“But Republicans chose to hew to the pledge they made to Grover Norquist instead of listening to the vast majority of Americans – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike – who support this plan. Republicans are out of touch with even the majority of Republican voters, who support asking millionaires to pay their fair share.

“For the good of our nation, I hope Republicans stop rooting for failure and start working with Democrats to put Americans back to work.”

Senate Democrats urge Republicans to join them in supporting putting Americans back to work.:

America agrees: the only way out of tough economic times is to invest in what makes this country great — its workers.

Seventy-two percent of Americans, including 54 percent of Republicans, support the bill. And 76 percent of them, including 56 percent of Republicans, agree with Democrats that it should be paid for by asking the nation’s wealthiest citizens to contribute their fair share.

Here’s a look at the key reasons to support it, according to Democratic senators:

#1 The Bill Creates Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs

Senator Coons (DE): “More than two million Americans who worked in construction have lost their jobs since this tragic recession hit. Including 8,000 in my home state of Delaware alone.”

Senator Merkley (OR): “More than 40,000 construction jobs have been lost in Oregon since 2007, all of which only thrive when we’re building homes in America.”

Senator Bingaman (NM): “Passage of this legislation would mean at least $284 million in my home state of New Mexico in immediate infrastructure investments. And that investment of $284 million would support a minimum of 3,700 local jobs.”

Senator Begich (A.K.): “This [bill] could put Alaskans to work on important projects: Bridge repairs outside the Denali National Park, a critical route between Alaska’s two population centers and a heavily traveled route for our tour operators and shippers.”

Senator Levin (MI): “In my home state of Michigan this legislation would result in more than $900 million going to infrastructure projects, it would create about 12,000 jobs.”

Senator Feinstein (CA): “The Federal Highway Administration estimates that for every billion dollars of federal transportation spending, 27,822 jobs are produced. It is one of the biggest bang for the buck programs I know of.”

#2 It Would Repair and Rebuild Important Infrastructure

Senator Bingaman (NM): “The Federal Highway Administration estimates that about 22% of New Mexico’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Nineteen percent of our bridges are structurally deficient, or functionally obsolete, according to the Federal Highway Administration.”

Senator Begich (AK):  “We see it in the potholes in our streets, in the congested highways and public transit that lack the capacity to safely and efficiently get Americans where they need to go.”

Senator Feinstein (CA): In my state, 66% of our major roads are in poor condition, 68% of our urban interstates are congestion — congested, vehicle travel increased by 27% from 1990 to 2007, and 30% of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete…..”

Senator Klobuchar (MN): “The cracks in this system became abundantly clear to all of our country, and in fact the entire world, when on the afternoon of August 1, 2011, the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the middle of the Mississippi river, taking the lives of 13 Minnesotans and injuring so many more.”

Senator Wyden (OR): “You cannot have big league economic growth in America with little league transportation systems. It’s just not possible.

#3 It’s Entirely Paid For

Senator Reid (NV): “Republicans say they oppose this plan to hire hundreds of thousands of construction workers and rebuild our nation’s collapsing infrastructure because they believe the wealthiest Americans can’t afford to pay a few pennies more. Even a majority of the people who would pay this tax say this isn’t true. They support our plan.”

Senator Bingaman (NM): “The legislation would impose a .7% surtax on income exceeding a million dollars.”

Senator Levin (MI): “Every member of this body, Democrat and Republican, fights for adequate infrastructure spending for their state. If Republicans reject this legislation because of the funding mechanism, they are voting directly in opposition to the will of the American people.”

Senator Schumer (NY): “This money will not be wasted; it will go directly to infrastructure. We’re all worried that China will get ahead of us economically, well, right now, China is spending four times as much on infrastructure than we are.”

Tomorrow the Senate will vote on the Rebuild America Jobs Act, a plan to put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work constructing thousands of miles of roads and bridges, runways and train tracks.

