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this President, the senator from Florida is recognized to speak for after 10 minutes. Thank you, Mr President. Mr. President, I speak to my colleagues and to the American public today about a quiet crisis that is occurring in our nation. This is the crisis that has resulted from our failure to adequately invest in the basic services that will render our nation economically productive, a strong national security and prepare the next generation of our citizens to meet their responsibility.

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All over our nation, from the largest cities to the smallest rural communities, we are seeing a deterioration of our basic public support system. Our schools, our bridges, our highways are water and sewer systems are deteriorate in areas of growth. We don't have enough resources to meet the needs of an expanding population.

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Too many Children are learning and overcrowded and unsafe classroom. Too many motorists are driving on inadequate roads and highways to many communities are being forced to make do with inadequate water, sewer and environmental systems. Mr. President, our ability to compete in the economy of the future and to maintain and enhance the quality of life of our citizens will in large part hinge on whether and how we correct those problems.

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As we enter the 21st century, we must build and rebuild the foundations which will serve our people and their needs for years to come. In the near future, I intend to continue the efforts that are underway with Republican and Democratic colleagues who have expressed similar concerns.

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And out of this will come legislation which will assist states and local communities to build the schools, roads and water systems that they need now and in the future. Mr President, the numbers tell the story. A recent General Accounting Office report says that one third of our nation's school districts have buildings in need of immediate and extensive repair.

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The same report states that 25 million students go to schools with poor lighting and heating, bad ventilation or air quality or lack of physical security. 25 million boys and girls attend schools with those deteriorating conditions. He has been estimated that $150 billion will be needed to remedy this situation.

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That dollar amount does not include the cost to meet new school construction for expanding population. This affects my state. It affects all of the states of the nation. The school facility crisis is estimated, for instance, in the state of North Dakota to cost $450 million to remedy.

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$5 billion is needed in Texas, $7.5 billion in Florida, 15 billion in New York state and $20 billion in the state of California. In Louisiana, 88% of the 1500 public schools are in need of repair. 77% of Connecticut's more than 1000 schools need rehabilitation. In Illinois, 89% of more than 4000 schools need improvement.

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Mr. President, I firmly believe that the administration of elementary and secondary education is the responsibility of state and local communities. It is not a federal responsibility. The federal government should respond, should restrain itself from interfering with the curriculum and personnel and other educational policies. But I believe there is a role for the federal government in helping increasingly underfunded overburden school districts in the construction of badly needed new schools and the renovation of existing schools.

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That is a role in which the federal government has had some history. I recently spent a day working in a rehabilitation project on Opa Locka Elementary School in Dade County, Florida I was impressed when I looked at the plaque on the wall of Opa Locka Elementary School, a school which is 60 years old this year that it was built by the United States Public Works Administration as a Depression era job creation project.

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Federal government has a history of assisting school districts in meeting their capital needs and has done so without the criticism of inappropriate federal intrusion. Mr. President, I applaud the president's proposed school construction initiative was one of the 10 points in the education program that he presented to the nation during the State of the Union address.

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He has opened the door to an important federal state local partnership. We must walk through that door. However, Mr President, I believe the door needs to be wider. Our school construction needs are much greater than the president's proposal would address. States and local school districts need to have a wider range of policy and fiscal options to meet their needs.

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We must aggressively build on the president's plan so that states and local governments can solve their tremendous need. School construction is obviously not the only capital issue facing states and local governments. For example, the United States has 39 million miles of roads, 574,000 bridges. Recent estimates show that 60% of our roads and a third of our bridges are substandard and in need of repair.

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The U. S. Department of Transportation estimates that we currently invest $35 billion annually in highway construction. This is $15 billion less than is needed to keep up with deterioration and $33 billion less than the amount estimated to keep ahead of growth, change and congestion. Nationally, our water and sewer management investment needs are in excess of $138 billion.

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The key question for us and for America is how will we face these problems? We must address these problems in a way that is responsible both to our commitment to a balanced budget and to the needs of states and local communities. It is vital that we find a funding source that is stable and viable over an extended period of time.

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I would suggest that some of the principles of this new partnership of the federal government, with state and local communities in meeting their education, transportation and environmental infrastructure. Needs would include these. We must form an expanded and long term partnership. It must be a partnership built on a basic respect for the responsibilities of state and local government to make the key policy decisions.

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It must also be built on a requirement that it be a true partnership with the states. Ask as a condition of participation, that they provide a matching source of funds to that which will come from the federal government, and that they maintain their current level of effort so that this will truly be an additional effort towards meeting our unmet needs, not a substitution for current effort, and that there be maximum flexibility to the states in the form in which they choose to meet those needs and the priorities which they establish.

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I'm going to suggest Mr President, as we develop these concepts into legislation that one of the most appealing ways in which to provide that stable and sustainable revenue source in order to be able to form this partnership is to utilize the 4.3 cents per gallon of motor fuels tax, which was enacted in 1993 and which goes directly to the federal treasury.

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Not as does most other federally imposed motor fuels tax into a highway trust fund. This revenue sources currently generating in excess of $6 billion. If states and local communities are willing to provide a substantial match to these funds, and I will suggest that that match should be in the ratio of one third state and local to two thirds federal the total effect of this federal contribution for educational transportation environmental needs over the next 5 to 10 years could be in excess of $200 million.

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Uh, if these funds were used as the basis of innovative financing methods, Mr President, this will have the potential of tremendous positive impact on our nation's economy. Clearly, the economy will benefit by having Children who are educated, uh, inappropriate environment. The country will benefit by having a transportation system that can meet our current and future needs that will not impose excessive costs due to congestion and inadequacy of facilities.

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Our nation will be enhanced by having quality environmental systems that will protect our water in our air and our natural resources. Those are some of the benefits But in addition to those, a program of this scale will provide employment for literally hundreds of thousands of people.

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Uh, as we strive to construct these facilities that will have such positive long term benefits. Mr. President, in the next weeks, I expect to continue to work with my colleagues in developing this, uh, into specific legislative proposals. Our motorists and our nation's commercial interest needs safe, modern and reliable highways.

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Our communities deserve responsible water and sewer and other environmental systems. Our Children will require the best quality of educational facilities in order to achieve world class standards of educational performance. We can wait no longer to meet the needs of this quiet crisis of deteriorating infrastructure in America.

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Now is the time to act. Thank you, Mr President.