Dear Representative:
On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I strongly urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 2, the INVEST in America Act, as it is considered today in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Chairman DeFazio, Chairman Norton, and Chairman Lipinski have demonstrated clear leadership in meeting our infrastructure needs; providing unprecedented funding for highways, transit, and rail. By providing funding levels that finally meet the demands placed on our transportation network, Congress can help move commuters safely, affordably, and efficiently, and can create communities where families want to live and businesses want to invest. What’s more, Chairman DeFazio has shown much-needed leadership in standing up for the working people who design, build, operate, and maintain that infrastructure; ensuring their safety on the job and ensuring job security for those who help move this country’s economy.
As you know, more than 300 amendments have been filed in committee. While many of these amendments, offered by both Democrats and Republicans, offer much-needed perspectives and make positive improvements to the INVEST Act, we strongly urge you to reject amendments that would undermine the safety and pro-worker provisions included in the base bill. Efforts to weaken or eliminate labor protections, Buy America rules, worker safety mandates; or other amendments that would harm the job security of America’s public transit, rail, and commercial motor vehicle workers; have no place in this bill. If we truly want investments in 21st century infrastructure, there can be no room for such short-sighted efforts.
The INVEST in America Act deserves your strong support and we urge Members of the Committee to approve this legislation that prioritizes the needs of so many frontline transportation workers and makes long-overdue investments in our surface transportation system. If you have any questions about this bill or amendments that are considered, please contact me directly or Matthew Colvin, TTD’s Senior Legislative Representative, at matthewc@ttd.org.
Sincerely,
Larry I. Willis
President