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WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted tonight to advance the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, bipartisan legislation critical to President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda that includes investments to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure including roads, bridges and ports, and make investments to protect drinking water and develop clean energy.

Tonko also cheered the agreement to take up the Build Back Better Act, transformational legislation that tackles the growing climate crisis, supports middle- and low-income families and lowers costs for hard working Americans, all while making the wealthiest pay their fair share.

“Today is a historic day for the people. The House just advanced momentous legislation that will make a meaningful difference in the daily lives of those I serve in the Capital Region and across the nation,” Congressman Tonko said. “We came together to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that tackles some of our nation’s most pressing infrastructure needs—devoting significant funding to fix our roads and bridges, upgrading transit systems and pedestrian infrastructure, expanding broadband access, building out electric vehicle charging stations, and finally removing lead pipes that poison our children. These investments will create tens of thousands of good paying jobs and support our 21st century economy.

“Additionally, and most critically, the House came to an agreement to advance the Build Back Better Act pending a final analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. The Build Back Better Act secures our nation’s clean energy future, delivers critical support to families and bolsters our health care system during this crisis and beyond,” Tonko continued. “This Build Back Better agenda takes sweeping climate action at a moment when our nation needs it most. With each passing day, the climate crisis grows worse and the need for immediate investments becomes more dire. I asserted that we cannot make strong investments in infrastructure without determining a clear path to a clean energy future. President Biden has marked that path with this agreement, and I have full faith and confidence that, under his leadership, we will get it done. This is action that the American people want and need, and I will continue fighting in Congress to deliver these investments for the people.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:

• Implements lifesaving limo provisions authored by Tonko alongside families of the victims of the tragic limousine crashes in Long Island and Schoharie, NY
• Makes the largest federal investment in public transit ever
• Makes the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak
• Makes the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system
• Secures clean water for children with $55 billion to fix the nation’s crumbling water infrastructure, including $15 billion to replace lead pipes
• Ensures every American has access to reliable high-speed internet
• Helps tackle the climate crisis by making investments in clean energy transmission and EV infrastructure; electrifying thousands of school and transit buses across the country; and creating a new Grid Deployment Authority to build a resilient, clean, 21st century electric grid

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