WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, held a hearing today on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, one year after it was signed into law by President Joe Biden. Witnesses at the hearing included Mayor Jacob Day of Salisbury, Md., and Michael Carroll, Deputy Managing Director of the Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability. The witnesses, all representing cities and counties, discussed local infrastructure challenges and how implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is creating opportunities and solutions.
“This is the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s signature on the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill. I think we all take great pride in this committee – the Environment and Public Works Committee — because we gave the foundation for the bipartisan infrastructure bill by the work of this committee. We passed, over a year ago, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act. It was a $303 billion dollar program for our roads and bridges. It was the largest program ever passed by Congress – and it passed unanimously by this committee. And it is no easy task to get a unanimous vote on such an important bill. It laid the foundation for the bipartisan infrastructure package. We take great pride in getting that done,” Senator Cardin said in his opening remarks.
“This bill represents a major national effort to deliver infrastructure we need to sustain our competitiveness and our economic strength for future generations. It brings new opportunities for our workforce. This bill is a lot about jobs. Creating new jobs here in America, modernizing our infrastructure,” Senator Cardin added. “We advance equity, and we advance safety with the bipartisan infrastructure bill. And we meet the challenge of climate change.”
Video of Senator Cardin’s full opening statement can be found at this link.
During his remarks, Senator Cardin highlighted funds set aside for local governments to improve safety. “We’ve had a record number of highway deaths in the first six months of this year – over 20,000 fatalities,” he said, mentioning Marylander Sarah Langenkamp, a distinguished member of the Foreign Service, who was biking home from her son’s elementary school when she was killed. “Bike safety is something we can do much better. Transportation Alternatives Program funds can be used for that purpose. We’ve also authorized for Safe Streets and Roads – $5 billion over the next five years.”
