Remarks to GHP & I-69 Alliance
Four Seasons Hotel, Houston
House Majority Whip Tom DeLay
August 16, 2002
Thank you for that kind introduction,
I'm glad to see all of you here today. Your commitment and vision for the transportation needs we face serve the country well, and I thank you for your involvement.
We've got an enormous job ahead of us in ensuring that we're adequately prepared to expedite the construction of I-69 and get it completed and working for America at the earliest possible hour.
We build highways not only with our present needs in mind, but also the country we'll grow to be and the tools we'll require to meet our needs.
Many of us know that President Eisenhower was a leading proponent of building a nationwide interstate highway system. What you may not know is the story behind Ike's passion for road building.
In 1919, the War Department decided to send a truck convoy straight across the country. They thought it would dramatically make the case that the country needed to upgrade its roads to safeguard our national security.
Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower, bored with his deskbound assignment demobilizing the World War I Army in Fort Meade Maryland and hungry for adventure, wrangled a spot on the convoy.
Ike tells us that those who have only known concrete and macadam highways of gentle grades and engineered curves might have thought of the trip as a humdrum operation.
But, back then, they weren't even sure the truck train could complete its mission because no one had ever attempted anything like it before.
Their orders were to proceed without delay from Washington to San Francisco. So, on July 7th 1919 at 11:15 in the morning, the convoy pulled out from the Zero Mile stone, just south of the White House.
Seven and a half hours later, they stopped in Frederick, Maryland, the roads, for the time, had been excellent with good weather -- They'd only traveled forty six miles the first day.
Naturally, the convoy bogged down as they traveled further west. They were constantly towing and fixing trucks that broke down from the poor road conditions. The sad state of our roads made crossing the continent a crap shoot.
Camping at night and constantly pulling pranks on the gullible Easterners in the outfit, they slowly crawled their way across the country.
It wasn't until September 6, that the truck train finally rolled into Oakland, California to ride the ferries across the bay to San Francisco. During the last leg of the trip, they'd traveled on the best roads of their journey but still only averaged ten miles an hour.
Later, with this experience in mind and after seeing that Germany's autobahns were a powerful national asset, Ike decided to emphasize road building in his Administration and he led Congress to commit to a bold plan that created the first 41,000 miles of super highways.
"The old convoy started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land," Eisenhower said.
In Ike's mind, the truck convoy underscored that the United States had reached a transition point in our transportation needs.
Just as rivers, lakes, and canals gave way to the steam locomotive as the primary avenue of commerce and travel, another transition was under way. It was time to upgrade America's transportation network to support the new demands of a changing country.
And he took action as president by improving our capacity to move goods and services efficiently with a national system of super highways.
In much the same way, changes in trade and travel patterns are shifting the primary movement of people and goods today. We're called to action ourselves.
While the dominant tides of trade and travel had flowed from east to west, a new dynamic is fueling the transition to a national perpendicular shift. The future of American trade and travel is clearly north-south.
The lesson here is that effective leadership requires the recognition of future needs and the timely action that meets them.
And while I-69 will obviously benefit the states it traverses, there is an abiding national interest in ensuring the efficient movement of freight, for trade intermodal connectivity, and economic development.
A number of factors are responsible for the transition.
First, since the passage of NAFTA, Canada and Mexico have grown to become the United State's major trading partners.
Last year, eighty percent of U.S. trade with Mexico and sixty-seven percent of trade with Canada moved by truck. The I-69 Corridor accounts for sixty-three percent of America's trade with our neighbors.
The Michigan border points at Detroit and Port Huron handle half of truck borne traffic with Canada. And our own border between Laredo and the Lower Rio Grande Valley accounts for half of the country's truck borne trade with Mexico.
The momentum is enormous and growing. Truck borne exports from Indiana to Mexico grew 419% from 1995 to 2000. You ask, "How much is that worth?" Imports increased from $223 million to $1.15 billion in five years.
Truck borne imports from Mexico to Michigan increased 91% over the same period and represented an increase of $2.8 billion to $5.3 billion.
The big picture tells a similar story. Freight flows across the country show the growing dominance of the I-69 Corridor. Over half the freight shipped in the U.S. during 1997-more than five billion tons-passed through, originated in or terminated in the I-69 Corridor.
Seventeen of our top twenty-five seaports are directly connected to I-69. Fifteen of our top twenty-five cargo airports are readily accessible to I-69. There are 96 rail terminals within 150 miles of the Corridor.
So, the supporting infrastructure is obviously in place and trade is increasing accordingly. Container traffic to our Gulf ports served by I-69 is growing faster than both the national average and Atlantic and Pacific ports.
