美国和加拿大的540,000多名熟练工人组成的北美劳工国际联盟（LIUNA），自豪地建设两国的高速公路、桥梁和学校。他们用风能、太阳能、核能、水电和管道为国家供能。简而言之，LIUNA在建设北美。我们以安全、准时、预算内完成项目为荣。但这些工作常常被政治化、延误或取消。数十年来，过时的许可法被用作阻止关键项目的武器。
The Laborers’ International Union of North America, known by the acronym LIUNA, represents more than 540,000 skilled workers who are proud to build the United States and Canada. They build our highways, bridges and schools. They power the country with wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower and pipelines. Put simply: LIUNA builds North America. We take pride in delivering projects safely, on time and on budget. But too often, that work gets politicized, delayed or cancelled. For decades, outdated permitting laws have been used as weapons to block critical projects.
SunZia风电和输电项目等待批准长达17年。大西洋海岸管道项目停滞六年后于2020年被取消。这只是众多案例中的两个。审批可能需要多年时间，却可能在一纸签字后消失。已经获批、融资到位并准备开工的项目，在法庭上停留的时间比我们的成员完成它们所需的时间还长。对某些人来说，这只是电子表格上的一个数字；对LIUNA成员而言，却是又一天没有工资、健康保险或养老金计入。
The SunZia wind and transmission project waited 17 years for the green light. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline sat stalled for six years before it was cancelled in 2020. They’re two of many. Approvals can take years, then vanish with the stroke of a pen. Projects that are permitted, financed and ready to break ground sit in court longer than it would take our members to build them. To some, that’s a number on a spreadsheet. To LIUNA members, it’s another day without a paycheck, health coverage or pension credit.
建筑工人按小时计酬，福利也是如此。他们通过完成一个项目再转到下一个项目来建立职业生涯。项目一旦停止，家庭就要付出代价。我们的成员承受不起这种不稳定。因此，LIUNA支持参议员马丁·海因里希（民主党-新墨西哥州）的《两党美国可负担性与就业法案》。该法案为法院挑战设定明确期限，缩小并增加《国家环境政策法》下环境审查的透明度，并为我们的成员提供多年来一直缺乏的确定性。
Construction workers are paid by the hour, and so are their benefits. They build careers by completing one project and moving on to another. When projects stop, families pay the price. Our members can’t afford this instability. That’s why LIUNA supports Sen. Martin Heinrich’s (D-N.M.) Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. It sets clear deadlines for court challenges. It narrows and adds transparency to environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act. And it gives our members the certainty they’ve needed for years.
它还保护良好的工会工作、占优工资、学徒制以及保护工人和社区的安全措施，同时降低每位美国人的能源成本。十多年来，LIUNA一直作证、提交意见并支持许可法案，却只能眼睁睁看它们在国会会议的最后时刻夭折。这一次，我们真的有机会。
It also protects good union jobs, prevailing wages, apprenticeships and the safeguards that protect workers and communities, all while lowering energy costs for every American. For more than a decade, LIUNA has testified, filed comments and backed permitting bills, only to watch them die in the final hours of a congressional session. This time, we have a real shot.
现在是时候停止拿辛勤工作的北美劳工国际联盟成员的未来去赌博了，应该让这项法案获得通过。布伦特·布克是北美劳工国际联盟的总主席。
It’s time to stop gambling with the futures of hardworking LIUNA members and get this bill passed. Brent Booker is the general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.