Tuesday, 27 March 2007
A Quick Fly in to Washington
« Read Any Good Books Lately? | Main | Getting Your Message Across »I recently attended ASCE's 7th Annual Leadership Training in Government Relations Fly-in in Washington D.C. More than 130 ASCE members from across the country took part in what I felt was a very successful and productive leadership training. We focused in particular on the National Infrastructure Improvement Act, the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 and the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act. I had the opportunity to join my fellow ASCE members to visit congressional offices to promote these bills. More than 200 total visits were made. On Friday of that week, the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 passed-just one example of how ASCE's effective lobbying on the Hill contribute to the passage of bills which are critical to the work of civil engineers.
To coincide with this event, ASCE launched its Infrastructure Action Plan. ASCE has identified 11 legislative actions that Congress can take to raise the grades for America's failing infrastructure. While we can't expect changes to happen overnight, there are some small steps that can be taken by Congress to begin improving our infrastructure. I believe that this Action Plan is one of the critical tools that will lead the government to think long and hard about what action needs to be taken to help our failing infrastructure. I encourage you to check out the Action Plan online at http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/actionplan07.cfm
What do you feel are some of the actions that need to be taken to help our failing infrastructure?