Pallone Unveils Comprehensive Infrastructure Package

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2017

LIFT America Act Invests in Infrastructure, Creates Jobs

& Protects Public Health and the Environment

Washington, D.C. – Today in Carteret, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) unveiled legislation to invest in America’s infrastructure, create jobs and modernize our economy for the 21st century. Congressman Pallone’s bill provides for funding for a comprehensive 21st Century infrastructure package including key areas such as broadband, drinking water, healthcare, the electric grid, brownfield redevelopment and renewable energy. The Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act, sets out five years of funding for essential infrastructure improvements, job growth, and greater protections for public health and the environment. Carteret Mayor Daniel Reiman, Kevin Duncan, Chair of the Middlesex County Building and Construction Trades Council and Doug O'Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey joined Congressman Pallone at the event.

“At a time when our nation’s infrastructure is either crumbling or in desperate need of modernization, it’s time we make real and significant investments for the future,” said Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06). “The LIFT America Act is a blueprint for critical investments in our nation’s infrastructure that will also create jobs, protect public health, and the environment. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to advance these key investments in American infrastructure.”

The LIFT America Act includes investments in several key areas including:

· $22.56 billion for drinking water infrastructure to protect public health and create jobs, including increased investment in drinking water State Revolving Funds and additional funding to replace lead service lines, address lead in school drinking water, and prepare for the impacts of climate change;
· $2.25 billion for Brownfields redevelopment to revitalize communities and create jobs by returning valuable land to productive use;
· Over $17 billion for energy infrastructure, including $4 billion for modern, secure, efficient, and resilient electric grid infrastructure, $9 billion for resilient and renewable energy supply including methane pipeline replacement, and more than $4 billion for energy efficiency efforts and smart communities;
· More than $3 billion for healthcare infrastructure, to re vive the successful Hill-Burton hospital infrastructure program, fund medical facility infrastructure in Indian Country, support state labs fighting Zika and other infectious diseases, and support community based health care infrastructure; and
· $40 billion for the deployment of secure and resilient broadband, to expand access for communities nationwide while protecting privacy and promoting security by design;

“Investing in our nation’s infrastructure makes sense for everyone. It will provide good jobs for the skilled men and women of the unions I am proud to represent. It will improve our local economies, and keep our nation competitive in an ever globalizing economy,” said President Bill Mullen of the NJ Building & Construction Trades Council. “We need to rebuild New Jersey’s bridges and roads, but there are also opportunities to build hospitals, improve our energy grid, and turn unused contaminated sites into vibrant parts of our communities. The LIFT America Act is a chance for our elected officials in Washington to come together and put Americans to work.”

“Fixing and expanding our infrastructure should be a no-brainer for Congress," said Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “From fixing lead pipes to strengthening our electric grid to weatherizing our schools, Rep. Pallone's LIFT Act provides a vision forward for how to strengthen our communities, our environment and economy. This should be a bipartisan push and we urge the full delegation to support this."

The LIFT America Act will invest in programs with proven records of job creation, including the drinking water State Revolving Fund and the Brownfields Redevelopment program. The legislation requires the use of American made iron and steel for drinking water projects and hospital construction and requires the payment of prevailing wages. The bill will also spur new high-paying technology jobs by supporting deployment of smart buildings, smart grid, and Smart Communities technology. The LIFT America Act also provides much-needed funding to repair and replace aging infrastructure that will have significant public health benefits, especially for children. The bill includes funding to get lead out of school drinking water, replace polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-laden lighting fixtures with safer and more energy efficient alternatives in schools, and reduce diesel emissions from school buses.

President Obama's Weekly Address 8/27/16: Taking Action Against the Zika Virus

WASHINGTON, DC — This week, President Obama called on Republicans in Congress to take action and vote to fund the Administration’s response to the Zika virus. In February, the President asked Congress to fund emergency resources, including mosquito control, fast-tracking diagnostics tests and vaccines, tracking the spread of the virus, and monitoring women and babies with Zika. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress have failed to take action on this issue. So the President continues to direct his Administration do what it can without help from Congress, with the primary focus of protecting pregnant women and families planning to have children. Today, the CDC continues to work with state public health officials and has an emergency response team on the ground in South Florida, agencies have moved to expedite the development of a vaccine, and the administration is working with the private sector to develop more options to test and prevent infection. The President reiterated this is about more than politics and Republicans should make this their top priority when they return from their summer recess.

Letter: United States & Mexican Pursuing Futile Strategy Against "War on Drugs"

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:


Dear Editor,

As a qualified expert in criminal law and international relations, it is quite clear to me that the "War on Drugs" has not worked.

The United States and Mexican authorities are pursuing a futile strategy in (likely temporarily) re-capturing Joaquin Guzman (aka El Chapo), the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The "War on Drugs" strategy has caused far more harm than the substances themselves would have, had they been sold in a legal way, similar to alcohol or cigarettes.

We have lost the War on Drugs. When a war has been lost, it is irrational to behave as if it has been won. Defeat must be accepted, graciously, even if it may go against other principals that we hold dear.

