Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, delivered remarks on the Senate floor today on the bipartisan infrastructure package being considered on in the Senate, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“Infrastructure has been a priority for Congress because it is a priority for our constituents. America cannot succeed without a robust infrastructure from one coast to the other, and all the places like North Dakota in between,” said Senator Cramer. “The United States needs rural America, and rural America needs infrastructure. The personal needs it fulfills and the economic benefits it delivers are obvious. Rather than investing trillions of taxpayer dollars on government handouts for people to not work, we can spend money on putting people to work revitalizing a system that directly benefits all of us, and that’s what the plan before us would help accomplish.
The senator warned about the consequences of inaction on infrastructure.
“The inability to meet in the middle is not an excuse for inaction, especially when it comes to addressing not just the pressing needs of the American people here at home, but also protecting our standing as a country on the world stage,” said Senator Cramer. “We understand how important infrastructure is, but so does China. So does Russia. So do all of our adversaries who would like to see us continue to fall behind.”
Senator Cramer concluded by urging his colleagues to consider the benefits for the country of a significant investment in infrastructure and urged them to oppose any “poison pill” amendments or derailing the process.
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would be a significant win for our country. I know it would be for my state,” said Senator Cramer. “I urge my colleagues to keep the negative parts of the bill in perspective and to appreciate the opportunity we have to make a difference for our constituents. North Dakota needs safe and sufficient infrastructure, America needs safe and sufficient infrastructure, and the world needs the United States to have safe and sufficient infrastructure.
The senator’s speech also covered his priorities within the bill, the benefits the bill would deliver for North Dakota, the importance of bipartisanship, and his opposition to the $3.5 trillion spending package Senate Democrats plan to bring to the floor once the Senate finishes with the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Senator Cramer’s remarks as delivered are as follows:
“I want to start out by thanking Senators [Rob] Portman and [Kyrsten] Sinema for providing such incredible leadership and to the group of bipartisan senators that negotiated and coordinated this incredible effort.
“I also want to thank Senator [Shelley Moore] Capito who is managing this floor process along with EPW Chairman Tom Carper. The progress they have made on this issue with the Administration earlier this year, paired with the excellent leadership they that they’ve provided committee, really exemplifies what is possible when we work together, and it has allowed us to get to this point.
“Madam President, reviving America’s roads and bridges is a longstanding national priority Congress has taken too long to address. We need reliable, accessible infrastructure to operate locally and compete globally, and as it currently stands, the bill before us is well-suited to meet that exact need.
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act isn’t perfect, no bill ever is, but it makes historic investments in assets that will benefit every American for many, many years. I applaud the group for using the surface transportation bill we unanimously passed out of the Environment and Public Committee as the foundation for this bill.
“As the lead Republican on the Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, I know how much time and effort members from both sides of the aisle have put into the surface transportation reauthorization. The end result reflected the good work we accomplished and it was the perfect building block for the package that is before us.
“Madam President, as you know, I was not an original part of the bipartisan group. However, when I was approached for my input, I made my top priorities clear:
- Keeping the permitting reforms in our bill. Permitting reforms like the One [Federal] Decision that was a rule that President Trump put into place that President Biden removed his first day in office. It’s codified in this bill for surface transportation.
- Prioritizing dedicated funding to states and to their departments of transportation as part of the traditional formula for distribution.
- Limiting the expansion of urban transit programs.
- Including the bipartisan bill that Senator Lujan and I introduced to clean up orphaned and abandoned oil wells.
“I am glad to see these provisions, as well as our committee’s Drinking [Water] and Wastewater Infrastructure act, in the bill. I also appreciate the use of unspent COVID-19 relief funds to help pay for these priorities. Rather being used to pay people to not work and adding fuel to the fires of inflation, this does just the opposite. I thank my colleagues for asking for my opinion, and I’m even more grateful that they listened and included these provisions in the final product.
