By
investing in these projects, we’ve already created hundreds of thousands of jobs. But the fact remains that nearly one in five construction workers is still unemployed and needs a job. And that makes absolutely no sense at a time when there is so much of America that needs rebuilding.So that’s why, last month, I announced a new plan for upgrading America’s roads, rails and runways for the long-term. Over the next six years, we will rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads -- enough to circle the world six times. We will lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways -- enough to stretch from coast to coast. And we will restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control system that reduces delays for the American people.
This plan will be fully paid for. It will not add to our deficit over time. And we are going to work with Congress to see to that. It will establish an infrastructure bank to leverage（手段，影响力） federal dollars and focus on the smartest investments. We want to cut waste and bureaucracy（官僚主义） by consolidating and collapsing more than 100 different, often duplicative（复制的，重复的） programs. And it will change the way Washington works by reforming the federal government’s patchwork approach of funding and maintaining our infrastructure. We’ve got to focus less on wasteful earmarks, outdated formulas. We’ve got to focus more on competition and innovation; less on shortsighted political priorities, and more on our national economic priorities.
So investing in our infrastructure is something that members of both political parties have always supported. It’s something that groups ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to the AFL-CIO support today. And by making these investments across the country, we won’t just make our economy run better over the long haul -- we will create good, middle-class jobs right now.
So there is no reason why we can’t do this. There is no reason why the world’s best infrastructure should lie beyond our borders. This is America. We’ve always had the best infrastructure. This is work that needs to be done. There are workers who are ready to do it. All we need is the political will. This is a season for choices, and this is the choice: between choice -- between decline and prosperity, and between the past and the future.
Our future has never been predestined（注定的） . It has been built on the hard work and sacrifices of previous generations. They invested yesterday for what we have today. That’s how we built canals（运河，隧道） , and railroads, and highways, and ports that allowed our economy to grow by leaps and bounds（跳跃，飞速地） . That’s how we led the world in the pursuit of new technologies and innovations. That’s what allowed us to build the middle class and lead the global economy in the 20th century. And if we’re going to lead it in the 21st, that’s the vision we can’t afford to lose sight of right now. That’s the challenge that’s fallen to this generation. That’s the challenge that this country is going to meet. And with the help of these gentlemen behind me, and I hope strong bipartisan（两党连立的） support, I have no doubt that we will meet these challenges.
Thank you very much, everybody.
