WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act in a 69-30 vote. This $1.2 trillion bill goes far beyond investments to fix outdated and crumbling roads and bridges. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored this bill and found that—in contrast to the claims of the bill’s negotiators—it isn’t fully paid for and will add $256 billion to deficits over the next ten years. In addition, it lays the groundwork for a partisan $3.5 trillion social welfare bill that would dramatically expand the scope of government, and includes government-provided universal Pre-K, taxpayer-paid-for community college, and amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) at Independent Women’s Forum, issued the following statement:

“Americans support fixing our roads and bridges. In true Washington fashion, this bill hides massive, wasteful spending under the guise of repairing our critical basic infrastructure. Worse, it uses a racial equity lens to benefit some Americans over others. 

“This infrastructure bill provides hundreds of billions of dollars for senators’ pet projects that go beyond basic infrastructure, unequally benefits cities over rural areas in spending initiatives such as broadband investments, promotes a woke agenda, introduces costly mandates including breathalyzers for every new car, and imposes radical environmental regulations that will hit lower-income Americans and do nothing to actually address climate change. 

“To make $1.2 trillion palatable, bipartisan negotiators told the American people time and again that this plan was fully paid for. The CBO confirmed that is simply not true. Knowing that we are adding over $250 billion to the deficit, these senators cosigned a new level of fiscal irresponsibility that sets the tone for out-of-control spending for years to come.”

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