New Jersey Lawmakers Tout Bridge Investments From Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
yeah and uh and it's cold enough i mean it's warm and horrible yeah it's really warm today there you go all right corey [Music] i didn't get the memo [Laughter] good morning everybody first i'd like to thank everyone for being here senator menendez governor murphy cory booker assembly and mojada congressman pressgrowl i don't see county the county executive degrees but it's a pleasure to be here today it's a very important day for us we're standing right now we're looking over route three and round three east west these bridges will soon become part of this program i'm so glad that these funds have been used for this on behalf of myself i don't want to spill anybody's time but congressman i'm sorry senator menendez you could speak okay thank you thank you okay thank you ma'am thank you mayor it's the same page so there's nothing wrong with that um let me uh thank uh uh mayor connelly for hosting us today it's a great day not just for c caucus and hudson but for the state and before i start i normally do this in private but today is the 85th birthday of our colleague in the house of representatives so happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear bill happy birthday to you happy birthday i had to remember well i always call yourself anyhow happy birthday bill we we wish you many more healthy and happy ones uh we're here by the route 3 bridge to celebrate the the first major infusion of federal bridge funding made possible by the historic infrastructure bill president biden signed into law last november senator booker and i along with congressman pasquel and our house delegation fought hard for the infrastructure investments and jobs act because we knew what it would mean for new jersey smoother roads and safer bridges modernized railways and more mass transit cleaner drinking water and new electric vehicle infrastructure good paying jobs and a more competitive economy and i know governor murphy thank you governor for joining us today and commissioner gutierrez of the department of transportation are ready to put these historic investments to work i also want to recognize a dear friend a labor leader of international import ray pasino with the laborers international union of north america for joining us this infrastructure deals a big win for new jersey workers so so we're glad to have you here uh also uh glad to have commissioner marenko of north bergen and commissioner cirillo of west new york to be with us as well our previous president talked a lot about infrastructure but he never delivered as i've said in the past president trump cared more about building walls than sturdier bridges it took a democratic president and a democratic house and senate to get the job done and now new jersey workers are going to get the job done repairing replacing and improving bridges across our state over the next five years more than 1.1 billion dollars will help repair and replace dilapidated bridges throughout new jersey starting with this initial infusion of 229 million for 2022 that's on top of 6.8 billion dollars in highway funding and over 4.1 billion in
guaranteed transit funding headed our way and we're also working to secure billions of dollars in competitive funds to complete gateway and build new trans-hudson tunnels gateway which got new higher ratings and we always said if we were honestly rated we would get higher ratings by the federal transit administration just got those higher ratings which opened the door to making sure that what many of you asked us at many press conferences is gateway dead and we said not by a long shot it's alive and it is moving forward and there's another 12.5 billion dollars we can compete through to the competitive bridge investment program the infrastructure investment and jobs act is the largest investment in america's infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system that was 1956 66 years ago so this is beyond a generational investment and boy do we need it throughout new jersey we have 500 bridges and a state of disrepair including the route 3 bridge behind us today new jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation so it's no surprise our bridges get a lot of wear and tear but this is truly a nationwide problem americans travel across more than 45 000 dilapidated bridges throughout the united states more than 171 million times each and every day rundown bridges are hazard to public safety and i'm not just talking about the threat of collapse i'm talking about the traffic delays and the deadly car accidents road congestion and harmful pollution not to mention the longer commutes that force hard-working people to miss out hours of quality time with their families decrepit bridges also drive up costs for businesses and consumers especially during a global pandemic that continues to disrupt our supply chains investing in infrastructure that moves goods and people more efficiently to our economy will have a stabilizing impact on the rising prices so many folks are concerned about right now i know that commissioner gutierrez ketty and the entire njdot team work hard to keep our bridges throughout new jersey safe and operational and they do a great job but you can only do so much with limited resources years of chronic underinvestment in our infrastructure have forced transportation agencies across america to stick band-aids over gaping wounds meanwhile the backlog of repairs gets longer and longer every year our infrastructure used to be the envy of the world yet today the world economic forum doesn't even rank america's transportation infrastructure in the top ten for far too long washington's obsession with trickle-down economics has prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy over infrastructure investments that create opportunity for everyone with the infrastructure investment and jobs act we're finally going to put the band-aids away instead of temporary fixes new jersey will be able to