U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) applauded the Senate Commerce Committee on its passage of a $78 billion surface transportation bill.
Capito, a member of the committee, said the bill’s passage, with a vote of 25-3, proves Senate can work in a bipartisan fashion.
“Once again, the Senate demonstrated that we can improve America’s infrastructure in a bipartisan way,” Capito said. “I appreciate Chairwoman Cantwell and Ranking Member Wicker, as well as both their staffs, for their diligent work in advancing this critical legislation that would make significant investments in the broader surface transportation system by providing $78 billion over five years for multimodal surface transportation, rail, freight, and safety programs.”
The Surface Transportation Investment Act would increase funding levels for safety programs consistent with the increased funding levels the surface transportation legislation passed by the Environment and Public Works Committee, which Moore is the ranking member of. Moore said the legislation also included language to increase investments to address substance-impaired driving, drunk driving, and innovative transportation technologies.
Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said the bill’s passage was a significant start on infrastructure spending.
“The main focus of today’s markup is the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021, and Senator Wicker and I introduced this legislation last week,” Cantwell said. “It makes a big down payment, $78 billion, on rebuilding and revamping our nation’s critical transportation infrastructure, a key to our economic future and creating more jobs.”
The bill includes 50 amendments, including a requirement that a disability advocate is on the Amtrak Board of Directors and a requirement that the Secretary of Transportation submits to Congress a report on research into marijuana-related impaired driving.