Commonsense Solutions on Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, there is no denying that Congress must take action to improve our Nation's crumbling infrastructure. But, sadly, bipartisan negotiations have hit a roadblock, and the infrastructure legislation on the floor this week is a go-at-it-alone, my-way-or-the- highway bill.

Instead of focusing on traditional infrastructure, Democrats have chosen to prioritize the left's Green New Deal agenda. This bill includes an estimated $276 billion for Green New Deal-related mandates, requirements, and programs. To put that into perspective, $1 out of every $2 spent by this legislation is tied up in Green New Deal goals.

Further, this bill reduces flexibility for States to meet their own unique infrastructure needs and fails to streamline major project reviews, which typically face a 6-year delay. To make matters worse, the spending increases proposed in this bill rely heavily on more deficit spending. There are no pay-fors, which will only further fuel inflation and increase the cost of goods like gas and food.

We need commonsense solutions that truly work to improve our roads, bridges, railways, and rural broadband. I am pleased to hear that there are bipartisan negotiations underway to achieve these goals, but this bill this week veers off the road and into a partisan ditch.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' later this week on H.R. 3684.

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