WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) issued the following statement Tuesday after the Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by a vote of 69-30:
“Yesterday, we received a dire warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: the future of life on our planet is in danger. We’ve seen our care economy infrastructure burdened immensely in the past year, with the impact and job losses disproportionately falling on Black and brown women. Poverty and inequality has deepened since the start of the pandemic. Millions of families across the country still lack affordable housing.
“The bipartisan bill does not address these crises — not even close. Though it includes important investments in hard infrastructure like our roads and bridges, it vastly underfunds public transit, EV and grid infrastructure, and lead pipe replacement. This is personal to my district — where public transit underserves Black and brown neighborhoods and where fossil fuel infrastructure like the Cross Bronx Expressway cuts through communities and lowers quality of life, including leading to higher asthma rates among children. This bill also stripped the INVEST in America Act of the Member Designated Projects, which included more than $17 million for projects in NY-16. I will be fighting to ensure that funding is added back to the final legislation.
“In order to save millions of lives and have a chance at a thriving future economy, Democrats must take advantage of this moment and pass transformative legislation. A true infrastructure investment must include transforming our economy to handle the climate crisis, supporting care workers, reforming SSI, making child care universal, rebuilding our crumbling public schools, and much more. The $3.5 trillion in the Democrat-led budget resolution making its way through the Senate right now is much closer to what we need, but it still doesn’t go far enough. We must absolutely pass that bill, but I will be doing everything in my power over the coming weeks and months to advance and support other pieces of legislation that reflect the scope and scale of the crises we face.”
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