Gillen Calls for Investments in Road Safety, US Merchant Marine Academy During Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Markup
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Laura Gillen (NY-04) delivered opening remarks at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup for the pending budget reconciliation package. In her opening remarks, Gillen reaffirmed her support for increased investments in national air traffic control and the Coast Guard to keep Americans safe, while calling for the Committee to fund initiatives to reduce traffic fatalities and provide DOT with the resources to modernize the US Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island.
Below is video and a transcript of her remarks:
Watch the full video here.
"Thank you Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen.
"I chose to serve on this Committee to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help fix Long Island’s crumbling roads and bridges, clean up our water, and improve our infrastructure. During today’s markup, I’m committed to advancing these important priorities for my district on the South Shore of Long Island.
"Mr. Chairman, we face a major crisis on our roads on Long Island with an alarming spike in dangerous and deadly traffic collisions. Every seven minutes, a crash causing death, injury, or significant property damage occurs on our roads. Our region currently leads the state in traffic fatalities: one in five deaths from a car crash in New York happens on Long Island.
"This is unacceptable. That is why today, I will be offering an amendment to provide a much-needed increase for the Highway Safety Improvement Program, the core federal-aid program which helps make our roads safer.
"I will also be offering an amendment to require the Comptroller General to certify that this package will not result in any unnecessary and harmful increase in traffic fatalities.
"Mr. Chairman, too many families in my district and across Long Island have lost loved ones in heartbreaking – and preventable – car crashes. It’s time for us to come together and say: not one more.
"Finally, while I support increased investments in our Air Traffic Control and our Coast Guard, we desperately need additional funding to help modernize the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, New York – one of the nation's five service academies.
"This effort has strong, bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Long Island Congressional Delegation, as well as from the Trump Administration and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy – who recently visited the campus and has put forward a plan for these critical upgrades.
"That is why I will be offering a constructive amendment to help provide $1 billion in funding for this overhaul.
"I look forward to continuing to work with my T&I colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to make investments that improve safety of our roads, save lives, and enhance our security. Thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time."
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