Published by the Federal Bar
Association Transportation and
Transportation Security Law Section
Bernard F. Diederich,
Special Edition Editor
Special Edition Fall 2016
TransLaw
The Presidential Candidates on Transportation and Related Matters
by Bern Diederich
Every four years, TransLaw asks the presidential candidates for their positions on key transportation matters, not always
fully covered in the main stream media. The Clinton and Trump Campaigns have provided us with the following statements. We publish them for the benefit of our members as well as the general public.
Federal actions and policies on transportation matters affect everyone. Their importance cannot be overstated. Almost
16% of US jobs are either in transportation or transportation related. Transportation accounts for 20% of the spending by
the average household and contributes toward 11% of the Nation’s gross domestic product.*
We present these positions of the presidential candidates for your information and decision-making on these critical
subjects. v
The views expressed herein do not represent the views of the Federal Bar Association, the Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section, or any federal agency
or employee.
*From latest figures reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Hillary Clinton’s Infrastructure Plan:
Building Tomorrow’s Economy Today
provided by the Clinton-Kane Campaign
An ‘America’s Infrastructure First’ Plan
provided by the Trump-Pence Campaign
In America, we build
great things together.
President
Lincoln’s
transcontinental railroad
fueled the growth of a
nation and a continent.
President Eisenhower’s
interstate highway system drove the rise of the
strongest middle class
in history. President
Roosevelt helped to
build the Hoover Dam
and power the rise of the
American Southwest. For
nearly two centuries, our
great public works have transformed the American landscape and opened up new markets. They have connected
Americans to jobs, to schools, and to one another. They
have paved the way to U.S. prosperity—sometimes literally.
Today, however, we are dramatically underinvesting
in our future. As a share of the economy, federal infrastructure investment is roughly half of what it was thirtyfive years ago. Estimates of the size of our “infrastructure
gap” register in the trillions of dollars.1 Workers can’t get
A key part of Donald
Trump’s economic plan
is to "put America's infrastructure first again."
This starts with ending the Obama-Clinton
globalization agenda of
the last 8 years. Instead
of rebuilding other
countries, the TrumpPence plan targets $1
trillion in new infrastructure investment
here at home, which
will go toward solving
America's transportation, drinking water, and other vital infrastructure needs.
Our deficit-neutral plan focuses on public-private partnerships, proven financing programs, and new infrastructure tax credits, combined with support for existing
programs that work. To make this infrastructure plan
a reality, Mr. Trump and Gov. Pence look forward to
working with leaders in Congress, including two of our
key supporters: Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of
the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), currently the chairman of
CLINTON continued on page 3
TRUMP continued on page 11
2TransLaw
Special Edition 2016
Who’s Who
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
OF TRANSPORTATION
Anthony Foxx
Secretary of Transportation
FEDERAL HIGHWAY
ADMINISTRATION
Gregory Nadeau
Acting Administrator
Thomas Echikson
Chief Counsel
Victor Mendez
Deputy Secretary of
Transportation
FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER
SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
T.F. Scott Darling III
Acting Administrator
Blair Anderson
Under Secretary for Policy
Gilberto de Jesus
Chief Counsel
Shoshana Lew
Chief Financial Officer and
Assistant Secretary for Budget
and Programs
FEDERAL RAILROAD
ADMINISTRATION
Sarah Feinberg
Administrator
Gregory Winfree
Assistant Secretary for
Research and Technology
Amit Bose
Chief Counsel
Dana Gresham
Assistant Secretary for
Governmental Affairs
OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT
SECRETARY FOR AVIATION
AND INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Jenny Rosenberg
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Susan McDermott
Deputy Assistant Secretary
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL
COUNSEL
Molly J. Moran
Acting General Counsel
Judith Kaleta
Deputy General Counsel
FEDERAL AVIATION
ADMINISTRATION
Michael Huerta
Administrator
Reginald Govan
Chief Counsel
FEDERAL TRANSIT
ADMINISTRATION
Carolyn Flowers
Acting Administrator
Ellen Partridge
Chief Counsel
MARITIME
ADMINISTRATION
Paul Jaenichen, Sr.
Maritime Administrator
David Tubman
Chief Counsel
NATIONAL HIGHWAY
TRAFFIC SAFETY
ADMINISTRATION
Mark Rosekind
Administrator
Paul Hemmersbaugh
Chief Counsel
PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS
MATERIALS SAFETY
ADMINISTRATION
Marie Therese Dominguez
Administrator
Teresa Gonsalves
Chief Counsel
SAINT LAWRENCE
SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION
Betty Sutton
Administrator
Carrie Mann Lavigne
Chief Counsel
Transportation and
Transportation
Security Law Section
Leadership
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR
GENERAL
Calvin Scovel III
Inspector General
CHAIR
Kathryn Gainey
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Omer Poirier
Chief Counsel
CHAIR-ELECT
Lisa A. Harig
Stinson Leonard Street,
LLP
SURFACE
TRANSPORTATION BOARD
Daniel R. Elliot III
Acting Chairman
Deb Miller
Vice Chairman
Craig Keats
General Counsel
TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION
Peter Neffenger
Administrator
Francine J. Kerner
Chief Counsel
NATIONAL
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY
BOARD
Christopher A. Hart
Chairman
Bella Dinh-Zarr
Vice Chairman
DEPUTY CHAIR
John C. Wood
Federal Aviation
Administration
SECRETARY
David Y. Bannard
Foley & Lardner LLP
TREASURER
Steven L. Osit
Kaplan Kirsch &
Rockwell LLP
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Samuel Negatu
U.S. House of
Representatives
David Tochen
General Counsel
TransLaw is published by the Federal
Bar Association Transportation and
Transportation Security Law Section,
ISSN No. 1069-157X.
© 2016 The Federal Bar Association.
All rights reserved. The opinions
expressed herein are solely those of the
authors unless otherwise specified.
Managing Editor: Yanissa Pérez de León
Published by the Federal Bar Association Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section
Special Edition 2016TransLaw
3
Chair’s Corner
Kathy Gainey, Chair of the Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section
The Transportation and Transportation Security Law
Section is pleased to publish a special election edition of
TransLaw. As Bern Diederich highlights, this special edition shares the infrastructure plans from the campaigns of
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I want to thank Bern
for his work in continuing the Section’s tradition of publishing a special presidential election edition of TransLaw every
four years.
In this Chair’s Corner, I want to thank Immediate Past
Chair Alice Koethe for her leadership over the past year
culminating in the Chief Counsel’s Reception on October
13, 2016. More than 75 individuals from government and
private practice gathered to honor the Section’s award
recipients. Sharon Vaughn-Fair, Assistant Chief Counsel
for the Federal Highway Administration, was recognized
as the Transportation Lawyer of the Year. Christian Jordan,
Assistant Chief Counsel Information Programs for the
Transportation Security Administration, was recognized as
the Transportation Security Lawyer of the Year. The Section
also recognized the Federal Aviation Administration’s
Unmanned Aircraft Systems team for their dedicated service in developing the legal framework for unmanned
aircraft systems in the United States. You can view photos
and a recap from the reception online at www.fedbar.org/
Sections/TTSL/Recent-Events.aspx.
