Dear Friend,

For the past two months, a bipartisan group of Senators, the White House, and I have been negotiating a deal that will invest in our nation’s critical infrastructure. I’m proud to say that after many long phone calls, meetings, and weekend huddles, we finally stuck the landing and successfully negotiated a bipartisan infrastructure bill that will soon get a vote on the Senate floor. With $550 billion in new infrastructure spending, this bill would make the largest investment in America’s infrastructure in generations. I’d like to take a moment to tell you a little bit about why I’ll be voting for this bill, and encouraging my colleagues to do the same.

I’m pretty sure we can agree that the conditions of our nation’s roads and bridges have seen better days. Today, 173,000 miles of America’s major roads and highways and 45,000 bridges are in poor condition. In other words, 1 in 5 miles of our roads and 40 percent of our bridges nationwide are in desperate need of repairs. Our bipartisan infrastructure deal will invest $110 billion in new funding to rebuild and repair roads, bridges, and other major projects. 

If you’re an everyday commuter, then this brings me to my next point.

We rank 13th globally in transportation, with other countries like China out-competing and out-investing us. Our deal will allocate $39 billion in new funds to modernize public transit by replacing transit vehicles with zero-emission upgrades and improving access for folks with disabilities. The deal will also reauthorize the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) funding through fiscal year 2030 at current annual levels, which also has matched funds from Virginia, DC, and Maryland. By making overdue changes to our public transit, we’ll be able to provide accessible transport for every commuter while protecting our environment.

We also need to give our airports, ports, and waterways the same attention.

That's why our deal commits $25 billion towards maintenance and repairs for our airports and $17 billion towards our port infrastructure to spur economic growth, create in-demand jobs, and ensure our country continues to lead the world in innovation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that broadband is a necessity – not a luxury. It is critical that every American household can access high-speed internet, which is why our deal includes $65 billion in spending for affordable broadband access for every American.

This bipartisan deal will also invest billions into clean water, power infrastructure, passenger and freight rail, road safety, and more.

This bill is the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure in nearly a century. Because, the truth is, there’s no such thing as a Democratic or Republican pothole or a red road, or a blue bridge.

I can't think of a bill that will have a more direct effect on the lives of Virginians over the next five years than this record-setting bipartisan investment in infrastructure. 

And while this compromise doesn’t include everything I wanted to see in an infrastructure deal, I believe that this plan is an essential down payment on our country’s economic future.

If you want to share your thoughts about an issue that’s important to you, you can send me an email any time using the form on my Senate website. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,