Secretary Foxx and 11 former Secretaries of Transportation have released a joint letter to Congress on the need for a long-term, adequately funded federal surface transportation authorization. The Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors applauds this high-level consensus in support of a robust transportation funding program and thanks this bi-partisan group of illustrious leaders, which together represent 35 years of stewardship of the U.S. Department of Transportation under seven different Presidents. Congress should heed their call to come together to support increased funding on a long-term basis to provide for the mobility needs of both people and goods, rather than continuing to stockpile a dilapidated inventory of congested and inadequate infrastructure. “Congress has been held hostage too long to the notion that our civil society must ‘live within our means.’ Unfortunately, due to this way of thinking, the United States has in recent years  refused to make even the bottom line investments needed to maintain our transportation infrastructure, much less fund expansions of capacity. In reality, we are living well below our means by failing to recognize the wisdom and necessity of investing for the future. U.S. government infrastructure investment as a percentage of GDP has fallen to below 2 percent, marking the lowest level since World War II. Compare that with our trading partners:  Canada invests 4 percent, Mexico 4.5 percent, Europe 5 percent, India 8 percent and China 9 percent. In short, our largest trading partners and competitors are investing at twice to five times the rate we are and beating us at the economic game we invented, business competition.    Sustained and strategic investment is needed to ensure that the United States remains competitive well into the 21st century. Failing to provide for our nation’s ports, waterways, roads, rails and aviation assets now is short-selling our workers and businesses in the present and short-changing future generations who will be forced to run behind competitors in other nations whose leaders knew to invest for the long-term. The United States is still the world’s number one economy and we have the means to invest in our own prosperity to ensure that same world-leader advantage for the next generation.”