The plan is paid for with a small tax — less than a penny — on every dollar a person earns in excess of $1 million a year. The legislation asks millionaires and billionaires to contribute just a little bit more than they do today, knowing there is a price tag associated with getting our economy back on track.

My Republican colleagues say they oppose this plan to hire hundreds of thousands of construction workers and rebuild our nation’s collapsing infrastructure because they believe the wealthiest Americans can’t afford to pay a few pennies more.

But even the majority of the people who would pay this tax say that simply isn’t true. They support our plan.

This tiny fraction of American taxpayers who would pay a tiny fraction more each year are among the one percent of Americans who have done better and better with each passing decade.

Between 1979 and 2007, the annual, after-tax income of the top one percent of American wage earners has increased by 275 percent. That same one percent now makes more than the other 99 percent of Americans combined.

And not all of that one percent of wealthy Americans would even qualify to pay this tax to fund billions in road construction and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

So, tomorrow my Republican colleagues will face a choice. The choice is not whether to invest in roads or bridges, or whether the richest of the rich can spare a few dollars for the sake of our economy. The choice is about priorities.

Who will Republicans put first — the millions of ordinary Americans struggling to find work and put food on the table? Or the millionaires and billionaires whose biggest problem is that they may have to pay an additional $7,000 on the second million they make each year?

We ought to be able to agree that making enough money to pay even a dollar more under our plan is a wonderful problem to have.

But so far, Republicans have been pretty clear what their priorities are.

They unanimously voted against the American Jobs Act. That legislation would have put 2 million people back to work and cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses.

Then they unanimously voted against Democrats’ plan to put 400,000 teachers and tens of thousands of police officers and firefighters back to work.

Republicans have cost this country millions of jobs in just the last few weeks alone.

And they’ll have another opportunity tomorrow to show America whose side they’re on — millionaires or the middle class.

Seventy-two percent of Americans, including 54 percent of Republicans, want us to pass this plan. And 76 percent of them, including 56 percent of Republicans, want us to pay for it by asking the nation’s wealthiest citizens to contribute their fair share.

Americans know the only way out of the worst recession since the Great Depression is to invest in what makes this country great — its workers. And they believe it is fair to ask those who have profited the most from this country’s successes to help shoulder the burden.

Yet Republicans have obstructed and opposed every Democratic effort to create jobs this year.

Why would they do that? Fear.

Because those job-creation efforts would have cost millionaires and billionaires even one dollar more. And the truth is, they are terrified to violate the infamous Grover Norquist tax pledge, even though they know it’s the right thing to do.

They are in thrall to a man whose singular focus is keeping taxes low for the very wealthy, no matter what the effect on this nation. They fear his political retribution.

But I hope my Republican colleagues will heed this message sent yesterday by former Republican Senator Alan Simpson regarding Grover Norquist and his pledge: The only power Norquist wields is the power you give him.

“He can’t murder you; he can’t burn your house. The only thing he can do is defeat you for re-election, and if that means more to you than your country, you really shouldn’t be in Congress,” Simpson said.

I believe most Senators — and certainly most Americans — know that legislating isn’t as simple as a mindless pledge. But those Senators must also have the courage to act on their convictions.

As British historian Thomas Fuller once said, “Better break your word than do worse in keeping it.”

Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN), Joe Manchin (WV), Barbara Boxer (CA), Chris Coons (DE), Bill Nelson (FL), Richard Blumenthal (CN), Diane Feinstein (CA), Carl Levin (MI), Robert Menendez (NJ) and Sherrod Brown (OH) are all co-sponsors.

Called the Rebuild America Jobs Act, the bill is based on President Obama’s jobs plan, and would invest $50 billion in roads, rails, and runways across the country.

Additionally, the bill would invest $10 billion to establish a National Infrastructure Bank that would mix private and public sector money to support construction projects across the country — without adding a penny to the deficit.

The legislation would be paid for by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a small 0.7 percent surtax on their income.  This would affect less than one percent of Americans.

