poorly served is the bill I love, and I think that it is the bill that the American people desperately need.
Let me conclude by saying, again, if you are stuck in bridge traffic in my State or in any other State right now, wondering why this bridge in poor condition can't get fixed, help is on its way. If you are in a place in our country, but particularly in my State, which has either flooded or is at risk of flooding or if you live near a coastline, and that beachfront, which 30 years ago when you bought that home was hundreds of feet out and now waves are lapping up on the road in front of your house and coastal erosion has endangered your property and your life savings, help is on its way. If you have seen an initiative to build a bridge but have been so frustrated that it has taken so long to get the permits, that is about to change. This is legislation--
bipartisan, paid for--that will address all of those issues.
I conclude the way I started.
We have good news. There is a bipartisan infrastructure bill that begins to address the needs of the American people--to create jobs, to take away frustrations, and to provide more security--that all Americans should support.
I yield the floor.
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