Build Back Better Agenda Puts Families First

Floor Speech

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Ms. SEWELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of President Biden's historic Build Back Better agenda.

Already, congressional Democrats have come together to pass part one of the Build Back Better agenda. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is the largest investment in United States infrastructure in nearly a century, and it will benefit my State of Alabama in so many ways.

It will provide $5.2 billion to repair Alabama's roads, $225 million to fix Alabama's bridges, and $100 million to connect every Alabamian to high-speed internet.

Now we have the opportunity to pass part two, the Build Back Better Act. That, too, will invest in Alabama by creating millions of good- paying jobs; providing affordable childcare for over 300,000 Alabamians; lowering healthcare costs for families, including 300,000 Alabamians who fall into the Medicaid coverage gap; and delivering universal pre-K to over 110,000 Alabama 3- and 4-year-olds.

As co-chair of the Ways and Means Racial Equity Initiative, I have fought to ensure that equity remains a central focus, and I am proud that these bills will uplift our most vulnerable communities in so many transformative ways.

It is fully paid for. I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of the Build Back Better Act.

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