Everyone who has traveled past his or her front door knows our infrastructure needs work. There are 150,000 miles of roadway, 4,000 miles of train tracks, and 150 miles of airport runways in need of upgrades and maintenance nationwide. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives America’s infrastructure a “D.”

We need a top-notch infrastructure to compete in the global economy, and this bill would put Americans back to work building it.

Seventy-two percent of Americans and 54 percent of Republicans agree it’s time to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure. Even Senate Republicans have supported government investments in infrastructure in the past.

That is why Senator Reid has said it is time for Republicans “to put their political motivations aside and work with us on this common sense bill to create jobs.”

This week Democrats introduced legislation that would put Americans back to work rebuilding this nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

It will hire hundreds of thousands of people to upgrade 150,000 miles of roadways, improve thousands of miles of train tracks and modernize our nation’s runways and air-traffic control systems.

The Rebuild America Jobs Act will invest $50 billion to ensure our world-class economy has world-class infrastructure and get this country working again.

This common-sense plan has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support in the past. Many of my Republican colleagues in the Senate have spoken glowingly about what infrastructure investments could do to put people back to work and improve the economy in their home states.

Yet this week, Republicans have raised a hew and cry against our plan because it asks millionaires and billionaires to contribute their fair share to the effort to right our listing economy.

The plan would require the richest of the rich in America to contribute a tiny fraction of their income to that effort. They would pay a 0.7 percent surtax on income in excess of $1 million a year.

So someone making $1.1 million a year would pay an additional $700.

Yet my Republican colleagues adamantly oppose this fair and balanced approach because it would require Americans who have done better and better each year for decades to contribute a tiny fraction more than they do now.

They are the top two-tenths of one percent of American taxpayers.

Yet Republicans have put the interests of these millionaires and billionaires ahead of those of the rest of Americans, and it has cost this nation literally millions of jobs.

So I think it’s important that we be clear who these lucky few, these millionaires and billionaires who enjoy the protection of the Senate GOP, actually are.

They are the same millionaires and billionaires whose annual, after-tax income has increased by 275 percent over the last three decades. I repeat, 275 percent. That’s according to a study released last week by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Between 1979 and 2007, the bottom 20 percent of wage earners saw their wages creep up slowly – 18 percent in all. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent saw theirs double again and again.

In fact, their share of the nation’s income is higher than at any time since 1928 – just before the stock market crashed, plunging this nation into the Great Depression.

Their share of the national income has doubled since 1979.

And now they now take home more than half of all the money earned each year in this nation, even after taxes.

That means one percent of American workers now makes more than the other 99 percent combined.

That’s not to say that they don’t deserve their prosperity. No doubt many of them have worked incredibly hard to achieve such great success.

But their tremendous fortune – including their tremendous fortunes – means they can afford to contribute a tiny fraction more to shore up the economic future of this great nation.

As John D. Rockefeller, Jr. said, “Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.”

Seventy-two percent of Americans, including 54 percent of Republicans, support Democrats’ plan to pull this nation out of the worst recession it’s seen since the Great Depression by investing in new roadways, runways and railways.

And 76 percent of Americans, including 56 percent of Republicans, agree the nation’s most privileged citizens should contribute a little more to help pay for it.

They believe in the initiatives Democrats have proposed to jumpstart our economy, but they know the money will have to come from somewhere. They know tough choices must be made.

Asking someone making $1.1 million to contribute a few hundred bucks more every year shouldn’t be one of the tough choices. That’s a no-brainer.

Yet while Democrats fight for the middle class, it seems Republicans will fight for the one percent of Americans who have every resource available to fight for themselves.