The United States and Mexican governments should negotiate with Mr. Guzman, in the same way as with U.S. banks that have been caught laundering drug money such as Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) (source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs):

Like Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) let Mr. Guzman pay fines, and agree to setup a charitable trust fund to help addicts recover, in exchange for a deferred prosecution agreement, that ends this bloody conflict.

Under the terms of such an agreement, the United States, Mexico, and the Sinaloa Cartel should come to an agreement to end the illegal sale and trafficking of drugs in the United States, in exchange for the Sinaloa Cartel and Mr. Guzman personally being given an ownership share and director position, in a new lawful enterprise that can distribute psychoactive substances under government license.

Sinaloa Cartel "hitmen" and others who have served as the armed wing of the cartel should be given the option to work as U.S. military contractors fighting against ISIS and other terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Americans have voted for illegal drugs to be available, by continuously purchasing them. We can no longer ignore the truth, at the expense of public health and safety.

Such an agreement must be pursued quickly, lest there be any powershift that could fragment the Sinaloa Cartel's empire, into smaller, less predictable organizations.



Eric Hafner
Ocean Grove, NJ

Pallone Condemns GOP’s Ongoing Agenda to Weaken EPA

Washington, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. on Wednesday decried the latest efforts from House Republicans to roll back crucial regulations that preserve and protect the environment. Under the guise of creating jobs and protecting the border, the proposals put forth by Republicans would roll back historic advances in environmental protection and harm public health by blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce rules that prevent hazardous air pollution from entering the air, dangerous materials such as mercury from entering the water supply and our ability to protect the iconic bald eagle from extinction.

“If House Republicans had their way, federal lands that are a national treasure would no longer be protected and polluters would no longer be accountable with the false and misleading claim they are securing the border,” said Pallone. “Americans should be outraged at this latest in a string of attacks against EPA. Congress should focus on creating jobs above all else such as moving forward with the American Jobs Act.”

The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, which was rushed through the Natural Resources Committee, would waive over 35 environmental laws that protect historic sites, endangered species and air and water quality, based on the fallacy that they interfere with Customs and Border Patrol agents’ ability to protect the border.

The assault on the environment continued on the House floor today with consideration of a Republican bill that would weaken EPA’s ability to regulate pollution from cement kilns that incinerate waste and release some of the most harmful pollutants including mercury and acid gases.

Pallone offered an amendment that would weaken the disastrous effects of this legislation on public health. His amendment would prevent the bill from going into effect if it interferes with the Department of Health and Human Service’s goal of reducing our children’s exposure to mercury.

“Republicans have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at EPA today in an effort to weaken regulations that are vital to public health. The effect of both of these pieces of legislation becoming law would be higher prevalence of asthma, heart attacks and chronic bronchitis and hundreds of acres less of federally protected lands for Americans to enjoy. That’s a bleak landscape,” Pallone added.

Federal Fracking Panel Responds to Growing Backlash Against Polluting, Destructive Practice: Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenona

August 11,2011

WASHINGTON - “Today, the Shale Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board released its recommendations regarding the regulation of U.S. shale gas production. With six out of seven of the subcommittee’s members having direct financial ties to the natural gas industry, their recommendations will not go nearly far enough in protecting consumers and the environment from the risks associated with shale gas obtained through the process of hydraulic fracturing. The report does outline the major environmental and public health issues associated with shale gas drilling.

“While the natural gas industry has advocated for, and has been granted exemptions from key environmental regulations, it has racked up countless violations of the rules that do apply to them, and has been questioned about the validity of their gas production forecasts. Yet the subcommittee nonetheless suggests that natural gas producers should play a large role in ensuring that hydraulic fracturing operations do not endanger consumers or natural resources by providing the public information about shale gas production and adopting industry-wide ‘best practices.’

“Just last week The New York Times reported that players within the natural gas industry helped bury evidence produced by the Environmental Protection Agency that hydraulic fracturing had, contrary to industry claims, contaminated drinking water supplies. How can we trust the industry to show ‘leadership in improving environmental impact’ when it has actually gone to great lengths to cover up its detrimental impacts to public health and natural resources?

“Much like the hearings it convened in the months leading up to the study, which mainly reflected the views of the natural gas industry and policymakers, this study downplays the concerns of those affected by fracking—communities that have been turned into sacrifice zones at the expense of the natural gas industry’s desire to turn a profit.

“While the report recommends allowing the natural gas industry to create a new national organization to police its own practices, it proposes leaving protection of public health and the environment to ‘each relevant jurisdiction.’ We know that industry has gone to great lengths to influence local governments, and even greater lengths to avoid culpability at a national level. Why should we let the industry police itself while leaving localities to fight for themselves?

“Moreover, we are extremely disappointed that federal involvement in this matter will focus on providing money to the natural gas industry for research and development to help greenwash their practices, rather than removing exemptions from key environmental regulations. The federal government should be taking an active role in protecting consumers and the environment from hydraulic fracturing, not throwing money at a destructive and unprofitable industry.”

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.