Infrastructure – High-quality infrastructure is essential to economic growth here. We need modern airports, roads, and bridges, locks, and dams – to move people and goods into and out of our region, to attract new businesses, and to create jobs.

We need a secure, reliable electric grid that cannot fail.

We need functioning water treatment systems that keep storm water runoff out of our streets and guarantee safe drinking water.

Politicians talk about this all the time, but the fact is we've neglected our critical infrastructure for decades, and every day we fail to act is a missed opportunity. A comprehensive infrastructure bill would create good jobs here tomorrow, and unlike the massive corporate tax cut that just added trillions to the deficit, infrastructure investments pay for themselves.

People in our district ask me every day why an infrastructure bill hasn't even been introduced, let alone passed – and the answer is that politicians in Washington aren't listening to us and aren't keeping their promises. Passing an infrastructure bill – a serious bill big enough to match the urgency of the situation -- is an economic and national security priority, and I will fight every day to get it done.

Job Training – We have to invest in our people. Politicians in both parties like to talk about job training, but that talk hasn't lived up to the reality for too many students and workers in our region -- and both parties bear the blame for that.

We need job training programs that lead to an actual job -- not just a piece of paper.

Companies and industry associations say there are thousands of jobs in our region that they can't fill because we don't have workers with the right training and skills. They want public schools and community colleges to help fill that gap, and of course we should do that.

I'll fight for those investments, but I'll also make those companies put some skin in the game. If workers successfully complete training programs paid for with our tax dollars, employers need to hire those workers for full-time, family-supporting jobs.