• Immediately Invests in Our Roads, Rails and Airports ($50 Billion):  The Senate bill provides $50 billion in immediate investments for highways, transit, rail and aviation, helping to modernize an infrastructure that now receives a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers and putting hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job.  This investment will put people to work upgrading 150,000 miles of road, laying/maintaining 4,000 miles of train tracks, restoring 150 miles of runways, and putting in place a next-generation air-traffic control system that will reduce travel time and delays. The plan includes $27 billion to rebuild roads and bridges, $9 billion to repair transit systems, $5 billion for projects selected through a competitive grant program, $4 billion for construction of the high-speed rail network, $2 billion to improve airport facilities and $1 billion for a NextGen air traffic control system.  The call for greater infrastructure investment has been joined by leaders from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.
• Establishes a National Infrastructure Bank ($10 Billion):  The Senate bill establishes a National Infrastructure Bank capitalized with $10 billion that will leverage private and public capital to help fund a broad range of infrastructure projects. The Bank would be based on the model Senators Kerry and Hutchison have championed, which has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce while building on legislation by Senators Rockefeller and Lautenberg and the work of long-time infrastructure bank champions like Rosa DeLauro and the input of the President’s Jobs Council.
• Asks Millionaires to Pay Their Fair Share Without Adding a Dime to the Deficit. In order to create or save hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, the Senate bill imposes a 0.7% surtax on modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million for both single filers and married couples filing jointly.  The surtax is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT MODERNIZING OUR NATION’S INFRASTRUCTURE

CNN/ORC Poll: 72% of Americans, 54% of Republicans Support Rebuilding Our Infrastructure. According to a recent CNN/ORC Poll, 72% of Americans support “increasing federal spending to build and repair roads, bridges and schools,” while only 28% oppose. This is up from 64% from September of this year. 70% of Independents and 54% of Republicans support funding our infrastructure. [CNN/ORC Poll, 10/17/11]

Rockefeller Foundation: 72% of Americans Support Infrastructure Bank. The Rockefeller Foundation infrastructure survey, conducted in February 2011, found that 72% of Americans support “Creating a National Infrastructure Bank that helps finance transportation projects that are important to the whole nation or large regions and that funds projects based on merit, not politics.” [Rockefeller Foundation, 2/14/11]

THERE IS BROAD BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: President “Was Right to Call For” Transportation Infrastructure Investments. Thomas J. Donohue, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said after President Obama’s September jobs speech that the President “was right to call for… smart investments in our transportation infrastructure. The administration and Congress must now act on these priorities without further delay in order to save and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.” [U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 9/8/11]

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials: $50 Billion For Infrastructure Projects Could Create or Protect Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs. “John Horsely, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said at its peak a year ago, the Recovery Act helped employ 64,000 workers on highway projects. He says a concentrated infusion of $50 billion now could lead to the employment of hundreds of thousands more. ‘The president wants to jump-start the economy and create jobs, and so if he could manage to get the authority to spend $50 billion all in one year, you would probably have a much higher number of jobs created, if it all happened in one year,’ Horsely said.” [ABC News, 9/8/11]

President of GOP Mayors and Local Officials Coalition: Infrastructure Spending “Puts People to Work,” Needs to Be “Higher Priority” for Congressional Republicans. “Mick Cornett, the GOP mayor of Oklahoma City, welcomes the infrastructure spending that Obama has proposed in his jobs bill, explaining that mayors witness the impact of such investments on the ground level. ‘Mayors see up close the deferred maintenance that’s going on in nation’s cities…it’s just a ticking time bomb. We also know that it puts people to work,’ says Cornett, president of the Republican Mayors and Local Officials coalition within the U.S. Conference. Obama’s jobs plan proposes new infrastructure spending on everything from rebuilding schools to an infrastructure finance bank–all of which Cornett supports… Cornett says that, by contrast, Congressional Republicans have not put forward any substantial plans to revitalize the country’s infrastructure.”  [Washington Post, 9/20/11]

