Press Releases

Washington, DC—July 1, 2020....Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) released the below statement on H.R. 2, legislation that seeks to implement Green New Deal principles under the guise of infrastructure. While the topic is traditionally an area where both parties have found common ground, House Democrats hijacked the process to craft a one-sided messaging bill. The more than one trillion-dollar package includes liberal wish list items unrelated to infrastructure, prioritizes urban needs at the expense of rural America, and contains heavy-handed and unrealistic mandates that will hinder needed road modernization. Womack voted against this partisan bill, which will never become law:

“The irony of the “Moving Forward Act” going nowhere past today’s vote is not lost on me. If House Democrats spent as much time working on the content of legislation as they do on clever titles, we might actually have effective solutions. H.R. 2 is an unserious and deeply flawed package chock-full of Green New Deal provisions and other items unrelated to infrastructure. I’m unsure of how art on buildings, mandates that prevent the development of new roads, tax breaks for universities with environmental justice programs, postal service electric vehicle obligations, and reversing Amtrak requirements that prioritize financially responsible operations will improve highways and bridges for the American people. Yet, notably missing from the more than 2,300-page bill are steps to address one of the greatest roadblocks to infrastructure improvement: unnecessary permitting delays. They also have no way to pay for their $1.5 trillion partisan wish list. This is anything but a serious attempt to legislate, and I regret Congress has wasted time yet again. Calendar days are dwindling, and so are the opportunities to actually get things done for our communities.”

Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) has represented Arkansas’s Third Congressional District since 2011. He serves as the Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Budget and is a member of the House Appropriations defense and transportation, housing and urban development subcommittees.

womack.house.gov

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