U.S. Representative David Scott, whose Georgia 13th Congressional District covers the southern part of Cobb County, released the following press release on the infrastructure bill which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives shortly before midnight last night. The Senate had previously passed the legislation, which will now be signed by President Joseph Biden.

Here is Scott’s statement.

WASHINGTON – Congressman David Scott (GA-13), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, today issued the following statement regarding his vote to pass the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, legislation to create millions of good-paying union jobs with a once-in-a-century investment in rebuilding infrastructure in Georgia, including roads and bridges, transit, rail, clean drinking water and wastewater systems and high-speed broadband networks.

“For too long, Congress has failed to act boldly when it comes to our infrastructure, leaving our country with congested roads, failing sewer systems, lead in our pipes, unsafe bridges, unreliable broadband and slow-moving trains.,” said Congressman David Scott. “The bipartisan infrastructure bill will invest in American workers and strengthen our economy with good-paying jobs that will revitalize Georgia roads, secure cleaner air and water, restore our global competitiveness and make our communities a better place to live and work by bringing our infrastructure into the 21st century. I am pleased to support this crucial down-payment on our shared mandate from the American people to deliver a stronger, fairer economy for working and middle class families and I look forward to passing President Biden’s full agenda in the Build Back Better Act as soon as possible.”

BACKGROUND

In the wake of the pandemic, poor infrastructure has struggled to keep up with a sharp increase in consumer demand – resulting in added costs for businesses and delays for consumers.  The United States ranks 13th globally in terms of the quality of our infrastructure, and the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the condition of our infrastructure a C-.  As the economy continues its strong recovery, President Biden and the Congress are seizing this historic moment to Build Back Better: improving infrastructure in every state in the union, growing the economy and helping Americans get back to work, while advancing justice and opportunity for all. Together, the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act are estimated to create an average of 2 million jobs each year over the next decade. 

This Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will:

• Rebuild roads and bridges nationwide, including the largest bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system seven decades ago;
• Deliver clean drinking water to ten million families and more than 400,000 schools and child care facilities nationwide with the largest-ever investment in American water infrastructure to replace lead pipes and service lines across the nation;
• Help clean up legacy pollution, which is an important step in advancing environmental justice;
• Expand access to reliable high-speed internet to help more families get online to work and learn; 
• Make historic improvements to public transit, with the largest federal investment in American history and the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak; and
• Support action to address the climate crisis, making down-payments on clean energy transmission, a clean and resilient electric grid, electric vehicle infrastructure and more.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act now goes to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.