pursue more ambitious projects like this one the route 3 eastbound bridge was built in 1934 that's nearly a century ago and it's fair to say traffic was a lot lighter back then today more than 150 000 vehicles crossed the hackensack river via route 3 every day many of them headed for the new jersey turnpike or downtown manhattan via the holland tunnel the ever-growing demand place on this bridge have prompted new jersey dlt to make several repairs and complete emergency work over the years now with this 1.1 billion dollars in bridge funding headed to new jersey we can focus on building a new modernized eastbound span across the hackensack ribbon i think the governor has some specific announcements about this that is even greater than what we thought in terms of what will be built as chairman of the senate foreign relations committee i can tell you that a global economy is more competitive and interconnected than ever before if we want to maintain our competitive edge over china if we want more companies to invest in america if we want the 21st century to be another great american century then we must build the infrastructure our businesses and our workers need to win the infrastructure investment and jobs act will unleash american ingenuity and help us build a more resilient more sustainable and more productive economy and we have no intention of stopping here we must keep fighting for the remainder of president biden's build back better agenda lifting children out of poverty making child care more affordable dealing with tax cuts for working families addressing the climate change to the creation of new jobs providing hard-working homeowners with tax relief like the reinstatement of the salt deduction these are investments that will grow new jersey's middle class they too are a bridge to a more prosperous future for all americans and we are going to continue to fight for them as hard as we fought for this historic bipartisan infrastructure deal let me just say a brief word in spanish because i was told that we have several of our hispanic press here and then french as well wait okay uh well you know what other challenges you want to throw on my way no okay uh so er simplemente estamos venadores an adult [Music] with that let me welcome my colleague a tremendous fighter i couldn't have a better colleague in the united states senate who understands these investments but also understands the investments i reference to at the end of my comments that are so important as leading the way on that senator cory booker so first of all you all should be very uh happy i will not sing um but i am extraordinarily pleased to be here with uh new jersey's best this incredible group behind me are the best of new jersey's local government mayor the best of our state government with our assemblyman and our extraordinary governor and our federal delegation that we have here this is a moment of pride for our country and for our state look i'm going to make this very clear we have seen the most unprecedented challenges of a generation hit our state and our nation a global pandemic that had a crushing blow on our economy and what we have seen from president biden and from the new jersey congressional delegation in partnership with our governor is the greatest one-year investment in new jersey that we have seen in federal governance in over a century we brought home the resources the first thing folks know already is in the pit of the pandemic we were able to pass the american recovery act unfortunately without one republican vote that brought billions of dollars to our states saving our small businesses investing in our hospitals giving critical resources to our schools and then after that we came with the biggest infrastructure investment our nation has ever seen that puts a shadow over even what eisenhower did as senator menendez said over 60 years ago and now new jersey will start to reap the benefits of that infrastructure investment clearly as senator menendez said 500 bridges being repaired in our state being improved in our state all while rey creating thousands of jobs for people in our state this is a time that new jersey should feel a sense of pride we have brought home the resources we're investing it in our state and when you invest in roads and bridges in new jersey you not only create jobs you expand opportunity for businesses for economic growth and more but this investment is just the beginning right now we are going to see critical investments in getting lead pipes out of the ground to make sure there's clean drinking water we're seeing investments seven superfund sites in new jersey the most toxic of sites are now getting the resources they finally need to be cleaned up we are seeing our state in the worst of times show the best of who we are building upon what our governor has done by making school and health care more affordable building upon what we in new jersey have done with our grit and our grace because that's the american way that's the new jersey way we've seen everything come at us from a pandemic to the worst of storms and we didn't give in we didn't give up today is a day to show the truth of our state that we didn't give in we didn't give up but we got better and so now today we mark the beginning of a period of investment like this state has not seen in well over a century but the key is we're going to continue the momentum you see we still have work to do as bob said we are going to make sure that we win critical investments for our state because yes we invested in our businesses we invested in families and tax cuts but we want to continue them we want to drive down the cost of child care even more we want to make sure that we are investing in lowering our prescription drug costs we want to make sure that we take the biggest middle class tax cut in the history of the united states and the child tax credit and we want to extend that the work will continue but today is a day for our economy for jobs for new jersey families for new jersey commuters for the state of new