I look forward to the upcoming year. I encourage our
members to be active in the Section by attending an event,
participating in a program, or authoring an article for
TransLaw. If you have a suggestion for a program or an article topic, please share it with one of the Sections’ officers. v
CLINTON continued from page 1
to work, congestion keeps parents stuck in traffic, floods
threaten our cities, and airports leave travelers stranded
for hours or even days at a time. Our small businesses,
farmers, and manufacturers face highways, waterways,
ports, and airports that make it harder for them to get their
products to customers. Meanwhile, countries like China
are racing ahead, building projects that will drive commerce and growth in the 21st century.2
American workers and businesses are the engines of
a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and growing economy—an
economy that supports good jobs with high wages. But by
failing to invest in our infrastructure, we are forcing these
engines of growth and job-creation to run on second-rate
fuel.
That’s why Hillary Clinton has announced a bold,
five-year $275 billion dollar infrastructure plan. Clinton
would increase federal infrastructure funding by $275 billion over a five-year period, fully paying for these investments through business tax reform. Of these funds, she
would allocate $250 billion to direct public investment.
She would allocate the other $25 billion to a national
infrastructure bank, dedicated to advancing our competitive advantage for the 21st century economy. The bank
would leverage its $25 billion in funds to support up to
an additional $225 billion in direct loans, loan guarantees,
and other forms of credit enhancement—meaning that
Clinton’s infrastructure plan would in total result in up to
$500 billion in federally supported investment. The bank
would also administer part of a renewed and expanded
Build American Bonds program, and would look for
opportunities to work with partners in the private sector
to get the best possible outcomes for the American people.
Clinton’s plan would create good-paying jobs today
and drive up wages in the future. According to the White
House Council of Economic Advisers, every $1 billion in
infrastructure investment creates 13,000 jobs.3 Moreover,
the vast majority of the jobs created by infrastructure
investment are good-paying, middle-class jobs5—paying
above the national median.5 And beyond creating goodpaying jobs today, infrastructure investments promise to
enhance the productivity of the American economy tomorrow6—helping to boost the incomes of working Americans
in the future.7 Every dollar of infrastructure investment
leads to an estimated $1.60 increase in GDP the following
year and twice that over the subsequent 20 years.8
Clinton’s plan would build a 21st century backbone for
a thriving 21st century economy— maintaining America’s
position as the economic superpower of the future.
Investing in our infrastructure is about so much more than
creating good-paying jobs: it’s about maintaining our status as the world’s economic superpower. That means making smart investments in ports, airports, roads, and waterways to address the key chokepoints for the movement of
goods in our economy—connecting businesses and farmers to their suppliers and customers and enhancing U.S.
competitiveness in the global economy. It means giving
all American households access to world-class broadband
and creating connected “smart cities” with infrastructure
that’s part of tomorrow’s Internet of Things. It means
building airports and air traffic control systems that set
the world standard for efficiency, reliability, and safety—
saving time, money, and energy on every trip. It means a
smart, resilient electrical grid that powers America’s clean
energy future. It means safe, smart roads and highways
that are ready for the connected cars of tomorrow and the
new energy sources that will power them. And it means
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4
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changing the way we make our infrastructure investments—so that every dollar we spend goes further.
Clinton’s plan would save families time and money,
improve quality of life, and unlock economic opportunity. Even as it positions the United States to lead the global
economy of tomorrow, Clinton’s infrastructure plan would
improve the lives of workers and families today. Our
deteriorating roads result in a hidden “pothole tax” that
takes over $500 per year out of American families’ pockets
because of extra car maintenance.9 Rush-hour commuters
waste 42 hours in traffic annually—costing them nearly
$1,000 per year in fuel and other expenses, giving them
less time to spend with their families, harming our environment, and damaging public health.10 Air travelers find
themselves delayed and stranded, as more than one in five
American flights is either delayed or cancelled altogether.11
Consumers pay more for everything from food to furniture
because of freight congestion in our highways, waterways,
and ports. And too many Americans are living in opportunity deserts—finding it difficult to get and keep a job
because getting to work means traveling for an hour or
more using unreliable, indirect transit systems.12 Clinton
will fight to make and support investments that will save
families time and money, improve their quality of life, and
unlock economic opportunity.
Clinton’s plan would combat climate change and
protect our communities. From rising sea levels to more
severe storms, heat waves, and wildfires, climate change
is already taking a toll on the nation’s infrastructure—
leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab. Already, vulnerable
communities are being disproportionately affected by
the impacts of climate change and the lack of resources
to adapt.13 Clinton will work to ensure that federal infrastructure investments are resilient to both current and
future climate risks, and she will partner with states, cities
and rural communities to develop regionally coordinated,
resilient infrastructure strategies. She will also work to
modernize our energy infrastructure; connect our farms,
businesses, and households to safe and reliable sources of
water; and upgrade our dams and levees to improve safety
and generate clean energy.
Clinton’s plan will cut red tape and enhance accountability—so that every dollar of infrastructure investment
goes further. It’s simply not enough to invest more in our
infrastructure: we need to get smarter and more efficient
about the way we make these investments. One study
found that more than three-quarters of U.S. highway projects experience cost overruns.14 And it can take up to four
times longer for large infrastructure projects to get started
in the U.S. as compared to other advanced countries like
Germany and Canada.15 Clinton would increase accountability and cut red tape, so that taxpayers get more bang
for their buck for every dollar they invest in infrastructure. She would provide more funds through merit-based
competitive grants, streamline permitting, support “multi-
Special Edition 2016
modal” projects that extend beyond a single type of transportation, build out the project pipeline, and encourage
better design and technology.16
Clinton’s plan builds on the limited efforts in
Congress’ most recent reauthorization bill. Last year,
Congress passed the FAST Act surface transportation
reauthorization bill. While these efforts are a start, they
are not nearly sufficient to meet our infrastructure needs.
Clinton’s plan would go further, dramatically growing
federal investments and laying the foundations for future
growth. And she would go beyond surface transportation investments to address our substantial infrastructure
needs in energy, water, broadband, and more.
Unlike some Republicans, Clinton believes that the
state of our infrastructure is a national problem that
requires a bold, national solution. It’s no surprise, but
the Republican
Party is placing ideology over common sense—putting forward proposals that dramatically reduce national investments in infrastructure. Unlike
Donald Trump, Clinton understands that we are a connected nation—that infrastructure investment is a national
issue that requires a bold and detailed national solution.
