The US Chamber of Commerce held a Transportation and Infrastructure Summit this last Wednesday. The event highlighted the need to invest in our nation’s infrastructure and the effects that those investments have on the economy.
The day kicked off with opening remarks from US Chamber President, Tom Donahue, who pushed
United States Chamber of Commerce logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
the need to establish a long term, reliable funding mechanism for transportation, but to increase the gas tax in the meantime. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman, Bill Shuster (R-PA), followed Donahue’s remarks with a strong endorsement for the federal government’s role in infrastructure and stated that his Committee is looking at all possibilities when it comes to infrastructure revenue options.
Throughout the afternoon the Chamber held panels ranging from the federal role in transportation, to the use of Public Private Partnerships, to economic competitiveness. ASCE’s Failure to Act reports were cited frequently by all of the speakers as a reason why we must be making these transportation investments now if we do not want to risk job losses and a drop in the GDP in the long term.
