Sec. 2. Findings

289 words·~1 min read·/bill/116/hr/658/ih/section-2

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Congress finds the following: Investment in infrastructure has always created jobs and economic growth for the United States and has been a key component of maintaining a global competitive edge for the United States. The Erie Canal, the transcontinental railroad, the Hoover Dam, rural electrification, and the interstate highway system are all examples of investments in infrastructure that created the conditions for future economic growth. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the current condition of the infrastructure in the United States earns a grade point average of D+, and an estimated $4,690,000,000,000 investment is needed by 2025 to meet adequate conditions.

According to the American Water Works Association, an estimated $1 trillion is necessary to maintain and expand service to meet demands over the next 25 years. Most electric transmission and distribution lines were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s with a 50-year life expectancy, and the more than 640,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the lower 48 States power grids are at full capacity. Although grant programs of the Government must continue to play a central role in financing the transportation, environment, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure needs of the United States, current and foreseeable demands on existing Federal, State, and local funding for infrastructure expansion exceed the resources to support these programs by margins wide enough to prompt serious concerns about the United States ability to sustain long-term economic development, productivity, and international competitiveness.

The capital markets, including central banks, pension funds, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies, have a growing interest in infrastructure investment. The establishment of a United States Government-owned institution that would provide this investment opportunity to finance qualifying infrastructure projects would attract needed capital for United States infrastructure development.