Ranchers in Montana rely on improvements to the Port
of Seattle to ship their beef across the world.17 Farmers
in Iowa rely on the Mississippi River and its tributaries,
using an extended network of river ports and locks to get
their crops to market.18 Businesses all over the country
depend on a network of highways, railways, and ports to
deliver their goods to consumers efficiently and affordably and to effectively compete across the continent and
world. Slashing federal infrastructure investment, as some
Republicans have have proposed, would be as mindless
as it would be harmful—a rejection of Ronald Reagan’s
view that infrastructure represents a critical “investment
in tomorrow that we must make today.”19 Hillary Clinton
understands that we are one nation—and that we must
invest in our future as a nation. She will make good on our
time-honored American commitment to leave our children
and grandchildren with a country that is stronger than the
one we inherited.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Clinton’s comprehensive infrastructure investment
agenda is a major down-payment on a stronger America—
enhancing our competitiveness, giving families a better
life, combatting climate change, and protecting our communities. Clinton will harness both public and private
capital to:
• Fix and expand our roads and bridges—reducing congestion and cutting the “pothole tax.” America’s roads
and bridges are in a state of disrepair. More than half
of our highways are 45 years or older,20 and nearly one
in four bridges requires significant repair.21 Clinton will
make smart, targeted, and coordinated investments to
Published by the Federal Bar Association Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section
Special Edition 2016
increase capacity, improve road quality, and reduce
congestion—transportation solutions that will meet the
needs of Americans today and in the future and slash
the “pothole tax” that they silently pay each and every
day. In fact, even investments to fix and maintain our
current stock of roads and bridges can generate exceptionally high returns for society.22
• Expand public transit options to lower transportation
costs and unlock economic opportunity for Americans
in opportunity deserts. Americans are increasingly living and working in and around urban communities, and
they want a range of safe, affordable, convenient, and
environmentally sustainable transportation options.23
But even as transit ridership grows dramatically across
the country in communities of all sizes, transit investments have not kept pace with demand.24 This underinvestment is particularly costly for many low-income
communities and communities of color, as a dearth of
reliable and efficient public transportation options often
creates a huge barrier to Americans attempting to build
better lives.25 Clinton will prioritize and increase investments in public transit to connect Americans to jobs,
spur economic growth, and improve quality of life in
our communities. And she will encourage local governments to work with low-income communities to ensure
that these investments are creating transit options
that connect the unemployed and underemployed to
the jobs they need. She will also support bicycle and
pedestrian infrastructure—reducing carbon emissions,
improving public health and safety, and further providing Americans with affordable transportation options.
• Connect small businesses, farmers, and manufacturers to their customers and suppliers with a national
freight investment program. U.S. transportation networks move nearly $48 billion in goods a day.26 Yet
our insufficient freight infrastructure is preventing
American businesses and farmers from reliably and
efficiently moving their products to market, hurting
U.S. consumers and damaging America’s ability to
compete in the global economy. In fact, every year, U.S.
businesses have to spend an extra $27 billion just in
transportation costs because of congestion in our freight
networks alone.27 Cargo trains can reach Chicago from
Los Angeles in 48 hours, only to spend 30 hours crawling across Chicago itself.28 Clinton will make smart,
coordinated investments that upgrade our aging rail
tunnels and bridges, expand congested highway corridors, eliminate dangerous at-grade railway crossings,
and build deeper port channels to accommodate the
newest and largest cargo ships.29 Clinton will also focus
on vital “intermodal” transfer points between trucks,
rail, and ships—including the “last-mile connectors”
between different modes, like the local roads that connect highways to ports. She is committed to initiating
upgrades of at least the twenty-five most costly freight
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5
bottlenecks by the end of her first term.
• Accelerate next generation aviation technology and
invest in creating world-class American airports—saving travelers time, cutting down on delays, and reducing carbon emissions. The American aviation system is
the busiest and safest in the world.30 But much of it still
runs on antiquated technology—including radar-based
air traffic control systems from the World War II era.31
The Federal Aviation Administration is currently pursuing a “NextGen” upgrade program that would move
our national airspace system from groundbased radar
to satellite-based navigation, improve digital communications, and enhance information management.32 But
these efforts have fallen chronically behind schedule
and well short of expectations.33 Clinton will get this
crucial program back on track and ensure that it is managed effectively and with accountability. These changes
will save air travelers and airlines an estimated $100 billion in avoided delays over the next 15 years—ensuring
that the nation that invented aviation continues to be its
world leader.34
• Clinton will also invest in building world-class American
airports. Our airports are operating at capacities far
beyond their original design, resulting in major delays
due to a lack of investment.35 The newest major airport
in America is now 20 years old,36 and, according to one
global survey, America’s top airport is ranked 30th in the
world.37 Clinton will work to ensure that airports have
the funding they need to create world-class air hubs for
the 21st century, with reliable and efficient connections
to mass transit.
• Connect all Americans to the digital economy with
21st century Internet access. Clinton believes that highspeed Internet access is not a luxury; it is a necessity for
equal opportunity and social mobility in a 21st century
economy. That’s why she will finish the job of connecting America’s households to the Internet, committing
that by 2020, 100 percent of households in America will
have access to affordable broadband that delivers worldclass speeds sufficient to meet families’ needs. Clinton
will also build upon the Obama Administration’s efforts
to increase not just broadband access but also broadband adoption, both by fostering greater competition
in local broadband markets to bring down prices and
by investing in low-income communities and in digital
literacy programs. In addition, Clinton is committed to
expanding the Obama Administration’s efforts to connect “anchor” institutions—like public school and public libraries—to high-speed broadband. She will invest
new federal resources so that train stations, airports,
mass transit systems, and other public buildings can
have access to gigabit connectivity and can provide free
Wi-Fi to the public.
Moreover,
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Clinton
will
build
on
the
Obama
6
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Administration’s progress in fostering the evolution
from 4G wireless networks to 5G networks and other
next-generation systems that can deliver wireless connections measured in gigabits, not just megabits, per
second. Widely deployed 5G networks, and new unlicensed and shared spectrum technologies, are essential
platforms that will support the Internet of Things, smart
factories, driverless cars, and much more—developments with enormous potential to drive economic
growth and improve people’s lives.
• Enhance safety and economic growth by equipping
our infrastructure and our cities with the technology of tomorrow. A wide-ranging system of advanced
energy fueling stations for the 21st century fleet. A network of roadway sensors capable of alerting drivers to
a dangerous icy patch a mile ahead. Lives saved and
traffic reduced by vehicles that can sense and communicate with one another. Reduced traffic and pollution
through more efficient and effective parking management systems in our cities. These are only a few of the
changes coming to transportation and urban life—but
this future will not simply happen on its own. Clinton
will work to equip our infrastructure with the technology of tomorrow. She would provide more funding for
basic research in transportation technology that searches for answers to questions that are too far in the future
for private industry to address, and she would promote
intelligent transportation system projects through funding programs.28
• Build a faster, safer, and higher capacity passenger
rail system. Although more and more Americans are
traveling via train, our passenger rail infrastructure is
crumbling—slowing down journeys, limiting ridership,
and making trains less safe.29 In some cases, crucial
infrastructure is more than a century old. Clinton will
invest in creating a world-leading passenger rail system to meet rapidly growing demand and build a more
mobile America.
