Washington, D.C. —Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s budget release.
“It’s clear that our country needs significant federal investment to even begin to bring our nation’s infrastructure to a state of good repair, so it’s highly disappointing that once again, despite so much of his rhetoric over the past few years, the President put forth a budget that falls incredibly short. For starters, the president is recycling his already-rejected proposal to somehow turn $200 billion of federal investment into $1 trillion for badly-needed projects. On top of that, the president is proposing cutting the Department of Transportation’s discretionary funding by 22 percent, cutting half of EPA’s Clean Water infrastructure financing and drastically reducing funding for the clean water program, all while slashing the Army Corps’ budget by nearly a third.
“In effect, the Trump budget would shirk federal responsibility when it comes to our nation’s infrastructure, putting a massive burden on cash-strapped states and local communities and doing nothing to meaningfully address our nation’s infrastructure needs. When it comes to infrastructure investment, it looks like Congress is going to have to do the heavy lifting.”
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