International trade especially favors the I-69 Corridor. Here at home, we lead the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage.
In the year 2000, Houston moved more trade cargo volume than the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and Oakland combined. And we matched New York, New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, and Miami combined.
Trade along the I-69 Corridor is outpacing the nation by increasing at more than double the national rate of growth.
A Federal Highway Administration study projects growing freight traffic through 2020. They see domestic freight traffic increasing by 87% over that period and international freight traffic will more than double. Most of this additional freight will move by truck. Trucks are expected to handle almost 70% of the new tonnage and will move 82% of the increased value.
The FHWA's analysis tells us that the bulk of the expected growth in truck traffic will flow through the central, eastern, and southern United States.
And the dominant movement of trade will be flowing from southwest to northeast--I-69 will be perfectly positioned to support this trend.
We've seen the trend lines. We've done the math. We know the projections. We're watching an explosion of growth in trade and commerce. The only question is whether we'll be adequately prepared to reap the maximum benefits for our region and our national economy.
We could certainly make a compelling argument that Indianapolis is the Capital City of Middle America. But despite the emerging trade patterns, the way things stand today, there is no major interstate highway linking Indianapolis and Middle America with the Mexican border.
Because we lack an interstate level roadway spanning the middle of our country, American consumers and businesses are absorbing the additional costs from increased shipping time, fuel consumption, and costs spent negotiating the current indirect shipping routes.
That huge liability will hobble our economic development and solving the north-south shortcoming is a clear national priority.
Projections tell us that every dollar spent building I-69 through Texas will return $1.68 in additional economic impact.
NAFTA brought enormous changes to our hemisphere but its effect will probably pale in comparison to TPA.
I'm here with an optimistic assessment of the growing opportunities we'll find, to export goods and services, now that Congress has finally empowered President Bush with trade promotion authority.
For far too long, America was excluded from trade pacts with other countries because our negotiators lacked the authority to reach binding agreements with our trading partners.
Unfortunately, other countries filled the vacuum. Of the 130 preferential trade agreements currently in effect, the United States is a party to only three.
That was completely unacceptable, but now the president is empowered to open new markets for American businesses. Imports will increase. Exports will increase. And we can be confident that TPA will do more for the I-69 Corridor than any other avenue of commerce.
Today, the only ongoing obstacle to completing I-69 is to create the national recognition of its ongoing value and pressing Congress and the Administration for completion.
President Bush, of course, given his experience as our Governor, recognizes the vital role that an efficient north-south artery will play in our growing economy.
This highway is destined to become the spine of trade in the Americas. But we can't rest on the assumption that the self-evident merits of the I-69 Corridor will ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to build it.
All of us agree that the completion of the I-69 corridor is one of our greatest national transportation priorities. But it's not going to happen without a coordinated, determined grass-roots effort supported by the congressional delegations from the states through which this vital trade corridor will travel.
To the extent that things get done in Washington-and believe me, there's ample room for improvement-I find that they seldom get done until action items are handed out.
So, as we walk out of here this afternoon, let's keep a couple things in mind. I see two areas where we ought to concentrate our attention:
First, state DOTs must move aggressively to place and complete environmental impact statements and route selection studies. I-69 supporters in every state must work actively to bring this about--and Texas is no exception.
Second, we need to turn-up the scrutiny on the road projects that are flying the false flag of international trade corridor routes when they actually serve little to no broader national purpose.
It's time to draw sharp distinctions between actual international trade corridors and road projects that serve regional and parochial interests but are mislabeled as ITC projects.
These bogus projects sap resources and, by diverting funds from national priorities like I-69, they foster inefficiency in our economy.
Now, with respect to TEA21, there will be a great deal of debate over the next year as Congress begins to assemble the reauthorization package that will determine how we should fund a borders and corridors program.
It's important to ensure that funding for international trade corridors like I-69 is a priority in the reauthorization legislation. And the debate on how best to do this is still evolving and will hopefully develop into a consensus on which all invested parties can agree.
Members of the I-69 Congressional Caucus will continue to educate both other Members of Congress and the Administration about the importance of I-69 and its needs in the reauthorization.
So, in closing, let me ask for your support.
Let's keep pressing the corridor states to complete their groundwork on schedule.
Let's explain the economic imperative for creating a trade corridor dedicated to the future growth of American commerce.
Let's keep building support for the I-69 project on Capitol Hill and within the Administration.
And let's keep pushing until that broad ribbon of commerce stretches from Laredo to Canada.
Thank you very much.