On behalf of the 400 members of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), I am writing to share the aggregates industry’s views, as the Committee holds its first hearing of the 118th Congress, entitled: “The State of Transportation Infrastructure and Supply Chain Challenges.” NSSGA is the voice of our nation’s aggregates industry, which operates over 9,000 operations and employs over 100,000 people in high-paying jobs to source 2.6 billion tons of aggregates each year that are used to sustain our modern way of life and build our nation’s communities and infrastructure. Our industry is the beginning of the building supply chain, as the products we source are the essential components needed to build roads, airports, transit, rail, ports clean water and energy networks. First, as our country faces economic headwinds and an uncertain future, the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is laying the groundwork to keep the aggregates and materials industry moving forward to build more resilient communities and stronger transportation networks that carry American goods and people. The certainty provided by IIJA, through the five-year reauthorization of our surface transportation programs allows companies in the aggregates industry to better plan and make robust investments in our people, plants and equipment