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Congressman Cohen Votes for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

November 5, 2021

Senate-passed measure now goes to the President to be signed into law

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, tonight voted for the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Congressman Cohen has repeatedly pointed to the positive impacts this bill will have on Memphis and nationwide from economic growth, increased labor participation, and enhanced U.S. competitiveness. It also includes several pieces of legislation that he introduced and championed including the Multiple Substance Impaired Driving Prevention Act in its entirety, the Interstate Rail Compacts Advancement Act in nearly its entirety, and provisions of the Stop Underrides Act and the Complete Streets Act. The already Senate-passed measure now goes to the President to be signed into law.

The House vote on passage was 228 to 206.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"Since August, I have called for the passage of this bill, which ensures all communities can compete and succeed in the 21st century. The investments from this bill will add, on average, nearly 2 million jobs per year over a decade, including right here in Memphis.

"I am pleased that several bills I authored to make our roads safer and more accessible made their way into this critical physical-infrastructure bill. Along with the Build Back Better bill addressing our social safety net needs, this legislation is transformative, making once-in-a-generation investments in our nation's physical infrastructure and in a fairer, greener and more prosperous future for our people. This is landmark legislation and I am proud to have helped make it possible."

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes $550 billion in new federal investment in America's roads and bridges, water infrastructure, resilience, internet, and more. It makes the largest investment in public transit, passenger rail, clean drinking water and waste water infrastructure and clean energy transmission and electric vehicle infrastructure in American history. It also makes the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system.

Congressman Cohen's provisions in the bill:

The Multiple Substance Impaired Driving Act would address an under-reported cause of many serious and fatal vehicle accidents by increasing investment in technologies for detecting multiple-substance impairment. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona).

The Interstate Rail Compacts Advancement Act would create multi-state passenger rail commissions to promote regional coordination and sustain a vision of passenger rail service across America.

The Stop Underrides Act would require all large truck trailers to have front, side, and rear underride guards. In 2014, Memphians Randy and Laurie Higginbotham, lost their 33-year old son Michael when his car crashed into a semi-truck trailer and ended up under it. The Stop Underrides Act would aim to prevent such accidents. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and Senator Marco Rubio (D-Florida).

The Complete Streets Act would require states to set aside a portion of their federal highway funding to create a grant program that will fund "complete streets" projects to make transit routes safer and more accessible. A companion bill was introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts).

All four measures were also fully or partly included in the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act, an ambitious five-year surface transportation bill containing several of his legislative priorities that passed in the House of Representatives on July 1, 2021.

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