Congressional Response to Fragile Foundations: An Analysis of Congressional Infrastructure Legislation Since 1988 (Through 1996)

Abstract

This paper identifies legislation which was proposed in the Congresses which have met since the National Council on Public Works Improvement (NCPWI) issued its report in 1988 - namely the 101st, 102nd, 103rd and now 104th Congresses - which specifically dealt with infrastructure and analyzes the progress which those various bills made. Sponsorship of the various bills, the policy debate which prevailed at the time, and the partisan and other relationships which were present will be analyzed in an attempt to discern why some parts of the NCPWI agenda made their way into legislative policy while others did not.