Associated General Contractors: “Should Congress Fail To Enact” President’s Infrastructure Plan, “Too Many Construction Workers Will Remain Unemployed, The Private Sector Will Suffer, And Taxpayers Will End Up Paying More.” Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, said, “Should Congress fail to enact the desperately needed infrastructure investments the President proposes, too many construction workers will remain unemployed, the private sector will suffer, and taxpayers will end up paying more, later, for infrastructure. Infrastructure projects don’t just create construction jobs… Investing in infrastructure is the most effective way to create good jobs, deliver great roads, build a strong economy and protect taxpayers. That is why the Associated General Contractors of America stands with the president and everyone else who is willing to make the investments needed to revive our industry and rebuild our economy.” [Associated General Contractors, 9/9/11]

American Society of Civil Engineers: Current, Insufficient Funding for Infrastructure Will Cost America More Than 870,000 Jobs and $900 Billion By 2020. Patrick J. Natale of the American Society of Civil Engineers wrote, “Obama’s call for infrastructure investment was not only about jobs but about our competitiveness in global markets. Both the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and the Building America’s Future Educational Fund have released reports showing how we are rapidly falling behind our global competitors such as China, Japan, and South Korea when it comes to investing and modernizing our transportation systems… A recent economic study from ASCE found that even current investment levels in transportation infrastructure will cost the American economy more than 870,000 jobs and suppress the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product by almost $900 billion by the year 2020.” [National Journal, 9/12/11]

President Reagan Said Infrastructure Investment Was Common Sense. “Common sense tells us that it will cost a lot less to keep the system we have in good repair than to let it disintegrate and have to start over from scratch. Clearly this program is an investment in tomorrow that we must make today. It will allow us to complete the interstate system, make most — the interstate repairs and strengthen and improve our bridges, make all of us safer, and help our cities meet their public transit needs.” [Remarks, 1/6/83]

THERE IS BROAD BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK

Earlier This Year, Two Republican Senators Co-Sponsored an Infrastructure Bank. According to the Washington Post, “Earlier this year, in fact, two Senate Republicans — Kay Bailey Hutchison (Tex.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) — had co-sponsored Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry’s infrastructure bank bill, which bears close resemblance to the proposal in Obama’s failed jobs bill.” [Washington Post, 10/13/11]

• Sen. Hutchison: “A National Infrastructure Bank is an Innovative Way” to Address the Nation’s Water, Transportation, and Energy Infrastructure Needs. “The idea of a national infrastructure bank is an innovative way to leverage private-public partnerships and maximize private funding to address our water, transportation, and energy infrastructure needs. In our current fiscal situation, we must be creative in meeting the needs of our country and spurring economic development and job growth, while protecting taxpayers from new federal spending as much as possible.” [Hutchison Blog, 9/7/11]

Bipartisan BUILD Act Is Endorsed By Chamber of Commerce & AFL-CIO. “Amid growing concerns that the nation’s infrastructure is deteriorating, a group of Democrats, Republicans, and labor and business leaders called Tuesday for the creation of a national infrastructure bank to help finance the construction of things like roads, bridges, water systems and power grids. The proposal — sponsored by Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas — would establish an independent bank to provide loans and loan guarantees for projects of regional or national significance. The idea is to attract more infrastructure investment from the private sector: by creating an infrastructure bank with $10 billion now, they say, they could spur up to $640 billion worth of infrastructure spending over the next decade… To underscore the need for better infrastructure, two frequent rivals were on hand at the news conference: Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Thomas J. Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the main business lobby. With a nod to the strange-bedfellows experience of having a labor leader as an ally, Mr. Donohue said, ”He and I are going to take our show on the road as the new ‘Odd Couple.’” [New York Times, 3/16/11]

Alliance for American Manufacturing Said Infrastructure Bank Would Create Jobs.  Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, provided a list of recommendations that would create more manufacturing jobs, including, “we need to invest in infrastructure and establish a national infrastructure bank”  [Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, 6/22/11; The Hill, 8/15/11]

