Today, the House of Representatives passed HR 2, the Moving Forward Act. This bill will provide the funding to reduce both traffic congestion and dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and enable America to remain competitive in a global economy where many of our rivals are out-investing us in infrastructure.
Like almost everyone in Southwest Connecticut, repairing, rebuilding, and replacing our failing roads, rail, and bridges is a top priority for me. In fact, the day after President Trump was elected, I made it clear that despite significant policy disagreements in almost every area, I was eager to take him up on his promise to invest in a trillion-dollar infrastructure package. Unfortunately, the President neither put forward a realistic plan nor exerted any leadership to get infrastructure done, and it once again has fallen to the Democratic House of Representatives to take the lead.
This bill goes beyond roads and transit to make important investments in our schools, housing, clean energy, and our drinking and wastewater systems. The bill also reauthorizes the Long Island Sound program at EPA, to continue to good work they have done in cleaning up the Sound.
I’m especially proud that I was able to work with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio to include an amendment that would make Connecticut eligible for a piece of $250 million from the Gridlock Reduction Grant Program we otherwise would have been locked out of.
Every year that we delay making these needed investments, repairs to our infrastructure will become more costly and we’ll lose more economic output due to traffic and congestion. Now that the House has acted, the Senate should take up the bill to boost our economy today and for decades to come.
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