• Build energy infrastructure for the 21st century. Clinton
has already released a comprehensive plan to make our
existing energy infrastructure cleaner and safer, and to
build the new infrastructure necessary for the United
States to become a clean energy superpower.40 Cities
like Baltimore and Chicago are struggling to replace
thousands of miles of corroded natural gas pipes, some
of which are more than 100 years old, while municipal
electric grids across the country have seen blackouts
from extreme storms and heat waves. Clinton’s plan
will modernize our pipeline system, increase rail safety,
and enhance grid security. It will also build new infrastructure to power our economic future and capture
America’s clean energy potential. Through her Clean
Energy Challenge, Clinton will partner with states, cities, and rural communities that take the lead in reduc-
Special Edition 2016
ing carbon pollution by investing in clean energy and
lowering energy costs through energy efficiency and
innovative transportation solutions. She will ensure the
federal government is a partner in delivering clean and
affordable energy, supporting infrastructure investments that give Americans more control over the energy
they consume.
• Connect our farms, businesses, and households to
safe and reliable drinking water and wastewater systems—saving billions of gallons of drinking water
and cutting energy costs. For too long, we have been
underinvesting in the drinking and wastewater systems
that keep our communities healthy and safe. Our drinking water systems—parts of which are more than a
century old41—leak nearly 6 billion gallons every day, or
roughly one-sixth of our daily water use.42 California’s
cities alone leak 283 billion gallons per year—enough to
meet the needs of the entire city of Los Angeles.43 Aging
and inadequate wastewater systems discharge more
than 900 billion gallons of untreated sewage a year,
posing health risks to humans and wildlife, disrupting
ecosystems, and disproportionately impacting communities of color.33 And in the West, where the water
system was designed for the climate of the past, record
droughts and raging wildfires are destroying land,
depleting reservoirs and straining local and federal
budgets.45 Drinking water and wastewater treatment
is often the largest single energy consumer for municipalities, and accounts for 3 to 4 percent of America’s
national electricity consumption every year—meaning
there’s significant money and energy to be saved by
making these systems more efficient.46 We need a bold
agenda to revitalize our aging water infrastructure and
make it more sustainable and energy efficient. Clinton
will work to harness both public and private resources
to support these efforts.
• Modernizing our dams and levees to improve safety
and generate clean energy. Our 84,000 dams and
roughly 100,000 miles of levees serve to protect us
from floods, facilitate the movement of goods, generate electricity, and more.47 But our efforts to maintain
these critical structures are haphazard and underresourced—with both insufficient funding and insufficient information. Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina
demonstrated the stark dangers posed by faulty water
control infrastructure. And these public safety concerns
are only intensified by the increasing threat of severe
weather due to climate change. We need to substantially
increase funding to inspect these structures, bring them
into good repair, and remove them where appropriate.48
Our existing dams can also be a significant source of
new clean energy generation, and Clinton will support
efforts to increase dams’ capacity to deliver affordable
and reliable electricity while reducing carbon pollution.
Published by the Federal Bar Association Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section
Special Edition 2016
TransLaw
NEW RESOURCES AND BETTER PERFORMANCE
2. Be empowered to authorize issuance of special, “super”
Build America Bonds to support state and local investment.
The Bank would also be empowered to authorize issuance of “super-BABs” by state and local governments
that would provide greater federal government support
than would otherwise be available for deserving projects of regional and national significance.
3. Select projects based on merit, not politics. To ensure
that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, the bank will
require applicants to demonstrate that their projects will
be in the public interest, cost-effective for taxpayers,
economically productive, and resilient to the expected
future impacts of climate change.
4. Provide a center of excellence. Building on the work
of President Obama’s Build America Transportation
Investment Center, the bank will offer a one-stop-shop
to states, municipalities, and project sponsors seeking
to utilize federal resources and expertise in developing
infrastructure projects that will benefit the American
public.50
• Boost federal infrastructure investment by $275 billion over the next five years. There is simply no substitute for robust public investment in infrastructure
to enhance our competitiveness, give families a better
life, combat climate change, and protect our communities. Clinton will work to increase federal infrastructure
funding by $275 billion over the next five years, of
which $250 billion would be allocated to direct public
investment. She will fully pay for these investments
through business tax reform.
• Reauthorize a Build America Bonds program to help
finance the rebuilding of America’s infrastructure.
The Obama Administration’s Build America Bonds
(BABs) program stimulated investment in infrastructure—broadening the market for municipal borrowing
by attracting new sources of capital, such as pension
funds, that do not receive benefits associated with
traditional tax-exempt debt. The program was hugely
successful: in just two years, BABs supported more than
$180 billion in infrastructure spending in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. BABs are a more efficient
way of helping to finance infrastructure spending than
traditional tax-exempt municipal debt, as tax-exempt
municipal debt ends up benefiting not just infrastructure projects but also high-income purchasers of the
debt. As President, Clinton would reauthorize the Build
America Bonds program so that the federal support
goes entirely toward rebuilding America’s infrastructure.49
• Create a $25 billion national infrastructure bank—providing up to an additional $225 billion in federally
supported investment for energy, water, broadband,
transportation, and multi-modal infrastructure projects. Clinton is not only committed to substantially
increasing federal funding for infrastructure investment. She will also work alongside state and local
governments to help unlock private pools of capital—
including pension funds—to complement public investment in America’s infrastructure. That’s why she will
allocate $25 billion over five years to an independent,
government-owned infrastructure bank with a bipartisan board of highly qualified directors authorized to
make critical investments in building 21st century infrastructure. The bank will:
1. Provide loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of
credit enhancement. The bank would focus on projects of
regional and national significance, emphasizing investments in complex multi-modal projects like freight and
port improvements, and in projects to modernize our
energy, water, broadband, and transportation systems
in urban and rural communities. The bank will operate
with prevailing wage standards and domestic sourcing
requirements for project materials.
7
Clinton will also support existing credit programs
that are already working well—like the Transportation
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which finances
transformative transportation projects across the country.51
• Apply best practices to improve the way we invest in
infrastructure and get the most for the American people’s money. Investing more in our infrastructure isn’t
enough—the way America currently designs, funds,
and builds infrastructure projects needs repair. Clinton
would make sure taxpayers are getting the most bang
for their buck. She would work to ensure that projects
are selected on impact, not politics, streamline permitting, break down silos that limit funds to a single type
of transportation, and encourage 21st century design
and technology. These reforms would do more than
save taxpayers money—they would encourage private
capital currently sitting on the sidelines to invest in
America’s future. v
Endnotes
1
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS,
REPORT CARD FOR AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE 67
(2013) infrastructurereportcard.org/a/documents/2013Report-Card.pdf.
