Rep. Payne, Jr. Pushes Gateway Program in Meeting with President Biden

Press Release

Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, promoted the need to fund the Gateway Program today when he met with President Biden to discuss the nation's infrastructure and Biden's American Jobs Plan. The roughly $2.7 trillion dollar plan would repair and replace roads, rail lines, bridges and tunnels nationwide, including $80 billion to modernize rail travel in the Northeast Corridor.

"I had a good meeting with President Biden today to discuss the importance of the Gateway Program to area residents and East Coast travel," said Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. "He is committed to improving our railroads, airports, harbors and highways to get us back to our place as the number one importer and exporter in the world. We have been patching and fixing our infrastructure for years and need a serious infrastructure plan to improve our transportation nationwide. President Biden is a strong supporter of the Gateway Program and reminded us today that he was first elected officials to get money it."

Rep. Payne, Jr. has been critical to keeping the Gateway Program a national infrastructure priority. In December, he led a letter to President-Elect Biden with the support of the entire New Jersey Democratic House and Senate delegation to prioritize the Gateway Program in the administration's new infrastructure plans. Last week, the administration moved the Gateway Program one step closer to construction with the announcement that the program's environmental review will be completed by May 28th. In addition, his efforts have provided millions of dollars in funding for the Portal North Bridge, which could begin construction as early as this summer.

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