jersey today is a day to rejoice and if there's anybody i tell you i'm so proud this delegation dollar for dollar pound for pound we've reserved we we've gotten more dollars we've punched above our weight in terms of bringing resources back to the state of new jersey and if there's anybody that knows how to punch above their weight it is the most prodigiously powerful pugilistic person in the senate and that is congressman pascarelle come on forward congressman birthday boy oh i'm sorry you're right congressman not a senator we got enough power in the senate right now uh good morning everyone it's really good to see all of you here today this is celebration governor unlike other celebrations in this country and you better write about it and talk about it we go to open up a bridge or start working on a major road and the republicans show up they had the damn i'm going to be political today ha ha they show up at the event to cut the ribbon or turn over the dirt and not one of them voted for this you know what this reminds me of bob this reminds me of when we opened up the va extension in paramus this is happening like wrote and if you remember not one of them voted for the major issue back in 2009 in fact the congressman from that district showed up to turn the dirt showed up for the grand opening showed up now i don't mind if people take credit for what they do but the only thing these guys and gals have contributed on the other side look at the vote is let's adjourn we are here to prove in new jersey that our job is to work for our checks and not to ask for adjournment and how many times did they ask for adjournment during the debate how many times so it's great to see you all on my birthday today my one of my sons called me at 6 30 i was sleeping to wish me happy birthday it's great of you all to come out not on my birthday but on this event we could have done this at patsy's pizza in patterson but we revitalized bridges are the best presents any of us can dream of there's no state in our union that relies on its roads and bridges more than new jersey or our railroads not one the biggest mass transit system in the country and commissioner what percentage of federal funds are needed to operate mass transit in new jersey quite a bit when they put the finishing touches on this route 3 is eastbound behind us by the way this bridge is top priority in the state of new jersey for repairs this one right here if you go underneath it you might not want to drive on it anymore so when they put the finishing touches on route 3 behind us fdr was still in his first term the westbound was completed under jfk two great democratic presidents a long long time ago these two bridges alone 147 total years of wear and tear along one of the busiest commuter arteries in the western hemisphere they're not alone as bob said there's 502 bridges across new jersey that aren't up to par our commuters are driving every day on over 500 sub-standard bridges try that out for size and then adjourn or do something about it facts matter we have seen the worst case in places like minneapolis where interstate 35 fell into the mississippi river 15 years ago some of you remember that we're nowhere near that point but an old bridge being shuttered for safety could delay a father or mother an extra 20 minutes seeking detours on our way home this is time not spent at home at kids games at family dinners stretch five days a week for months and then years that time really it really adds up so look up and down the hakkasak river there are no automobile crossings nearby a failure here at this key feeder to the lincoln tunnel would cause mass chaos for this region and defect commuters all the way back to the passaic county morris county and further but as the mayor will tell you our great mayor here in sea caucus as our mayor will tell you mayor gannelli we just did something in the hackasack river in order to make it navigable in order to bring commerce back i commend the mayor for his efforts solutions haven't been easy to come by we all know that the last administration opposed our bridge building both physically and metaphorically and governor murphy's predecessor didn't give a hoot about our commuters i'll i'll wait tell me what he did to do something for them i'll listen i can't think of it our region has suffered grievously from political pettiness things change finally have a governor a president in the congress not because they're democrats but because they care who are simultaneously committed to rebuilding the 124 million project behind me we are announcing here today is the direct fruit of action by our democratic congress i couldn't find two better people to work with than bob menenes and cory booker i couldn't these guys worked their tails off untold stories in our aggressive house delegation the generational infrastructure legislation signed into law by president biden will send over 1 billion dollars to new jersey that's one billion that money is being used on bridges like we're celebrating today this law was approved in november and we're here in january because there's no time to waste we're behind time our window for action is narrow governor murphy our senators our delegation are moving with absolute urgency our region's drivers deserve to cross their bridges with ease and confidence our drivers deserve to know that they will get to their destination on time and our commuters have earned the right to be home for dinner and paired with the major gateway tunnel which the last administration tried to bury adjourn do nothing pick up your check you're going to mail it to you if you don't pick it up why the hell work when you can get away with it and you wrote nothing about it nothing at least you could say the sun's out or something our travelers deserve to know that they will get their destination on time and our commuters have earned the right to be home for dinner so investments that are being announced today will make sure that the travelers moving behind us won't lose an extra minute of their lives