Congressman Bradley Byrne, R-Alabama, this week voted against a Democratic infrastructure bill — H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act — which he said was crafted without any input from Republicans.
“Democrats and Republicans have traditionally worked together to craft highway bills, but Speaker Pelosi continues to allow even bipartisan priorities like road and bridge funding bills to become vehicles for her radical agenda,” Byrne said, “As the Democrat Chairman noted, this bill is simply the radical Green New Deal disguised as a highway bill. In fact, this bill would fund partisan priorities totally unrelated to transportation infrastructure, and I cannot support such reckless spending of taxpayer dollars. The American people need a highway bill, and we will need both parties at the table working together to give them one.”
“The Democrat Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and lead author of this bill responded to Republican criticism by acknowledging it seeks to implement “the principles of the Green New Deal,” Byrne concluded.
The Democratic controlled House passed H.R. 2, but even before it had passed, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said that the bill would not be voted on in the Senate.
“So naturally this nonsense is not going anywhere in the Senate,” McConnell said. “It will just join the list of absurd House proposals that were only drawn up to show fealty to the radical left.”
The $1.5 trillion green infrastructure plan would provide billions to repair the nation’s roads and bridges, but it also funds broadband, schools and hospitals. It would also force states to commit to reducing greenhouse gases and other climate measures in order to get any of the road money.
President Donald Trump threatened to veto the bill if it gets that far.
Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, also voted against H.R. 2.
“Nancy Pelosi & her Socialist comrades are hellbent on destroying America,” Brooks claimed. “They won’t stop spending until America is bankrupt. They covet economic disaster so they can rebuild a Socialist America under the guise of providing economic relief. In this instance, Socialism comes cloaked as an infrastructure bill.”
Byrne represents Alabama’s 1st Congressional District. He is not seeking another term in Congress.
