Chuck Schumer: What I'm listening for in Trump's State of the Union
By Chuck Schumer January 29 at 5:51 PM
Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is minority leader of the U.S. Senate.
When President Trump addresses the nation in his first official State of the Union on Tuesday night, he should urge Congress to deliver a substantial investment in our nation’s infrastructure. On this issue, Democrats agree with the president: America’s physical infrastructure is the backbone of our economy, and we have fallen behind. If we do not quickly repair and modernize our infrastructure, we risk ceding the next century of global economic leadership to China or India. But the big question is: How do we do it?
The president promised a trillion-dollar investment in our infrastructure on the campaign trail. But since he took the oath of office, Congress hasn’t heard much about his plan, and what we have heard isn’t promising. The president’s budget proposal slashed infrastructure investments, and, more recently, the proposals we’ve seen from the administration rely on private companies or states and localities to put up the lion’s share of the money. In turn, those entities would have to either charge local taxpayers new tolls or raise taxes and other fees to pay for the infrastructure.
That would end up leaving out large parts of the country and most major, urgent projects.
So Democrats will watch the State of the Union hoping that President Trump will change course — by emphasizing the need for a major, direct federal investment in infrastructure.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/chuck-schumer-what-im-listening-for-in-trumps-state-of-the-union/2018/01/29/45f37986-051e-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html
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