Mark Zandi: Infrastructure Bank Would Boost Manufacturing. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics testified, “To lower the cost of transportation, telecommunications and energy, policymakers could provide consistent support to public investment in transportation networks, the internet backbone, and the electric grid. As a potential example of this support, Build America bonds issued as part of the recent fiscal stimulus efforts have been very successful. A national infrastructure bank, which could marry private capital with financial support from the government, would provide a substantial boost to this effort.” [Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, 6/22/11]

Private Infrastructure Investment Could Create 1.9 Million Jobs. Sphere Consulting LLC reported, “Over $250 billion of private equity capital is currently available, and some additional legislative and administrative changes could accelerate infrastructure projects and enhance funding.” The firm found that private investment in infrastructure could generate 1.9 million U.S. jobs. They suggested that the U.S. “Create a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) that is authorized to lend at favorable terms to both the public and private sectors for qualified infrastructure projects.” [Sphere Consulting, July 2011]

SENATE REPUBLICANS HAVE HISTORICALLY SUPPORTED INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

Sen. Inhofe Said Conservatives Need To Recognize Transportation is a Place We Need to Be Spending More Money. “I think a lot of the people who are my good friends, and primarily over in the House, who came under the banner of the tea parties and all that, they recognize, yes, they can be a conservative. But when they got home, they said: Wait a minute. We want to not be spending on these big things, but we weren’t talking about transportation. So we have to single out transportation for my friends to recognize there is a place we need be spending more money, not less money.” [Floor Remarks, 10/20/11]

Sen. Johanns Said He “Can’t Imagine” Why Anyone Would “Stand in The Way” of States Working to Rebuild Infrastructure. “I can’t imagine why this body would stand in the way of states trying to rebuild their roads and bridges.” [Senate Floor Speech, 10/19/11]

Sen. Graham: Infrastructure Investments Translates to Job Creation. “So if you’re a Republican and you want to create jobs, then you need to invest in infrastructure that will allow us to create jobs.” [GOP Press Conference, 4/13/11]

Sen. Sessions on the Importance to Invest in Infrastructure: “Jobs Are Created As It’s Being Constructed and You Have a Permanent Improvement to Society That May Be There for a Hundred Years.” Sessions said,“Jobs are created as it’s being constructed and, second, you have a permanent improvement to society that may be there for a hundred years.” [Washington Post, 10/13/11]

Sen. Thune Called Transportation Infrastructure “Critical to Our Nation’s Commerce” “This is a critically important subject for the entire country. Maintaining a transportation infrastructure is just critical to our nation’s commerce. We’ve got a $2.2 trillion backlog out there of infrastructure projects, a $12 billion projected shortfall in gas tax revenues versus current spending levels over the next two years.” [Senate Commerce Committee Hearing, 7/20/11]

Sen. Collins Called Transportation Infrastructure “Essential to Economic Recovery” “One of my highest priorities is to help ensure that our nation’s transportation infrastructure does not fall into disrepair. Safe and efficient transportation is essential to economic recovery and cannot be left solely to state governments, which are struggling with budget shortfalls.” [Press Release, 5/11/11]

Sen. Lugar Said Addressing The Aging Infrastructure Is “Critical To Our Nation’s Economic Viability” “Addressing the aging infrastructure of our roads, bridges and railways is critical to our nation’s economic viability. Indiana has developed a sophisticated rail network that is central to our state’s agricultural and manufacturing economy. It is important to enhance the existing railways in Perry County to provide a vital link and spur economic growth.” [Press Release, 9/10/08]

Sen. Rubio Called Infrastructure Investment “The Proper Role of Government” “And it is the proper role of government to invest in infrastructure. Yes, government should build roads and bridges, but it should do so as part of economic development as part of infrastructure.” [Speech, 8/24/11]

Sen. Shelby Called Infrastructure Spending “Essential” For Our Economy “Infrastructure spending is essential to our long term economic stability and growth.” [Remarks, 5/19/11]