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President's Message — AGC Is the
Federal Owners' Advantage
AGC continues to push Congress to
invest in construction
By AGC President Harry Mashburn
For nearly a century, AGC members have
focused on providing owners with top-quality products and
services. AGC's hard work in the federal construction arena
has created safer work sites and strengthened our nation's
infrastructure.
AGC has been an advocate for improving
housing for military personnel. We have met with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Command
and the U.S. Air Force as the agencies develop a construction
strategy for new and improved housing facilities for fiscal
years 2007-2011. The goals of these discussions have focused
on ways the construction industry can deliver cost-effective,
top-quality housing for our nation's military. They turn to
us to deliver quality-of-life improvements to our servicemen
and women and their families.
AGC believes it is important to maintain
fair competition among contractors, large and small, and will
continue its dialogue with the military construction agencies
to ensure that companies continue to have opportunities to
work on U.S. military installations.
AGC members deliver quality day in and
day out. We witnessed their commitment to our country and
our industry last year when Hurricane Katrina drew a great
amount of attention to the state of our nation's waterways
infrastructure. Thousands of people lost homes and businesses
as a result of the massive flooding, emphasizing the need
to adequately fund and upkeep the levees, locks and dams.
The impact of Hurricane Katrina amplified
the need for adequate funding for major navigation, flood
control and environmental restoration projects throughout
the United States.
It is essential that we fully fund these
projects, and AGC has long supported funding levels of $9
billion annually. However for FY 2007, the Bush administration
submitted a budget containing only $4.7 billion in funding
for civil works, nowhere close to the amount needed to reinforce,
operate and maintain this aging system.
The cost of investing in flood and storm
damage prevention pales in comparison to the costs of cleanup
and restoration after the fact. It is estimated that flood-damage
reduction projects have prevented an estimated $706 billion
in damages. These programs have multiple benefits, including
a $14.10 return for every dollar invested in operations and
maintenance.
As the construction industry's leading
trade association, we know how to take our members' concerns
to Capitol Hill. AGC has been advancing the fight to reauthorize
the Water Resources Development Act and increase funding for
the nation's civil works program. The funds authorized in
WRDA will yield a similar return ratio and provide infrastructure
investment. WRDA reauthorization has been an AGC priority
because it provides a long-term waterways infrastructure strategy
and affirms the government's pledge to authorize, modify and
improve projects, programs and policies, protecting the nation
from floods and keeping the waterways open to navigation.
One of AGC's best assets is our ability
to reach out to others in the industry to forge alliances,
lead activities and build a strong, unified front for the
industry. We deliver the owners' tangible advantages. This
is what makes us a strong association and a leading choice
among owners.
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| AGC Members
with Commander and Chief of Engineers LTG Carl Strock,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at the 2006 Federal Contractors
Conference. From left: AGC Corps of Engineers Committee
Chairman Dan Fordice, Fordice Construction; Dirk Haire,
Holland and Knight LLP; Federal and Heavy Division Vice
Chairman Roland Ferrera, AMEC Americas; LTG Carl Strock;
AGC Vice President Douglas Barnhart, Douglas E. Barnhart
Inc.; Federal and Heavy Division Chairman Eddie Stewart,
Caddell Construction. |
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