2
From 1992–2011 the U.S. has invested just 2.6 percent of
GDP towards infrastructure, compared to 8.5% in China,
.0% in Japan, 3.9% in the average industrial country, and
2.6 % in the EU. McKinsey Global Institute, Infrastructure
Productivity: How to Save $1 Trillion a Year (2013), www.
mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/dotcom/Insights/
Engineering Construction/Infrastructure productivity/
MGI Infrastructure_Full report_Jan 2013.ashx, at Exhibit 2.
3
Federal
Highway
Administration,
Employment
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8
TransLaw
Impacts of Highway Infrastructure Investment, U.S. Dep’t of
Transportation (Nov. 2015), www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/
otps/pubs/impacts.
4
DEP’T OF TREASURY, AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
OF INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT: A REPORT
PREPARED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY
WITH THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS (2010),
www.treasury.gov/resource-center/economic-policy/
Documents/infrastructure_investment_report.pdf.
5
Joseph Kane & Robert Puentes, Expanding Opportunity
Through Infrastructure Jobs, BROOKINGS (May 2015),
www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/05/07opportunity-infrastructure-jobs-kane-puentes
(finding
also that “infrastructure occupations often provide more
competitive and equitable wages compared to all jobs
nationally, consistently paying up to 30 percent more to
low-income workers over the past decade.”)
6
See Josh Bivens, The Short- and Long-Term Impact of
Infrastructure Investments on Employment and Economic
Activity in the U.S. Economy, ECONOMIC POLICY
INSTITUTE (July 1, 2014), www.epi.org/files/2014/
impact-ofinfrastructure-investments.pdf
(“[The]
slowdown in infrastructure investment, which began in
the 1970s, has been convincingly linked to the slowdown in
overall productivity growth that began in the same period.
In short, the case for expanded infrastructure investments
was strong even before the Great Recession hit.”); Lawrence
H. Summers, Reflections on Secular Stagnation, Speech
at Princeton University (Feb. 19, 2015), larrysummers.
com/2015/02/25/reflections-on-secular-stagnation (“Can
that possibly make sense, given the demand issues, given
the productivity of public investment, and given that if
we have a moral concern about my children’s generation,
deferring maintenance is just as surely passing the burden
onto them as issuing debt.”).
7
See COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS, ECONOMIC
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 33 (2015), www.whitehouse.
gov/sites/default/files/docs/cea_2015_erp.pdf (“What if
productivity growth from 1973 to 2013 had continued at its
pace from the previous 25 years? In this scenario, incomes
would have been 58 percent higher in 2013. If these gains
were distributed proportionately in 2013, then the median
household would have had an additional $30,000 in
income.”); Bivens, supra note 6 (“A now-extensive literature
strongly suggests that a slowdown in the rate of public
investment can largely explain the slowdown in overall
productivity growth that began in the early 1970s.”).
8
Bivens, supra note 6; Isabelle Cohen et al., The Economic
Impact and Financing of Infrastructure Spending, COLLEGE OF
WILLIAM & MARY THOMAS JEFFERSON PROGRAM IN
PUBLIC POLICY (2012), www.wm.edu/as/publicpolicy/
documents/prs/aed.pdf.
9
Bumpy Roads Ahead: America’s Roughest Rides and
Strategies to Make our Roads Smoother, THE ROAD
INFORMATION PROGRAM (2015), www.tripnet.org/
Special Edition 2016
docs/Urban_Roads_TRIP_Report_July_2015.pdf;
see
also Lawrence H. Summers, Fixing America’s Roads Would
Essentially Pay for Itself, WONKBLOG (Oct. 13, 2015), www.
washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/13/
larry-summers-fixing-americas-roads-wouldessentiallypay-for-itself/.
10
Press Release, Texas A&M Transportation Institute,
Traffic Gridlock Sets New Records for Traveler Misery
(Aug.
26,
2015),
http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/
media-information/press-release/ (estimating annual
congestion costs of $960 per commuter); see also DEP’T OF
TRANSPORTATION, BEYOND TRAFFIC: 2045 TRENDS
AND CHOICES (2015), www.transportation.gov/sites/
dot.gov/files/docs/Draft_Beyond_Traffic_Framework.
pdf (estimating the annual cost per commuter at $800 per
year); Jonathan I. Levy, Jonathan J. Buonocore & Katherine
von Stackelberg, Evaluation of the Public Health Impacts
of Traffic Congestion: A Health Risk Assessment, 9 ENVIR.
HEALTH 65 (2010).
11
DEP’T OF TRANSPORTATION BUREAU OF
TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS, TRANSTATS, http://
www.transtats.bts.gov/homedrillchart.asp.
12
Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, Harvard University,
The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility
(Apr. 2015), www.equality-of-opportunity.org/images/
nbhds_exec_summary.pdf; see also Hillary Clinton, Hillary
Clinton Outlines Plan to Strengthen Communities of Color,
EBONY (Nov. 6, 2015), www.ebony.com/news-views/
exclusive-hillary-clinton-outlines-plan-to-strengthencommunities-of-color998#ixzz3s38hF1GG.
13
Justin Worland, Why Climate Change Affects Poor
Neighborhoods the Most, TIME, Oct. 3, 2011, http://time.
com/3457668/climate-change-poor-neighborhoods.
14
Chantal C. Cantarelli et al., Cost Overruns in LargeScale Transportation Infrastructure Projects: Explanations
and Their Theoretical Embeddedness, EUR. J. OF TRANSP. &
INFRASTRUCTURE RES. (2013), arxiv.org/pdf/1307.2176.
pdf.
15
Philip K. Howard, Two Years Not Ten Years: Redesigning
Infrastructure Approvals, COMMON GOOD (Sept. 2015),
commongood.3cdn.net/c613b4cfda258a5fcb_e8m6b5t3x.
pdf.
16
See ROSABETH MOSS KANTER, MOVE: PUTTING
AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE BACK IN THE LEAD
(2015).
17
Timothy Geithner, Investing in Infrastructure to Build
Up Middle-Class Jobs and Long-Term Growth, DEP’T OF
TREASURY: TREASURY NOTES BLOG (Feb. 9, 2011),
www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/InvestinginInfrastructure-to-Build-Up-Middle-Class-Jobs-andLong-Term-Growth.aspx; see also Conrad Wilson,
Northwest Legume Farmers Feel The Squeeze From Oregon’s
Port Feud, NPR: THE SALT (Sept 23. 2015), www.npr.
org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/18/440259459/northwestlegume-farmers-feel-the-squeeze-fromoregons-port-
Published by the Federal Bar Association Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section
Special Edition 2016
feud (“Farmers from North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and
eastern Washington all depended on this port—the most
inland port on the West Coast—to get some of their crops
to market. But this year, many are paying a lot more to
transport their lentils, chickpeas and beans to customers in
Asia and South America.”).
18
Farm Futures, Midwestern Governors Make the Case
for Better Mississippi River Navigation (Aug. 29, 2014),
farmfutures.com/story-midwestern-governors-makecase-better-mississippi-river-navigation-0-116996 (quoting
Iowa Governor Terry Brandstad commenting that “[t]he
Upper Mississippi River is a thoroughfare for trade in this
region”).
