04.12.21

Cantwell Statement on White House Infrastructure Meeting

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement after meeting with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and a bipartisan, bicameral group of congressional leaders about priorities for infrastructure investment:

“I applaud the President for having a bipartisan meeting to discuss infrastructure investment and America’s competitiveness. No one disagreed that we need a major investment in infrastructure. I hope our colleagues will continue to talk through the details because it’s clear that transportation, housing, and broadband need more investment.”

As Chair of the Commerce Committee, Cantwell has been a strong advocate for a range of critical infrastructure investments. At a committee hearing she convened in March, she outlined a number of her priorities for transportation infrastructure investment. She also spoke about the importance of infrastructure investments in the State of Washington and around the country at now-Secretary Buttigieg’s confirmation hearing in January. Cantwell has also been a leader on advocating for investment in broadband connectivity. She helped secure more than $7 billion for remote learning connectivity in the American Rescue Plan passed by Congress in March and secured more than $1 million for Tribal broadband and $250 million for telehealth in the COVID-19 relief package passed in December 2020.

Senator Cantwell has also been a congressional leader on affordable housing investment. She has led the fight to expand and strengthen the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, including introducing legislation last Congress to help build nearly 10,000 new affordable housing units in Washington state. She secured a $5.8 billion housing provision in the omnibus bill passed by Congress in December that is estimated to increase affordable housing production by 130,000 units nationwide over the next decade. In 2018, she secured a nearly $3 billion down payment toward addressing the affordable housing crisis, helping to build over 28,000 units. Washington faces a severe affordable housing crisis, with only 31 available affordable rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.

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