The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Infrastructure (Executive Session)” mentioning Richard J. Durbin was published in the Senate section on pages S2424-S2426 on May 11.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Infrastructure
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I listened carefully to the statement by my friend from South Dakota about radical socialism--radical socialism. I think what he is categorizing as radical socialism is the suggestion by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, that we should really care about providing safe, affordable, quality daycare for women who want to go to work. Radical socialism?
I am concerned about some trends that we are noting. The census reports that the birth rate in America is going down. Fewer children are being born in this country. I ask a basic question: What does that say about our country and about our future?
What it tells me is that raising a family for many is a struggle. They have to work to bring money home, and they want to have the peace of mind when they go to work that their kids are safe. That is not a radical suggestion, and the solution isn't socialism.
The solution is just caring. What do you care about? President Joe Biden does, and he has suggested, as part of his plan for American families, that the wage earners don't have more than 7 or 8 percent of their income dedicated to daycare. I don't think that is radical. I think it is realistic. It says they have some skin in the game, some investment on their own part, but they have affordable daycare affordable to them.
Republicans say they are all about infrastructure. We want to build the best highways--I do, too--the best bridges and best airports and such so that Americans in business can move from one place to another. Sign me up. That is basic infrastructure, and I agree with it. But, if I have the best highway from my home to a good place of employment and still can't find affordable daycare, many people--especially women who are out of work--can't buy into this infrastructure investment. That is not radical. Socialism, to give a mother a helping hand so that she has a safe place to leave her child during the course of the day?
And how about the other suggestions of President Biden? Is it radical socialism to suggest that we have available for all families in America--all families in America--2 additional years of training and education for children before kindergarten? I don't think it is radical.
I have the best little granddaughter in the world, who is going to be 2 years old in just a few days. She started her school experience already. We are proud of her, and I think it is going to help her to socialize with other children, learn in a classroom atmosphere, and I am glad she is there. I wish every family in the city of Chicago and the State of Illinois had the same option. But many cannot.
President Biden thinks that is a good idea. So do I.
Who would characterize that as radical socialism--2 additional years for children before kindergarten?
Here is another thing he suggests. Let's have 2 additional years after the 12th grade. The President said 2 years of community college. Is that radical socialism, to expand the offering of education an additional 2 years? If you visit community colleges and see what is going on there, you realize that many young people are making really life-changing decisions about their careers and their future.
Radical socialism? I don't think so. I think most families would say it is just common sense. It is not radical, and it is not socialism if government gives a helping hand. We have done that since the 1950s when it came to college loans. We do that today when it comes to helping school districts across this Nation. Not radical, not socialism, just common sense commitment to the American family.
So they can make the speeches all they wish, but that is the reality.
There has been an awful lot of talk on the Senate floor about infrastructure, as I mentioned. Many of my colleagues across the aisle think it is just roads and bridges and nothing more. I think that is a priority, but I don't think that is the entire challenge.
When we consider infrastructure, we ought to look to the future. We should ask important challenging questions. What kind of infrastructure investment will help us for decades to come? What does the next-
generation economy in America need? What tools will our children and grandchildren need to lead healthy, productive, satisfying lives?
Tough questions, but President Biden's American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan face these questions honestly. Broadband, education, clean energy, paid family leave, electric vehicles, daycare--the President's plan envisions all of these things and more as the future of infrastructure.
What does that future look like in practice? I had a visit last week which was amazing. I wanted to share just a little bit of my visit with you. Last Thursday, I visited a town in central Illinois called Normal. During my visit, I toured a new manufacturing plant, the Rivian plant, where production will begin in a few weeks on brand-new electric trucks, SUVs, and delivery vans. This is not a small-scale operation. Amazon has already placed an order for 100,000 emission-free delivery vans--100,000.
Not long ago, 6 years ago, in fact, another car company, Mitsubishi, occupied a plant where Rivian is today, and they left town, putting 1,000 people out of work in the process. We were pretty down on our luck at that point and despondent about the future of that facility. It sits out by Interstate 55.
Guess what happened. A year later, thanks to the leadership of many people, including my friend the mayor of Normal, IL, Chris Koos, who found a buyer for the old Mitsubishi plant. By the end of 2021, that plant will be back in business full scale with more than 2,500 employees producing the next generation of electric vehicles.
