Sinema, colleagues in bipartisan group officially introduced legislative text of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Agreement paves way for the strongest investment in America’s critical infrastructure in a century without raising taxes
WASHINGTON – Arizona’s senior U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema spoke tonight on the Senate floor introducing formal legislative text of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—historic legislation resulting from negotiations that she co-led with Republican Senator Rob Portman (Ohio) that invests in America’s critical infrastructure without raising taxes.
Below is Sinema’s speech as delivered.
Thank you, Mr. President.
It’s my honor and privilege this evening to join with the fellow nine senators at the G 10 who’ve been working together for months now, along with an additional 12 colleagues who together, the 22 of us Senators have worked long and hard with each other and with the White House to introduce this evening the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
We know that this has been a long and sometimes difficult process. But we are proud this evening to announce this legislation. And we look forward very much to working with our colleagues in a collaborative and open way over the coming days to work through this historic investment in infrastructure in our country and to come to agreement in the United States Senate to move forward with this historic piece of legislation.
Now, I know many of my colleagues will talk about some of the virtues of the legislation and the great things that will do for the states that we all are proud to represent, the states that all of us senators represent across this country. But what I’d like to direct my brief remarks to this evening, Mr. President, are not the details of this legislative text, though, they are significant and I think they’re very meaningful and will have an impact on the daily lives of Americans. What I’d like to speak about is the very process.
I know it has been difficult and I know that it’s been hard, and what I am proud to say is that this is what our forefathers intended when they created a system of government that required Republicans and Democrats to come together in a coequal branch of government and work with each other and with the administration to find legislation and solutions that meet the needs of our country’s individuals and families, companies, communities.
It is difficult, it is time consuming, and it is exactly what our country insists and demands of us every single day to take the time to work with each other, to find common ground, to compromise and to be willing to work with each other, to give a little, to get a little, in order to achieve what’s right and what’s best for the American people.
I think that the process we’re embarking on this evening, as we soon will join together with our colleagues of both political parties representing every state across the country is an important one. And it sends a message to the individuals across this country and indeed to individuals across this world that the United States government can work.
It is difficult, it is time consuming, it can be hard. But this very process of finding bipartisan compromise and working together to overcome obstacles, to achieve the objectives that the American people are depending upon us to do is the very heart and the very core of why each of us serve in this government.
And I, for one, in addition to being tired, I for one am incredibly proud of this process. It is why I ran for office, and I believe it is why we’ve all run for office, to work together, to overcome differences, to find solutions, and to make a difference in the lives of the American people, as we will see in the coming days, as we hear from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle offering amendments and adjustments to this legislation and ultimately, I believe, passing this legislation out of the Senate. Strong bipartisan record, we will continue to once again demonstrate to our country and to the world that we can indeed do our jobs, that we can legislate, that we can work together, and then we can put aside our own political differences for the greater good of our country.
Thank you, Mr. President.