Dear Mrs. Neustadt,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about our nation's infrastructure. It is important for me to hear from folks in Iowa on policy matters such as this.

As you know, on March 31, 2021, President Biden released a $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal. Over the past several months, my Senate colleagues and I have been working to find a path forward on an infrastructure bill that is paid for and focuses on traditional infrastructure, like roads and bridges. Unfortunately, the final product, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed the Senate on August 10, did not meet that standard. This legislation now awaits consideration by the House of Representatives.

While ‘trillion’ has become a household word in Washington, that’s not the case for me and many of my fellow Iowans. Congress and the American people were promised an infrastructure bill that was fully paid for, but that’s clearly not the case. This bill alone will add over $250 billion to the federal government’s nearly $30 trillion debt tab and includes bottomless boondoggles. While I certainly support improving America’s traditional infrastructure—like our roads and bridges—I simply cannot support saddling more debt onto the shoulders of future generations of Iowans and opening the door for Bernie Sanders to ram through his multi-trillion dollar liberal tax-and-spend spree.

I was elected to the United States Senate to guard against waste, fraud, abuse, and the mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. Iowans deserve to know how their money is being spent. I introduced the Cost, Openness, and Spending Transparency (COST) Act to improve transparency on taxpayer dollars and also offered it as an amendment to the latest infrastructure bill before the Senate. This amendment seeks to lift the curtain and make public how your tax dollars are being spent. Unfortunately, my amendment did not receive a vote. I believe in responsibly investing in our nation’s infrastructure, but the latest bill was just more Washington-style reckless spending that failed to deliver for Iowa, which is why I voted against the final passage of this bill.

Please know that I appreciate your interest in this issue. Feel free to contact my office with any further information, as I always enjoy hearing from Iowans.

Sincerely,

Joni K. Ernst
United States Senator