19
Ronald Reagan, Remarks on Signing the Surface
Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (Jan. 6, 1983), www.
reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/10683a.htm.
20
Matthew E. Kahn and David M. Levinson, Fix It
First, Expand It Second, Reward It Third: A New Strategy for
America’s Highways 11, THE HAMILTON PROJECT (Feb.
2011),
www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2011/02/
highway-infrastructure-kahn-levinson.
21
Key Facts About America’s Surface Transportation
System and Federal Funding, THE ROAD INFORMATION
PROGRAM (Apr. 2015), www.tripnet.org/docs/Fact_
Sheet_National.pdf, at 2.
22
See Kahn & Levinson, supra note 20.
23
Public
Transportation
Reduces
Greenhouse
Gases and Conserves Energy, AMERICAN PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION ASSOC., www.apta.com/resources/
reportsandpublications/Documents/greenhouse_
brochure.pdf.
24
According to the American Public Transit Association,
last year Americans took 10.8 billion trips, the highest
transit ridership in the U.S. in 58 years. Press Release,
American Public Transport Association, Record 10.8 Billion
Trips Taken On U.S. Public Transportation In 2014 (Mar. 3,
2015), www.apta.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/2015/
Pages/150309_Ridership.aspx.
25
In fact, research suggests that for low-income
Americans, having affordable transit access to a large
number of employment opportunities is as powerful a
factor in social mobility as elementary-school test scores
or family structure. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren,
Harvard University, The Impacts of Neighborhoods on
Intergenerational Mobility (Apr. 2015), www.equality-ofopportunity.org/images/nbhds_exec_summary.pdf;
see
also Mikayla Bouchard, Transportation Emerges as Crucial to
Escaping Poverty, N.Y. TIMES (May 7, 2015), www.nytimes.
com/2015/05/07/upshot/transportation-emergesas-crucial-to-escaping-poverty.html;
POLICYLINK,
ALL ABOARD! MAKING EQUITY AND INCLUSION
CENTRAL TO FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION POLICY
(2009) equitycaucus.org/sites/default/files/AllAboard_
final_web.pdf.
26
DEP’T OF TRANSPORTATION, GROW AMERICA
TransLaw
9
ACT: INVESTING IN OUR FREIGHT SYSTEM TO GROW
THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, www.transportation.gov/
sites/dot.gov/files/docs/Investing_in_our_Freight_
System_to_Grow_the_American_ Econ.pdf.
27
NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL & COUNCIL OF
ECONOMIC ADVISORS, AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
(Jul. 2014), www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/
docs/economic_analysis_of_transportation_investments.
pdf.
28
CREATE Program Benefits Fact Sheets, Chicago Region
Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program,
www.createprogram.org/about.htm.
29
Supersizing our strategic seaports is particularly
important in light of expansions to the Panama Canal. See
Jonathan Cowan et al., Ready for the New Economy,
THIRD WAY (Oct. 28, 2015), www.thirdway.org/report/
ready-for-the-new-economy. Clinton will also focus on
making our ports cleaner and more sustainable—because,
while ports are vital to our economy, they can also place
disproportionate pollution burdens on surrounding
communities. For example, she will pursue initiatives
like electrifying port vehicles and requiring ships to use
on-dock power sources rather than running dirty diesel
engines while in port.
30
DEP’T OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION
ADMINISTRATION, THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CIVIL
AVIATION ON THE U.S. ECONOMY (Jan. 2015), https://
www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/media/2015economic-impactreport.pdf, at 1.
31
FAA Reauthorization: Air Traffic Control Modernization
and Reform: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Commerce,
114th Cong. (2015) (statement of Jeffery A. Smiskey, President
and CEO of United Airlines), www.commerce.senate.
gov/public/_cache/files/2a3e7196-39a7-4ae2-b453ce791dd7eea/B959AEFDBE9DDBEFCEA39D228524E9AE.
mr.-smisek-testimony.pdf.
32
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, FACT
SHEET – NEXTGEN (Aug. 2015), www.faa.gov/news/
fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=19375.
33
Ashley Halsey III, Progress on NextGen Aviation System
Is Said to Be “Stalled,” WASH. POST (Nov. 18, 2014),
www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/
p ro g re s s - o n - n e x t g e n - a v i a t i o n - s y s t e m - i s - s a i d - t o b e s t a l l e d / 2 0 1 4 / 11 / 1 8 / f d 7 7 f 5 8 c - 6 f 4 9 - 11 e 4 - a d 1 2 3734c461eab6_story.html.
34
FEDERALAVIATION ADMINISTRATION, NEXTGEN:
THE BUSINESS CASE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (2014), www.faa.gov/
nextgen/media/BusinessCaseForNextGen-2014.pdf.
35
Addressing Future Capacity Needs in the U.S. Aviation
System, ENO CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION
(Nov.
2013),
www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/
page/2013/08/USTravel_Eno.pdf.
36
Marisa Garcia & Jason Clampet, What Will It Take to
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Bring U.S. Airports Into the Future? Only $4, SKIFT (Jul. 29,
2015), skift.com/2015/07/29/what-will-it-take-to-bringu-s-airports-into-the-future-only-4/.
37
The World’s Top 100 Airports – 2015, WORLD AIRPORT
AWARDS,
www.worldairportawards.com/awards/
world_airport_rating.html.
38
See, e.g., Stephen J. Ezell & Robert D. Atkinson, From
Concrete to Chips: Bringing the Surface Transportation
Reauthorization Act Into the Digital Age, INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION (May
2015), www2.itif.org/2015-concrete-to-chips.pdf.
39
Understanding Amtrak and the Importance of Passenger Rail
in the United States, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS
(2015),
www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/
report/2015/06/04/114298/understandingamtrak-andthe-importance-of-passenger-rail-in-the-united-states/; see
also KANTER, supra note 16, at 27-72.
40
Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Modernizing North
American Energy Infrastructure, THE BRIEFING (Sept.
23,
2015),
www.hillaryclinton.com/p/briefing/
factsheets/2015/09/23/hillary-clinton-vision-formodernizing-energyinfrastructure/.
41
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS:
WATER
INFRASTRUCTURE & SUSTAINABILITY (Sept. 14, 2012),
water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/si_faqs.cfm.
42
The Case for Fixing the Leaks, CENTER FOR
NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY (Nov. 18, 2013),
www.cnt.org/sites/default/files/publications/CNT_
CaseforFixingtheLeaks.pdf.
43
Press Release, California Environmental Protection
Agency, EPA Announces $183 Million to Improve Water
Quality, Infrastructure in California (Oct. 2. 2014),
www.swrcb.ca.gov/press_room/press_releases/2014/
pr100214_srf_us_epa_waterboards_final.pdf (noting that
California’s urban water systems leak 283 billion gallons per
year); LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER POWER,
FACTS AND FIGURES, www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/
ladwp/aboutus/a-water/a-w-factandfigures?_adf.
ctrlstate=rwqwsnoz8_4&_afrLoop=526840588891141
(noting that the city of Los Angeles consumed 177 billion
gallons of water last year).
