It’s Time to Reinvest in America

Nearly a century ago, the Great Depression plunged the nation into despair, leaving tens of millions of Americans unemployed and unable to put food on the table amid the worst financial crisis in history. In that difficult moment, President Franklin D. Roosevelt chose to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, hoping that an ambitious public works program would revive the economy and get America back on its feet – and that historic investment paid off.

America emerged from the Great Depression with 639,000 miles of newly surfaced roads, 8 million new jobs, and hundreds of thousands of modern buildings and public spaces, including schools, hospitals, airports and water treatment plants. And in the decades after, we built a historic system of interstate highways and won the Space Race.

Now we’re presented with a similar challenge to the one President Roosevelt once faced – and a similar opportunity to rebuild America from the bottom up and middle out. And, just like in Roosevelt’s era, we have to start with infrastructure.

The United States of America is one of the wealthiest nation on earth, yet we now rank 13^th in overall quality of our infrastructure, thanks to decades of disinvestment and neglect. We’ve fallen woefully behind our competitors and allies – a disparity that has only been made worse by both the climate and COVID-19 crises. Today’s economy cannot thrive on last century’s infrastructure. It’s time for America to step into the future – and that starts with the American Jobs Plan. 

Infrastructure is about repairing roads and bridges, yes. But it’s also about ensuring that those roads and bridges connect modern communities with families and workers who are equipped with the tools they need to succeed. That’s why the American Jobs Plan takes a modern approach to infrastructure, accounting for today’s problems and preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.

The American Jobs Plan will build interconnected communities, invest in public transit, expand access to broadband, create safe and affordable housing and ensure that no child in America drinks water that comes from lead pipes. With the funds included in the American Jobs Plan, we’ll create a contemporary, green economy that works for everyone by investing in electric vehicles and clean energy, and creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs along the way. That’s something everyone should be able to support.

We should follow this historic investment to modernize our economy with the American Families Plan, to lift up working families and ensure every child can thrive. This, too, is infrastructure – and investing in human infrastructure is just as important to America’s economic future as modernizing roads and bridges. 

The caregiving economy is vital to our overall economic health, and rapidly growing. That’s why the American Families Plan makes an unprecedented investment in this traditionally neglected industry so working individuals can keep our nation moving forward while knowing that their loved ones are receiving the best possible care. And the American Jobs Plan also takes steps to reduce child poverty by expanding the Child Tax Credit, which will directly benefit nearly 100,000 children right here in California’s 28^th District, as well as expanding affordable health care. And it will create a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave plan, empowering workers – particularly women who have borne the brunt of the pandemic – to stay in the workforce while caring for newborns or sick family members.

We are still a country of innovators and forward-thinkers. And we can position ourselves to compete and lead in the modern economy. We just need to seize this moment and think big. We must not only rebuild our economy after COVID-19’s devastation but also reshape it into a modern economy that lifts everyone up, with plentiful jobs and opportunities in the cutting-edge green technology sector.

We cannot afford to let this moment pass. It’s time to reinvest in America, and in our people.