now ladies and gentlemen let me say in conclusion when you read the public record on this bridge you hesitate to drive over it read facts matter and that's why we would not relent we would we we would be relentless and attempting to bring home what is ours we pay a lot of taxes in the state of new jersey to the federal government we have every right we have every right to fight for every dollar to invest it in our state we're worth it we're not a secondary state we're not a moocher state we're not waiting for new jersey to pay more federal taxes we pay the most in the country just about in federal dollars so thank you for being here today thank you and thank you president biden for keeping your word the guy can't catch a break but we're going to continue our fight we're not giving up at all god bless this great state god bless the united states of america the greatest country in the world have a good week [Applause] thank you congressman and we are thrilled to start the second term of governor murphy with this major investment but it takes an executive who works with the delegation to prime the projects so that we can make the greatest most successful advocacy and that's what we have in governor phil murphy governor thank you senator i'm incredibly honored to be here today i quote my late mother you're known by the company you keep look at the company up here extraordinary federal delegation senator menendez thank you for hosting us so graciously today and for everything you do ditto to senator booker the birthday boy congressman bill paschall who wants to be on the other side of this guy i certainly don't uh mayor connelly thank you for hosting us and thank you for my way cool secaucus mask chief to you and the heroic and brave members of law enforcement assemblyman pedro mejia it's always an honor to stand with you my friend commissioners marenko and cirillo extraordinary labor leader uh ray pacino who we'll hear from in a minute or two and my colleague in state government the commissioner of the department of transportation diane gutierrez scotchetti i also want to thank our hosts from the red roof inn why do i say that because i've never said that before so thanks for hosting us folks i'll be very brief this is a big deal as president biden himself once said about the affordable care act many years ago as vice president this is a big deal for america and for new jersey especially for the state we are the most densely populated state in the nation we are the quintessential corridor state we are the quintessential organized labor state if you stop right there you think about investing at long last and 500 plus bridges beginning with this one right behind us this is a game-changing day two other quick points uh this is federal money so we thank our extraordinary delegation and president biden for living up to his word and signing this transformational infrastructure and jobs investment but as was mentioned earlier by senator booker it takes a village so i want to acknowledge the local leadership the county leadership uh the state leadership with diane in particular our leadership from organized labor and obviously our extraordinary federal delegation it does take a village and lastly there's a way cool wrinkle and diane i think is going to give a little bit more detail on this and senator menendez alluded to this in the bridge behind us when it is uh when its replacement is built it will include a feature to lay down a light rail connection across the river that is a in and of itself a potential game changer obviously linking in and relieving a lot of the traffic in and out of metlife and american dream which is right across the river from us so that is a that is a an option that we will have as a state obviously an option we want to pursue but in and of itself that is a game changer so for all the above reasons and to all the above folks i'm standing with today i'm honored to be here please help me welcome the commissioner of the department of transportation diane gutierrez [Applause] thank you governor thank you senators menendez and booker and congressman pasquale mayor gennelly for allowing me to say a few words today this is a big day for us we like to call this a remarkable day it's been a long time since the d.o.t has seen an infusion of funding that will allow us to go beyond our our continual uh financially constrained budget to do more more that we're ready to do we work we want to say a big thank you for the fact that we are getting additional federal funds in our apportionments our formula funding is going up but most especially this 1.14 billion dollars dedicated to bridges is a remarkable investment yes that bridge behind me is in the worst condition of any bridge in the state although i will say that you can drive over it we keep it the way it needs to be but what really needs to happen is it needs to be replaced it needs to be replaced sooner rather than later and because of the efforts of our congressional delegation we have five years to get these projects up and in you know in past uh investment bills that have gone through are in particular we had to have shovel ready projects these our congressional delegation had the vision to fight for shovel worthy projects projects that have to get done and to give us the time to spend the money that is incredibly important to the dot being able to carry out its mission so we are very grateful for all of the money coming to new jersey we commit to spending it wisely i know that the governor hold us to task on that and we are certainly well ready to deliver but the interesting thing about this bridge is it will be built to carry a light rail system we have a vision for the secaucus junction train station to make it a hub for those who wish to come and enjoy entertainment at american dream or a game at the stadium we have a vision that says you can come from boston or washington take a nice train ride get off into caucus and hop on a monorail type system that may allow you to travel all the way through with not being