44
Ben Bovarnick et al., Rising Waters, Rising Threat, How
Climate Change Endangers America’s Neglected Wastewater
Infrastructure, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS
Special Edition 2016
(Oct.
2014),
cdn.americanprogress.org/wpcontent/
uploads/2014/10/wastewater-report.pdf;
JULIET
CHRISTIAN-SMITH ET AL., A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
U.S. WATER POLICY 52-89 (2012), pacinst.org/wpcontent/
uploads/2013/02/water_and_environmental_justice_ch3.
pdf.
45
Types of Drought Impacts, NATIONAL DROUGHT
MITIGATION
CENTER,
drought.unl.edu/
DroughtforKids/HowDoesDroughtAffectOurLives/
TypesofDroughtImpacts.aspx.
46
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, MAKE
THE DROPS-TO-WATTS CONNECTION, (Sept. 14, 2012),
water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/waterefficiency.
cfm.
47
Keith Miller et al., Ensuring Public Safety by
Investing in Our Nation’s Critical Dams and Levees,
CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS (Sept. 20,
2012),
www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/
report/2012/09/20/38299/ensuring-public-safety-byinvesting-inour-nations-critical-dams-and-levees/.
48
Id.
49
See What it Means for State and Local Tax and Fiscal
Policy: Hearing Before the S. Comm on Finance, 112th Cong.
(2012) (statement of Frank Sammartino, Assistant Director
for Tax Analysis of the Congressional Budget Office), www.
cbo.gov/sites/default/files/112th-congress-2011-2012/
reports/04-25-TaxCodeTestimony.pdf (“Although a large
majority of tax-preferred bonds are traditional tax-exempt
bonds, such bonds are a relatively inefficient mechanism
for the federal government to transfer funds to state
and local governments.”). At a 28 percent subsidy rate,
a renewed BABs program would be revenue-neutral.
DEP’T OF TREASURY, TREASURY ANALYSIS OF BUILD
AMERICA BONDS AND ISSUER NET BORROWING
COSTS (Apr. 2010), www.treasury.gov/initiatives/
recovery/Documents/BABs-Report-4-2-2010-FINAL.pdf;
see also Roger C. Altman, Aaron Klein & Alan B. Krueger,
Financing U.S. Transportation Infrastructure in the 21st
Century, THE HAMILTON PROJECT (May 2015), at 13,
www.hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/altman_financing_
transportation_infrastructure_21st_century.pdf.
50
U.S. Dep’t of Transportation, Build America
Transportation Investment Center (last visited Nov. 27,
2015), https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica.
51
See Altman, Klein & Krueger, supra note 49, at 12-14.
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TRUMP continued from page 1
the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works,
and many others.
Politicians Failed to Fix Our Infrastructure
Politicians like President Obama and Hillary Clinton
had the opportunity to fix America’s infrastructure and
failed. Consider the facts:
Since the 1960s, infrastructure spending as a percent
of GDP has fallen to around half that of Europe and has
now reached a 30-year low. The U.S. ranks twelfth on
the Global Competitiveness Index in infrastructure behind
Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Netherlands. The United
States ranks ninth behind Spain, France, and others in its
investment in roads as a percent of GDP.
• More than 60,000 bridges are considered “structurally
deficient.” Traffic delays cost the U.S. economy more
than $50 billion annually. Most major roads are rated as
“less than good condition.”
An investigation this year by USA Today “identified
almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50
states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead
contamination over the past four years.” This included
350 systems that supplied drinking water to schools or
day care facilities. Over 6 million Americans are potentially exposed to contaminated water. The tragic story of
lead contamination in the drinking water systems of Flint,
Michigan is a sad reminder of government incompetence
and the lack of adequate investments.
Hillary Clinton supported NAFTA, supported China’s
entry into the World Trade Organization, and allowed
China to run up $1 trillion in cumulative trade deficits
with the United States as Secretary of State. When she
sent American jobs overseas, she also sent our tax base that
supports our infrastructure. She rebuilt foreign countries,
while America’s infrastructure crumbled. With Hillary Clinton’s full support, the Obama
Administration spent more than $840 billion in taxpayer
dollars on the “stimulus” program, which they sold to the
American people on the basis that the money would go
to “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects. Yet, only 1 percent of the stimulus was invested in our nation’s drinking
water systems. Less than 5 percent overall actually went
toward America’s infrastructure. Billions were wasted on
giveaways to their political friends and cronies.
With the full support of Hillary Clinton, the Obama
Administration has blocked or delayed billions of dollars
in infrastructure projects through endless studies, government reviews, red-tape, and litigation, which increased
costs on U.S. taxpayers and blocked Americans from
obtaining the infrastructure they need.
·
According to the Wall Street Journal, “more than
a dozen [energy infrastructure] projects, worth about $33
billion, have been either rejected by regulators or withdrawn by developers since 2012, with billions more tied
up in projects still in regulatory limbo.” This includes
coal and shale energy export facilities. Major pipelines are
being blocked as well. As noted in the Wall Street Journal,
blocking such projects “leaves some communities without
access to lower-cost fuel and higher-paying jobs.”
Donald Trump’s Vision for America’s Infrastructure
Donald Trump is committed to fixing America’s crumbling infrastructure. He understands that infrastructure
investment strengthens our economic platform, makes
America more competitive, creates millions of jobs, increases wages for American workers, and reduces the costs of
goods and services for American consumers. Our complex
and inter-connected transportation network gets us to
work and our products to market. As a successful business
person, Mr. Trump knows firsthand that America’s infrastructure is a linchpin of private sector growth. According
to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM),
without major improvements to our transportation systems, “the United States will lose more than 2.5 million
jobs by 2025.” Donald Trump’s has a visionary plan to:
• Transform America’s crumbling infrastructure into a
golden opportunity for accelerated economic growth
and more rapid productivity gains with a deficit-neutral
plan targeting substantial new infrastructure investment. NAM estimates a “ten-year funding gap” of approximately $1 trillion. Mr. Trump has targeted a level
of investment necessary to fill this gap.
• Pursue an “America’s Infrastructure First” policy that
supports investments in transportation, clean water, a
modern and reliable electricity grid, telecommunications, security infrastructure, and other pressing domestic infrastructure needs.
• Refocus government spending on American infrastructure and away from the Obama-Clinton globalization
agenda.
• Provide maximum flexibility to the states.
• Create thousands of new jobs in construction, steel manufacturing, and other sectors to build the transportation, water, telecommunications and energy infrastructure needed to enable new economic development in the
U.S., all of which will generate new tax revenues. • Put American steel made by American workers into the
backbone of America’s infrastructure.
