Testifying before Congress

As many of you know, on Oct. 29 I testified in front of a congressional committee for the third time this year. I thought you might find it interesting to learn a little about what the experience is like and what impact it has on the association’s advocacy efforts on your behalf.

My most recent appearance was in front of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure chaired by Jim Oberstar (D-MN-8). The title of the hearing was “Investing in Infrastructure: The Road to Recovery.” With 16 people making presentations and answering questions, testimony ran for seven hours, with industry speaking last. In general, my testimony focused on the need for a stimulus package that would boost the economy, create new jobs and keep our workers employed. The goal was to demonstrate that recent data (from the Clean Water Council’s economic impact study) regarding “ready-to-go” water/wastewater infrastructure projects around the country and the economic benefits generated by such projects justify a $10 billion appropriation in economic recovery legislation.
The experience of testifying is both daunting and educational. Fortunately, the initial preparation is done primarily by NUCA staff, who do an outstanding job. I flew to Washington a day early and helped write and rewrite our oral testimony until it was within our time constraints and on point for the industry. Once that was done, I read it until I had it down pat. Then we spent hours boning up for questions and clarifying how we planned to achieve our goals.
Our biggest challenge was to get a commitment for a large dollar amount for clean water infrastructure programs — specifically, the $10 billion noted above. We also wanted to inform Congress of our industry’s needs with regard to job retention and the critical importance of rescuing our aging underground infrastructure from the brink of catastrophic failure. We wanted to make sure that the committee members understood that spending money on infrastructure represented an investment in our country’s future.

As you might expect, with 16 people testifying, there was a lot of competition. In fact, a better part of the day was spent listening to others press their cases for stimulus funding for shipping, air traffic, trains, high-speed rail, roads, bridges, wind power and solar power. These are all very visible items, and ones that are probably much more interesting to talk about than clean water. It therefore fell to me to paint a clear picture of underground utility construction companies laying people off in droves, equipment and assets being sold, banks calling in lines of credit, etc.— in other words, real stories with real people and real devastation that could lead to the virtual cessation of infrastructure construction across America. On the positive side, I stressed how investment in infrastructure creates jobs, increases tax bases and builds assets for America.

At one point near the end, I jumped in and simply reminded the committee how great it is to drink a glass of clean water from the faucet, take a shower in the morning and use a bathroom indoors. Mr. Oberstar agreed and told us that he would not forget about clean water in his stimulus bill. In fact, he said that he would call for higher funding than what was included in the previous stimulus bill and that he planned to have a new stimulus bill out the T&I Committee during the lame duck session.

If and when legislation is introduced, NUCA and the Clean Water Council will be front and center in supporting the inclusion of underground infrastructure investment, and we’ll need your help.

Regards,


     Terry Dillon