in your car you know there's a misnomer that in transportation we're only interested in building bigger and better roads what we're interested in building is a bigger and better transportation system that serves everyone so this project is a first step in that and this funding is going to allow us to do that so i offer my sincerest thanks to congressman pasquarelle to senator booker and most especially senator menendez who's been our transportation guardian angel in washington for a very long time for all of their efforts to make certain that money that belongs in new jersey comes to new jersey and we will continue to do not only big projects like this but many other projects across the state that will be important to communities to families to opportunities that otherwise may not have existed so with that our deep gratitude and thank you very much governor [Applause] and finally let me introduce as i mentioned him before this is about a lot of things quality of life infrastructure uh better uh air that we can all breathe but it's also about jobs jobs and more jobs and they are high paying jobs and one of our labor leaders who personifies the the advocacy to have helped us create uh this type of legislation to create those jobs as ray pasino of the international labor system thank you senator menendez for the introduction i appreciate it so what brings us out here today on this mid-january afternoon outside well it's good news that brings us here and indeed i call it great news uh it's been as described here a long time since we've had this kind of investment in the state of new jersey for infrastructure i've been a member and a labor leader in lyuna the labors international union for 65 years and this is the largest i've ever seen in my lifetime as far as an investment and it's uh obviously as described here going to bring us great infrastructure improvements across the state bridges highways as described by senator booker lead pipes being taken out of the ground improvement in terms of energy improvement whether it's wind or solar various types of improvements across the state but i'm here to tell you that what's important to me and my members is the jobs that are going to be created good paying jobs jobs that bring wages that are going to put food on the table and ample supplies for members and their families and all workers across the state jobs that are going to be enabled to afford rent buy a house buy a car those kinds of things what comes with that is is a prevailing wage package that includes benefits like insurance health insurance pension fund contributions training and training and apprenticeship opportunities for workers of new jersey citizens of new jersey that comes along with this whole package there's going to be a mandate or or a suggestion or whatever you want to call it in the spending of this money that local hires are considered it's going to set local opportunities for workers in this state to gain a career opportunity as far as construction is concerned and that is part of the package as well that is operated maintained by the labor organizations that are represented across the state so it's a significant opportunity for us to celebrate for many years that's going to require work by citizens in new jersey and workers in new jersey you don't spend 13.5 billion dollars in one year it's going to take several years of work opportunities across the state i want to say also that you know we enjoy this great economic mecca that we have here in this region and we need to take care of it has been described by various leaders across that's enjoying this ceremony here today and i want to commend senator menendez senator booker congressman pascarelle governor murphy mayor denali commissioner skechetti for all of the work and hard work that they put in in terms of achieving what we've accomplished here today so i want to say one other thing that and this may not be to congressman paschall's liking but this was truly a bipartisan effort across the country and particularly in the state this is one of the few states that unanimously approved the whole delegation approved the passage of this bill i think i can only think of one other state that was involved in that kind of anonymous and that would be the state of delaware but there are only three representatives down there but again commit commendations to them i want to say that i'm proudly here today to welcome this opportunity and to offer whatever it is we can do to implement and carry this on in terms of getting this infrastructure built in the state of new jersey so god bless you all and let's get started thank you all right thank you ray uh we'll have a couple of on topic questions if anybody has an off topic question we'll deal with it off the podium any on topic questions yes peter so the timing on this bridge is we're just finishing concept development which is where we look at how we'll construct a bridge we're going to raise the bridge up so that we we meet all the requirements of navigation so it'll probably be about a two-year design window before we're ready to break ground and that's the significance of what our congressional delegation did in giving us this five-year window is there are now projects that start in january and finish in december we need that extra time to get through design and then right-of-way acquisition if it's necessary as far as what's necessary for light rail it's really putting the piers in now that will eventually support that light rail if we have to go in the water twice it means a duplicate set of permits if we do this bridge the right way is how we should think of all of our investments we'll build the foundation to allow us to expand it in the future to be a multimodal facility so we have looked at it conceptually it's kind of a vision that we have as we talk about using transportation systems wisely and hopefully it'll come to fruition as we we continue to design this bridge the foundations will definitely be built to carry a light rail system on the side of the bridge