• Leverage new revenues and work with financing authorities, public-private partnerships, and other prudent funding opportunities. • Harness market forces to help attract new private infrastructure investment through a deficit-neutral system of
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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infrastructure tax credits. NAM found that just $8 billion
in infrastructure tax credits would support $226 billion
in infrastructure investment over 10 years. Innovative
financing programs, like TIFIA, also provide a tenfold
return on investment. Implement a bold, visionary plan for a cost-effective system of roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, railroads, ports
and waterways, and pipelines in the proud tradition of
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed the
interstate highway system.
Link increases in spending to reforms that streamline
permitting and approvals, improve the project delivery
system, and cut wasteful spending.
Employ incentive-based contracting to ensure projects
are on time and on budget.
Approve private sector energy infrastructure projects—
including pipelines and coal export facilities—to better
connect American coal and shale energy production
with markets and consumers.
Work with Congress to modernize our airports and air
traffic control systems, end long wait times, and reform
the FAA and TSA, while also ensuring that American
travelers are safe from terrorism and other threats.
Incorporate new technologies and innovations into our
national transportation system such as state-of-the-art
pipelines, advancements in maritime commerce, and the
next generation of vehicles.
Make clean water a high priority. Develop a long-term
water infrastructure plan with city, state and federal
leaders to upgrade aging water systems. Link increased investments with positive reforms to infrastructure programs that reduce waste and cut costs.
Complete projects faster and at lower cost through significant regulatory reform and ending needless red-tape. In contrast, Hillary Clinton has proposed a massive
tax increase on American businesses to help fund an
“infrastructure bank” that is controlled by politicians and
bureaucrats in Washington DC. Her tax hikes will drive
more businesses and jobs out of America, further hollowing out our industrial and manufacturing base. And since
Hillary Clinton, like the Obama Administration, would do
nothing meaningful to fix the broken permitting and regulatory bureaucracy, very little real progress or improvements to our nation’s infrastructure will ever take place
under her leadership. Hillary Clinton will also continue
to block major infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL
pipeline.
Instead of imposing new taxes on American business,
the Trump-Pence Administration will work with Congress
to spur the needed levels of investment without adding
to the national debt. First, we are going to spur private
sector investment through a variety of programs, including public-private partnerships and infrastructure tax
credits. As just one example, the National Association of
Special Edition 2016
Manufacturers estimates that $8 billion in infrastructure
tax credits would support $226 billion in infrastructure
investment over 10 years. Financing programs championed by Republicans in Congress also provide a tenfold
return on investment. We are also going to allow billions
of dollars in private infrastructure projects--blocked by
Obama and Clinton--to finally go forward, a commonsense step that doesn't cost taxpayers a dime. This includes
important energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone
XL pipeline. An infrastructure agenda of this magnitude
will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, accelerate
economic growth, and promote more than enough new tax
revenues to cover the costs of these leveraged investments.
Second, we are going to change spending priorities in
Washington DC so that the nation can do more with existing programs that support construction of roads, bridges,
water systems, ports and waterways, and so much more.
In the last 8 years, the Obama-Clinton Administration
spent more than $50 billion of your tax dollars on global
warming programs. Now, they want to send $3 billion
to the UN for them to waste on even more global warming projects. And they are also wasting billions of dollars
on giveaways for boondoggles like the California High
Speed Rail Project, which the people of California don't
even support. We will end wasteful spending like that and
refocus federal spending on prudent infrastructure investments. We are also repealing excessive regulations that are
imposing enormous economic losses on our country. This
includes ending America’s involvement in the ObamaClinton Paris Climate Deal--a bad deal that costs the U.S.
economy trillions of dollars and gives an unfair advantage
to China.
In Florida, Mr. Trump recently emphasized his support for water and environmental infrastructure, in particular, stating: “A Trump Administration will also work
alongside you to restore and protect the beautiful Florida
Everglades. Our plan will also help you upgrade water
and wastewater systems so that the Florida Aquifer is pure
and safe from pollution. We will also repair the Herbert
Hoover Dike in Lake Okeechobee.”
Border Security
Border security is also a central part of the TrumpPence platform. Donald Trump has announced a “10 Point
Plan” for border security and immigration policy, which
includes the following:
1. Begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on
the southern border, on day one. Mexico will pay for the
wall.
2. End catch-and-release. Under a Trump administration, anyone who illegally crosses the border will be
detained until they are removed out of our country.
3. Move criminal aliens out day one, in joint operations
with local, state, and federal law enforcement. We will terminate the Obama administration’s deadly, non-enforce-
Published by the Federal Bar Association Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section
Special Edition 2016
ment policies that allow thousands of criminal aliens to
freely roam our streets.
4. End sanctuary cities.
5. Immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties. All immigration laws will be
enforced—we will triple the number of ICE agents.
Anyone who enters the U.S. illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a
country.
6. Suspend the issuance of visas to any place where
adequate screening cannot occur, until proven and effective vetting mechanisms can be put into place.
7. Ensure that other countries take their people back
when we order them deported.
8. Ensure that a biometric entry-exit visa tracking system is fully implemented at all land, air, and sea ports.
9. Turn off the jobs and benefits magnet. Many immigrants come to the U.S. illegally in search of jobs, even
though federal law prohibits the employment of illegal
immigrants.
10. Reform legal immigration to serve the best interests
of America and its workers, keeping immigration levels
within historic norms.
Importantly, last month, the National Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council, the official
union representing 5,000 federal immigration officers
and law enforcement support staff, made their first-ever
endorsement of any candidate for any elected office.
ICE officers are responsible for interior enforcement of
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immigration laws within the United States. The President
of the National ICE Council, Chris Crane, stated: “This
first-ever endorsement was conducted by a vote of our
membership, with Hillary Clinton receiving only 5 percent of that vote. Hillary Clinton, who has never met
with us… By contrast, Donald Trump reached out to
us for a meeting, sat down with me to discuss his goals
for enforcement, and pledged to support ICE officers,
our nation’s laws and our members. In his immigration
policy, he has outlined core policies needed to restore
immigration security—including support for increased
interior enforcement and border security, an end to
Sanctuary Cities, an end to catch-and-release, mandatory
detainers, and the canceling of executive amnesty and
non-enforcement directives.”
Conclusion
At an important speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
on October 22, 2016, Mr. Trump announced his plan for
the first 100 days of his administration. As stated in that
speech, among his highest priorities will be enactment of
legislation—the American Energy & Infrastructure Act—
to support expanded U.S. energy production and leverage public-private partnerships, and private investments
through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure
investment over 10 years. The full details for his 100 day
plan can be reviewed at www.donaldjtrump.com/pressreleases/donald-j.-trump-delivers-groundbreaking-contract-for-the-american-vote1. v
TransLaw
Save the Date
Transportation and
Transportation Security
Law Section Holiday
Happy Hour
Thursday, December 1
at 6:00 p.m.
Location is TBD
Details to follow on
www.fedbar.org/TTSL.
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