Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, issued the following statement after opposing final passage of infrastructure legislation.
"This bill started from a bipartisan foundation that I passed through the Environment and Public Works Committee last Congress. It will invest in roads and bridges in Wyoming. There is much-needed funding for Bureau of Reclamation water reservoirs, although not at the level we need to fund aging facilities in the current drought conditions facing the West.
"I've insisted that an infrastructure bill be fully paid for. This bill misses that mark. The level of new spending Democrats insisted on will add more than $250 billion to the debt burden on our children and grandchildren. Washington must learn to live within its means, like every family in Wyoming does.
"The bill also includes left-wing policies that will hurt Wyoming. These regulations will push us into to the California model of electricity, with the highest utility bills in the country and rolling blackouts. That's dangerous.
"Now Nancy Pelosi has tied this bill to her $3.5 trillion tax and spending spree. We could have all agreed on physical infrastructure. Democrats have made this into political infrastructure."