“We have a rare opportunity to reshape our national economy”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and member of the Senate Environment and Public Works, Finance and Foreign Relations committees, issued the following statement after Senate passage of the FY22 budget resolution. Video of his full remarks on the Senate floor from the start of debate can be found at this link.
“The Build Back Better Budget is important for Maryland and the entire country. It will keep up the historic economic growth generated this year by the American Rescue Plan and lower costs for working families and small businesses. Coupled with the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, this legislation provides a rare opportunity to reshape our national economy to work better for all Americans and make it more equitable by investing in underserved communities.
“As Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I am especially gratified that our budget will invest in our nation’s small businesses and will address directly the systemic and pervasive barriers that prevent women, minorities, veterans, and entrepreneurs from starting and growing successful businesses. These small businesses will be dealing with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for years to come, providing another important reason for the federal government to address the need for small business capital.
“Among so many encouraging priorities, the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act and the budget blueprint both will address the urgent need for water affordability. I was proud to author an assistance program for low-income households so that communities maintain critical infrastructure and meet public health standards without cost-burdening customers who cannot afford to pay more. Marylanders are struggling to pay their water bills and federal assistance is overdue.
“I am pleased that both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Budget take necessary and urgently needed action to address climate change. It is time we stop treating action on climate as an economic burden, rather than an essential consideration in infrastructure and other key investments. Climate change is a crisis, but it also is the central economic opportunity of our time.
“Investments – in America’s infrastructure, our workers, and our small businesses – are long overdue and I am proud that the Senate is taking bold action not only to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to put our national economy on a more equitable path ahead.”
Video of Senator Cardin’s floor remarks on the Build Back Better Budget can be found at this link.
