April 29, 2020

Chair DeFazio Responds to Report Leader McConnell Won’t Support Infrastructure Investment for Future Coronavirus Response Plan

Washington, DC – Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) today released the following statement after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly panned the idea of infrastructure investment for a future economic rescue package:

“With tens of millions of Americans out of work and entire swaths of the economy shut down by a global health crisis, the country is now on the precipice of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. And just like the New Deal of the 1930s, the best way to re-start our economy and put workers first is with a massive investment in the kind of infrastructure that will help future generations succeed-- from better bridges and roads, to robust transit and passenger rail service, to fully-functioning ports and harbors, to modernized waste and drinking water systems, and widely available broadband internet. Rebuilding communities across the country with resilient, innovative infrastructure is how we put millions of people to work in jobs that cannot be exported, while supporting U.S. manufacturing with the strongest Buy America requirements in the entire Federal government, and making our infrastructure smarter, safer, and made to last.”

Earlier this year, Chair DeFazio authored the House Democrats’ Moving Forward infrastructure framework to lay out a plan to rebuild America.

 

--30--