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Utah Had a Seat at the Table in Negotiating the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the introduction of legislative text of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, bipartisan infrastructure legislation negotiated by U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and his colleagues.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the introduction of legislative text of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, bipartisan infrastructure legislation negotiated by U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and his colleagues.

They say that making law is like making sausage, but I have seen sausage made and it’s a prettier process and it’s a lot easier. But this has been a lot more rewarding. I have enjoyed the time we have had together. My good friend from West Virginia talked about how much money we are spending here, how big this is, but let me underscore something. This is paid for, this is not going to raise taxes on people. This is instead taking some money that was already appropriated—not used— for COVID relief. We are going to bring that back and use it to help build infrastructure. This is a bill which is paid for and that gives the American people what they desperately need, and that is and upgrade in our infrastructure.

Now of course you know, it was several months ago that this group came together—we call ourselves affectionately, the G10. Senator Portman and Senator Sinema have shown enormous patience, persistence, and resolve getting this across the finish line. I want to thank also Senator Capito for laying the important foundation for what we proposed at the very beginning, which we built upon that led us to the final piece of legislation.

As has been said, neither side got everything we wanted. There are a bunch of things in this bill that I don’t like, that I would take out. There are things in this bill I know my Democrat friends don’t like and would take out, but the nature of getting work done in Washington is to be able to come up with something that has enough good for both that we actually get it done. The American people have been waiting one president after another, after another saying let’s improve our infrastructure and it just doesn’t get done. This time we have.

Now I know the Republicans had a choice here. We could let the Democrats just do something on their own, because with reconciliation they could have spent trillions of dollars without any of our help. But the President and the leaders of the Democratic Party here and our friends said no, let’s work together and see if we can’t do something collectively.

Now I know that members of both parties have mischaracterized our efforts as somehow linked to “paving the way” to the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion wish list. If you don’t think our Democrat friends are going to push for that monstrosity, with or without this bill, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you. They are going to push for that anyway.

This is a separate piece of legislation. I love this one. I hate that one. These are two very different things and there is going to be an effort, obviously, to stop that bill from going forward.

Our bill is not perfect. It is paid for. I want to note that if the Democrats were to have written the bill entirely on their own, Utah would probably have ended up with the short end of the stick. Because of our involvement in this effort, some of our rural states like mine have been able to have a seat at the table. This means limiting the spending on bad policy that only benefits the rich, coastal cities in the East and the far West.

So, I’m proud of this bill because it benefits Americans across the country. For decades elected officials have talked about addressing our nation’s infrastructure. This infrastructure bill turns that talk into reality, without raising taxes on hard working Americans or adding to our debt.

I’m proud of my colleagues. It has been fun working with them—challenging from time to time I’m sure, to listen to me, they would tell you. I’m proud of what we did together, and I urge my colleagues to support it.