Hoeven Statement on Biden Infrastructure Plan

BISMARCK, N.D. - Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement on the Biden administration's over $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

'Investing in our nation's infrastructure is a bipartisan priority in Congress and there is broad support for updating our roads, bridges, railways, broadband and other vital infrastructure. While there are priorities in this proposal that have bipartisan support, the Biden administration's over $2 trillion proposal goes well-beyond infrastructure while increasing taxes. As our nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, we should be encouraging economic growth, not imposing job-killing tax increases.'

As the lead Republican on the Senate Agriculture & Rural Development Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee, Senator Hoeven works annually to secure infrastructure priorities for North Dakota highways, roads, bridges, airports, broadband and flood protection, including:

• Securing $115 million in the Army Corps' Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 work plan for permanent flood protection in the Fargo-Moorhead region.
• Passing the authorization for the Minot region's flood protection project as part of the year-end legislation passed by Congress in December. This authorization enables the project's fourth phase to receive federal funding.
• Securing more than $114 million in federal funding for the new Williston Basin International Airport, which opened in October 2019. Williston Basin International is the first primary airport built in the last nine years on undeveloped land, with only seven such airports being constructed in the last 45 years.
• Securing an additional $8 billion in additional discretionary funding for highway programs, over the past three years alone, including $3 billion for the Bridge Repair and Rehabilitation Program, under which North Dakota has received nearly $50 million.
• Advancing his Move America Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide tax credits and tax-exempt bonds as a flexible funding source to help grow and repair the country's infrastructure.
• Deploying broadband infrastructure. Among other things, Hoeven has secured more than $2.2 billion across FY2018-2021 for the ReConnect Program, a rural broadband loan and grant pilot program.

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