It is a manufacturing jobs boom in Normal, IL. I couldn't be more excited or happy for the people who live nearby. It was made possible by leaders and investors who refused to hang on to the past. Here was this young CEO who decided that electric vehicles were our future. He came up with that idea 5 years ago, and he has created a large class of believers.
Folks in this town will tell you infrastructure is about more than roads and bridges. For them it is about taking transportation in America to the next generation, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, understands that.
His American Jobs Plan includes a $174 billion investment in electric vehicles and charging stations. Is this some big radical socialist government idea? No. Listen to the major producers of automobiles in America today talk about where they think the market is headed. Every one of them is talking about electric vehicles. The funds that President Biden proposes would support the growth of companies like Rivian and accelerate the installation of charging stations across the country.
I went from Normal, IL, to a multimodal facility--Amtrak, cars, buses. They all gathered downtown in a building which I helped to build. And we went to several levels of parking in this facility. At each level there were electric charging stations. That is the future.
Imagine the future where you drive from Normal to Chicago or St. Louis, or anywhere in this country, without burning a drop of gasoline? This is the new normal, a place where hard-working Illinoisans produce next-generation vehicles, and companies come together with local leaders to move us toward a cleaner, stronger economy.
Normal, IL, is stepping up to the plate to ensure the United States continues to lead in the global economy, even as competitors like China ramp up their own electric vehicle production.
Make no mistake. If we follow the lead of the Republicans and step away from investing in electric vehicles and the training and the other elements that are necessary to develop it, the Chinese are not going to drop out of the competition. They are going to unfortunately be very successful at our expense.
Normal isn't going it alone. All around my State, I am proud to say, we see efforts to create this electric vehicle future. Last week, Governor Pritzker and Lion Electric announced plans to open a new electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Joliet, IL--a $70 million investment that will create 700 new jobs.
Beginning in 2022, the plant will produce 20,000 zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. That means electric school buses and trucks built right in my home State.
A Netherlands-based manufacturer of charging stations, EVBox, set up its U.S. headquarters in Libertyville, IL, this past summer. They have plans to produce more than 200 fast-charging stations a week.
The electric transportation industry and its surrounding infrastructure already employs more than 5,000 people in my State of Illinois. One recent report projects that electric transportation employment in Illinois will grow to more than 9,500 workers by 2024. That is an 83-percent jump in 3 years.
Illinois is poised to have a nationally important role in the development of electric vehicles. Why are the companies coming to Illinois? I have a theory. Illinois has been setting the stage for this electric vehicle revolution for years.
Look at our labs--Federal labs. Scientists and engineers in our national labs have pushed the boundaries of vehicle and battery technology for decades, always looking ahead. Today, their pioneering work will produce batteries that will last longer, charge faster, and can be recycled safely.
Look at our universities. The University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign produces some of the best engineers in America. In Normal, you can find Illinois State University and Heartland Community College, which produce a direct pipeline of new talent to companies like Rivian.
Illinois recognizes that science and research are the backbone for the economy. Our labs and universities prove it time and again. This research drives the electric vehicle industry forward, and companies want to be right in the middle of that environment.
Beyond batteries, Illinois leads the way in research in clean energy technology, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and many of the other technologies we need to be part of the economy of the 21st century.
President Biden understands that we need research, too. His American Jobs Plan proposes $180 billion in investment in research and development for things just like electric vehicles. We have the opportunity to not only electrify but to supercharge our future.
Federal funding that matches the President's bold plan could transform more towns like Normal or Joliet into powerhouses of American manufacturing.
I listen to Republicans on the other side say: We shouldn't spend so much. We shouldn't spend it on so many things that might affect our future. Take it easy. Take it slow. Wait and see what happens.
I couldn't disagree more.
The Republican plan is a solid strategy for second place in the world. I don't want to be part of an effort to bring the United States second in any competition in the world. We may not always be first, but we should always strive to be first. Stepping away from President Biden's plan for manufacturing and jobs and families is, unfortunately, an easily predicted outcome. We will not be able to succeed and create the jobs of the future.
I will continue to support robust, sustained funding for electric vehicle infrastructure and innovation. I hope that both parties will. I hope my colleagues will join me in thinking in a big way about the future of America when it comes to the economy and infrastructure. I have seen the future it can create in Normal, IL, last week, and it is a bright one.
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