Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am incredulous. I cannot believe that we are here again debating another partisan messaging bill when our Nation's infrastructure is crumbling. Rather than working across the aisle to advance a bipartisan transportation and infrastructure bill, the majority is jamming a partisan wish list through to the floor again that prioritizes big cities and Big Government over the interests of the American taxpayer: tripling funding to urban transit programs, a 449 percent increase to rail programs, a 72 percent increase to mass transit programs, and to those of us in rural areas depending on highway and safety programs, only a 42 percent increase. We can see where the priorities of this majority lie, and it is not with the people of rural America.

I was sent to Washington to ensure that our government is transparent and accountable for every action it takes. We can't afford the $1.4 million Green New Deal agenda that the majority has brought before us today.

I represent a district in the Commonwealth of Virginia that is in dire need of resources to modernize its aging infrastructure and relieve the congestion bottlenecks that afflict our highways. Most notable for my region is Interstate 81, a road that spans six States with over 300 miles of it in Virginia, and that stretches the majority of my district from Front Royal in the north to Roanoke in the south.

Each year there are nearly 2,000 crashes on Interstate 81 with over 25 percent involving heavy trucks. Over 45 major crashes a year cause delays greater than 4 hours. Current conditions are not only a frustration, but a grave public safety concern. People are dying on this road, and the failure to keep America's infrastructure up to par is costing lives.

It is unconscionable that instead of focusing on public safety and improvements to our Nation's roadways, such as Interstate 81, liberals have hijacked this bill for their own political messaging. Instead of creating certainty for our local communities in the midst of a global pandemic, the Democrat majority has cast aside the interests of the American people in order to appease the extreme wing of their party as they look to November's elections.

Republicans are willing and open to negotiating realistic ways to rebuild our highways and infrastructure, but it must be done in a fiscally responsible manner. I will not vote to leave our communities saddled with trillions in new debt and the Big Government regulations contained in H.R. 2. Instead of moving us forward, this legislation will bring America's economy and its growth to a screeching halt for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote to recommit this bill back to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and develop a bill that reflects the bipartisanship that this committee and this bill have been known for for so many years.

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