“Infrastructure has been a priority for Congress because it is a priority for our constituents. America cannot succeed without a robust infrastructure from one coast to the other, and all the places like North Dakota in between.
“We need roads and bridges to go from farm to town, and from town to city, from city to city, state to state. We use ports and waterways and railroads to move the products that we produce to places they could otherwise never get to. We use rail and air to connect with family and friends and other business associates around the world, and we use broadband connectivity to facilitate transactions both personal and business.
“Infrastructure is foundational to our way of life, and it’s the constitutional responsibility of the federal government to facilitate interstate commerce, including the movement of goods and services along our highways and byways and waterways and railways.
“Rural states like North Dakota, know this better than most. In fact, Rugby, North Dakota, is literally the geographic center of the North American continent. We are landlocked, and we rely on our transportation infrastructure to get where we need to go, and more importantly, to move the products that we produce to where they need to get.
“For example, North Dakota is the top producer of durum wheat, which gets ground into semolina flour, which becomes the main ingredient in pasta. The wheat goes from the field to a grain elevator by a farm road to a mill by rail and to a processing plant by both, and then it goes anywhere, from a grocery store in California, to a restaurant in New York, or perhaps overseas to a market faraway. And, just like every other commodity we produce, it requires a reliable infrastructure system that is safe and sufficient for every single mile on the journey.
“The United States needs rural America, and rural America needs infrastructure. The personal needs it fulfills and the economic benefits it delivers are obvious.
“Rather than investing trillions of taxpayer dollars on government handouts for people to not work, we can spend money on putting people to work revitalizing a system that directly benefits all of us, and that’s what the plan before us would help accomplish. It is not perfect, no bill is as I said, and there are parts of it that I don’t support, but there are parts I know some of my colleagues do not support even though they are top priorities for me.
“The Founding Fathers intended for Congress to collaborate and find common ground. Those are functions of our system. They are not a side effect. It is easy to imagine if every Founder had demanded to get everything they wanted and then nothing else, well then we would have had a king, and we may not have had the system of cooperative federalism that we do today. And, if enough of them believed that doing nothing is better than getting 80 or 90 percent of what they wanted, then our More Perfect Union would never have gotten started and had a chance to become that.
“The inability to meet in the middle is not an excuse for inaction, especially when it comes to addressing not just the pressing needs of the American people here at home, but also protecting our standing as a country on the world stage.
“We understand how important infrastructure is, but so does China. So does Russia. So do all of our adversaries who would like to see us continue to fall behind. The Chinese Communist Party would be glad to see America’s roads and bridges crumble. They would be happy to let infrastructure get in the way of American production and allow for them to meet the needs of the global economy in our absence. The bill that we have before us gives us an opportunity to help stop that from happening.
“Now, while I am all for working across the aisle, that does not mean I will support bills I fundamentally disagree with, like the $3.5+ trillion spending bill that Senate Democrats plan to cobble together after we finish the bipartisan infrastructure bill. I oppose the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend agenda, and I will join each of my Republican colleagues in opposing it and offering amendments to change its harmful outcomes.
“That bill is completely separate from the bipartisan infrastructure bill before us today. They are not tied together, despite whatever rhetoric there may be otherwise. Both should be considered on their own merits separately.
“What a shame it would be for Democrats to offer the American public a glimpse of bipartisan cooperation only to do an about-face and hold it hostage while they jam through a massive tax increase and growth of the federal government, adding to inflation. I hope my colleagues will choose to build on our bipartisan success and resist the urge to follow the partisan whims of their political base.
“As it stands, Madam President, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would be a significant win for our country. I know it would be for my state. So far, we have avoided adding any poison pills or derailing the process, and I urge my colleagues to keep it that way.
“North Dakota needs safe and sufficient infrastructure, America needs safe and sufficient infrastructure, and the world needs the United States to have safe and sufficient infrastructure.
“I urge my colleagues to keep the negative parts of the bill in perspective and to appreciate the opportunity we have to make a difference for our constituents.