Tag: infrastructure
Elise Stefanik

'Serial Liar' Stefanik Grabs Credit For Infrastructure Funds She Voted To Kill

House Republican Conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) recently patted herself on the back for a $1.8 million federal grant a community within her district received. However, that money came from a bill she and every other Republican opposed.

Local publication North Country This Week — based in Stefanik's 21st House District in upstate New York — reported that the US Department of Agriculture grant went toward the South Raquette Water District in Massena, NY. Stefanik took credit for the funding, telling the outlet that she helped fast-track the grant application through the House Appropriations Committee to quickly get the funds approved.

"Infrastructure has been a top priority for some time and I am able to offer assistance in a very targeted way, whether it be for water projects, sewer projects or supporting our first responders," she said.

"I am proud to announce that I secured $1,857,000 for a Water District Development Project for the Town of Massena in this year’s appropriations process," Stefanik wrote in a Tuesday tweet. "This funding will go toward providing public water service to the residents of Massena."

Stefanik didn't actually vote for those funds, which were part of the Inflation Reduction Act that passed the House of Representatives in 2022. In a now-deleted statement posted to her House.gov website, she called the legislation a "radical spending bill that will raise taxes and crush hardworking families and small businesses."

"[Democrats] have made their priorities clear, and they are not for the American people. I will continue to stand up against reckless government spending and any tax increases," Stefanik said at the time, adding that the bill "also wastes $350 billion on 'Green New Deal' provisions that prioritize large cities over rural communities."

Others on X/Twitter took issue with Stefanik boasting about her district receiving the funds she voted against. In addition to a community note (a public fact-checking feature on the platform) specifying that Stefanik "voted Nay along party lines with every other Republican" against the bill, she was also slammed by various journalists, public figures and commentators for her tweet.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Bridge

Biden Orders Only US-Made Steel For Infrastructure Projects


The Biden administration announced on Monday that construction projects funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be required to use American-made steel and iron.

A memo issued by Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young "for heads of executive departments and agencies" says that "none of the funds made available for a Federal financial assistance program for infrastructure, including each deficient program, may be obligated for a project unless all of the iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in the project are produced in the United States. ... This means all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States."

The infrastructure bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, after passing in Congress with all Democrats voting in favor of it and a majority of Republicans opposing its passage.

The American Iron and Steel Institute, an association of North American steel producers, has estimated that five million metric tons of steel will be needed for every $100 billion of direct infrastructure spending in the legislation. Based on the $550 billion allocated in the final bill, that amounts to an estimated 27.5 million metric tons of steel that would need to be manufactured in the United States.

"Passing this bill today provides a tremendous boost to our industry," Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the institute, said in a statement.

Infrastructure construction projects include bridge repairs across the country, as well as road construction and repair and the installation of broadband infrastructure.

Biden's direction to use steel produced in the United States could have a positive environmental impact.

Multiple studies, including one backed by the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation and ClimateWorks Foundation and another from the Climate Leadership Council, have determined that the production of steel in America is more carbon efficient than in other countries.

Both studies found that carbon output from China's production of steel notably exceeded that of American production.

American steel production companies Nucor and U.S. Steel recently announced initiatives they said were aimed at achieved "net zero carbon" goals.

In that same vein, the Biden administration has previously announced its intention to work with the European Union toward policies that limit the use of "dirty steel" from China.

"American-made steel and aluminum is produced with far fewer emissions than dirtier alternatives made in the PRC and elsewhere. To date, American steel companies and workers have received no benefit for their low-carbon production. Low-carbon steel across all production types —and the workers who make it—will be incentivized and rewarded going forward," the administration announced in an October 2021 statement. It also highlighted the value of "green steel production," which it said would ensure "a competitive U.S. steel industry for decades to come."

The United Steelworkers, the union that represents 1.2 million active and retired workers in multiple industries, praised the original passage of the infrastructure bill in November 2021, noting, "Robust investment, coupled with strong domestic procurement provisions, will help American workers, including hundreds of thousands of USW members, not only by making their communities safer but by promoting widespread job growth and economic opportunity.

"Our members stand ready to produce the essential building blocks of a modern infrastructure, as we begin making long-overdue upgrades to the nation's roads, bridges, broadband, public transit, ports, power grids, and more."

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

More Republicans Claim Credit For Infrastructure Bill They Opposed

More Republicans Claim Credit For Infrastructure Bill They Opposed

Republicans have adamantly fought against President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan but now a growing list of them are taking credit for the funding provided by the same plan they opposed.

According to HuffPost, over the last several days, several Republican lawmakers have issued press releases praising funding that will be used to improve United States highways and other infrastructure. On Wednesday, January 19, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) described the $829 million in funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve infrastructure along the Mississippi River as “game-changing.”

“Over 60 percent of our nation’s grain exports travel through this lock and dam system, and it is a massive economic engine for the entire state,” Hinson said in a statement.

“That’s why I helped lead a bipartisan group of my colleagues in urging the Administration to prioritize funding for these essential upgrades," she added, "I’ll always fight to ensure Iowans’ taxpayer dollars are reinvested at home in Iowa."

However, Hinson's latest remarks differ vastly from her stance back in November. At the time, she described the package as “a raw deal for Iowans” and “spending at its worst,” according to a statement given to HuffPost by her spokeswoman, Sophie Seid.

“Congresswoman Hinson opposed the infrastructure package because it was tied to trillions of other spending in the House,” Seid, said in a statement. “Since the bill was signed into law, this money was going to be spent regardless. If there’s federal money on the table she is, of course, going to do everything she can to make sure it is reinvested in Iowa.”

Another Republican lawmaker in Texas also lauded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' funding announcement on Wednesday. Since the funds will also help to mitigate flooding in Fort Worth, Texas, Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) verbalized her support for the bill.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) also released statements touting the infrastructure funding announcement.

“When I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, I was voting for exactly this type of federal support for critical infrastructure that Iowans depend on,” Grassley said in a statement.

Grassley and Blunt were among the 19 Senate Republicans who voted in favor of the bill.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Biden Names Ex-Mayor Landrieu To Oversee Infrastructure Billions

Biden Names Ex-Mayor Landrieu To Oversee Infrastructure Billions

Washington (AFP) - President Joe Biden on Sunday appointed prominent former mayor Mitch Landrieu to coordinate implementation of the country's massive new infrastructure law and oversee the disbursement of its $1.2 trillion in funds.

In his role as senior advisor, the former New Orleans mayor "will oversee the most significant and comprehensive investments in American infrastructure in generations," the White House said in a statement.

The package, recently passed by Congress after months of wrangling, is aimed at creating millions of high-paying jobs, upgrading crumbling roads, bridges, waterways and ports and strengthening supply chains.

Biden is scheduled to sign the landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal into law on Monday.

Landrieu, 61, is no stranger to managing crises. He took over as mayor of New Orleans in 2010 in the aftermath of deadly Hurricane Katrina as the recovery of the famed Gulf Coast city had stalled.

He also served as Louisiana's lieutenant governor.

Biden has stressed to Americans that it will be a matter of weeks or months before the public begins to see the real effects of the bill which also intends to expand US broadband access and the number of electric car charging stations, along with a slew of other projects.

The president is counting on the program producing an impact -- at least politically -- before Americans vote in midterm elections next November.