Washington, D.C. - House Energy & Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) releases a statement on President Biden’s expected announcement today:
“There’s bipartisan agreement that our infrastructure must be a priority for America to win the future. Unfortunately, this is not an infrastructure package. Instead, President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and the Democrats are jamming through a massive expansion in federal bureaucracy and government control. It tries to beat the Chinese Communist Party at their own games with mandates and regulations that will take us back to the dark ages.
“The ‘transitioning’ jobs part of this should also be called out for the PR stunt that it is. In reality, they are preparing a federal takedown of critical American industries that employ millions of people. Rather than picking winners and losers with ‘pie-the-sky,’ Green New Deal mandates, we should be embracing an all-the-above energy strategy to protect jobs, low energy costs, and our national security. That’s why House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee are leading on solutions to modernize and improve energy infrastructure for American workers of today and tomorrow.
“On broadband, President Biden is poised to waste billions of dollars and hurt private investment in our networks without actually closing the digital divide. Rather than promoting competition, President Biden’s plan will set rural America back even further and force higher costs on families. Instead, we should be turbocharging our public and private investments and encouraging competition by streamlining permitting processes. House Republicans are leading on those solutions in our Boosting Broadband Connectivity Agenda."
Note: In a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Democrats’ infrastructure bill on March 22, 2021, Leader Rodgers sent a strong reminder on how Republicans led before the pandemic on lifting the regulatory burden and cutting taxes for America’s economy to boom.
The LIFT Act was first introduced in 2017 with a price tag of $85 billion. Today, it’s a whopping $300 billion for the government to regulate the cars we drive and how we heat our homes and businesses. pic.twitter.com/lYhVNzhUCM
- Energy & Commerce GOP (@HouseCommerce) March 22, 2021
She said: “I’ll start by reflecting on what life was like before the pandemic. Our economy was booming. It was the hottest job market in half a century. After a decade of people asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ wages were rising and more jobs were available than people looking for work."
[…]
“Despite Speaker Pelosi’s best efforts to protect the status quo, Republicans delivered on our promises. As a result, there was optimism again. We should be leading to replicate this success."