For Immediate Release
Contact: Eddie Kurtz
[email protected]
Just days after roads in Portland buckled due to extreme temperatures 30-40 degrees above normal, Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio, Chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, is leading the charge to rebuild the country’s infrastructure with an emphasis on climate resilience.
On Thursday, the INVEST in America Act, authored by Rep. DeFazio, passed the House of Representatives on a vote of 221-201.
This five-year, $547 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill is vital for the future of Oregon and the country at large because it will create good-paying jobs to rebuild and re-imagine America’s surface transportation infrastructure. The package will help meet President Biden’s vision — as laid out in the American Jobs Plan — by investing in American workers and communities of all sizes while tackling the climate crisis head-on.
Democratic Party of Oregon Labor Caucus Chair Donna Nyberg stated:
“By including strong labor protections across the entire bill, the INVEST in America Act will rebuild our aging transportation infrastructure and lay the groundwork for a clean energy future, while creating and sustaining good-paying jobs in construction, operations, maintenance, design, and manufacturing.”
Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle added, “Rep. DeFazio is an Oregon treasure. His long fight for this legislation is a heroic example of perseverance. On behalf of Oregon’s working people, who will see countless job opportunities when this bill becomes law, I can’t thank him enough.”
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