Statement of Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA On Senate Passage of the Water Resources Development Act

“This legislation istoo important to fail”

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2013) – LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan made the following statement on the passage of the Water Resources Development Act by the U.S. Senate: “I applaud both Senators Boxer and Vitter on their leadership in steering this important legislation through the Senate.

“The Water Resources Development Act will lower transportation costs for businesses, provide billions in flood-protection to at-risk communities, refurbish our nation’s locks and dams, provide much-needed harbor and river maintenance, reduce pollution, improve human health and create as many as 500,000 new jobs for American workers. “This legislation is too important to fail. The half million members of LIUNA and I urge the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to follow the Senate’s example of true bipartisan cooperation and do their part to authorize the first Water Resources Development Act since 2007.”

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2013 report card on infrastructure assigned our nation’s inland waterways and levees a near-failing grade of D-minus, the lowest grade among the 16 infrastructure categories.

An April 2011 report by Moody’s Analytics found that, dollar-for-dollar, investments in water and other infrastructure are one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, creating 16 percent more jobs than payroll tax holidays, nearly 40 percent more jobs than across-the-board tax cuts and over five times as many jobs as temporary business tax cuts.