well that's surface transportation that's easier to do this is the heart if you look at the critical path putting it in the water is the hardest piece for us so making sure this bridge is ready for it when we're ready to build it is key it's the wisest use of our dollars what i appreciate about that is the thinking prospectively the vision to say we want to get less cars out there we want to have light rail be able to move people more effectively to more venues and taking advantage of the opportunity to build a new bridge and creating it in a way that allows that to be done so we look forward to that opportunity yes well there's uh on on point one on gateway uh we have all said the the governor senator booker congressman pascal's fact for that fact the delegation as a whole has said that if we get an honest judgment of the gateway project we will get higher ratings the previous administration took ratings that were high and then degraded them even though nothing changed about the project so it was purposeful this new administration new federal transit administrator when she appeared before my committee i made sure that i said i want an honest assessment of gateway and just this week we have the announcement that the ratings of gateway have moved to uh moderate high versus low and so that's going to dramatically affect our ability to open the door allows us to move to engineering and to open the doors for funding and i am convinced that gateway is a project that is going to happen now as to whether it's gateway or this bridge uh big things don't happen in small amounts of time uh you don't take a bridge like this and design it and then begin to build it and ultimately see it turn around in a short period of time i think what's important for people to know is that this is going to be a reality we're not sitting here today or standing here today and saying we look forward to trying to fight for monies for a bridge that will do this or that the money's here the design is going to begin uh and that means we are going to see success and in other places it will move much more quicker this is a major project in other places it will move much more quicker mass transit money that is part of the overall legislation that will come much quicker so i believe that the effects of what we want to see will be seen in a way that is palpable that people will say okay i finally see progress it won't all happen tomorrow but they'll see progress yeah anybody else wants to join me in this week so the public doesn't only know about a project when we put a shovel in the ground there's a public engagement process that the dot goes through so even through the design even through concept development they've been made aware of it and they'll watch the progress along with us they may like us to move faster but we go through a very very meticulous process that's laid out for us by the federal government of public engagement so they are kept in informed we keep our their local officials informed and so you may not see construction but you will see progress we we will be driving the piles for the light rail when we break ground for this project the light rail will go in when when we have the full system ready to go there's no need to build those tracks and then wait a couple years to connect them so what we need to do is make sure foundationally it can be supported foreign yeah i'm happy to do the russia thing on the side i don't want to keep everybody here on that uh as it relates to other announcements i think both senator booker and uh congressman pastor elle and i are going to be rolling out all the different elements of this uh you know we're focused on bridges today but there's mass transit money that is part of this uh there's also uh money for uh creating an electrification for vehicles so that we can have more electric vehicles on the highway senator booker talked about the lead pipes issues that are incredibly important in a state that built at a time in which lead pipe was the norm and ultimately removing them and creating a system of clean water so that when we turn on the tap what we ultimately get is what we expect clean water those are all different things that we'll be working through announcements uh in the days ahead but most importantly all of that work and projects will be beginning in the days ahead and i'm happy to answer on russia afterwards any uh last question on on topic yes i think the the the funding is ultimately tapped into uh the provisions of uh what we do in the mass transit so right it will be and and likely we will exp and likely we will explore the opportunities to do it as a p3 so that we're getting an investment from the private side that would actually build and operate it for us so it's it evolves but at the end of the day until you have the infrastructure until you have what we build from the money that is being provided to us by our our congress by by the white house there isn't even a thought of it so right now we are just thrilled to be able to build this rebuild this bridge and create the multimodal opportunity simulator when we build the hudson bergen light rail right we we laid a foundation for it and then we uh did the design we did the agreements between the communities as to which way it would travel and then we went for the money and achieved it and i believe we'll do that this way as well uh let me thank mayor guenelli as well as all the sea caucus officials chief thank you and your men and women of the force as well as our state police you know it's always a right moment to thank uh our champions in law enforcement you don't wait for something tragic to happen to say thank you you say thank you for the service that they provide each and every day and when we see what just recently happened in new york we're reminded of the incredible challenge and danger that they face in order to protect all of us so we want to thank all of our law enforcement people and thank you all for coming thank you very much you
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