Eleanor Holmes Norton: “This is one of the very few bills that is moving forward during this pandemic, and it is named H.R. 2, which means it…”

“This is one of the very few bills that is moving forward during this pandemic, and it is named H.R. 2, which means it was of great importance even before the pandemic. The transportation bills we have been filing have been essentially flat funded. It is time we put some money into our transportation system. The last bill was no mere extension. Our last bill was essentially that. There was no new funding on it. In fact, this bill breaks new ground. I have been on this committee ever since coming to Congress. Each transportation bill looked essentially the same as the last. However, with climate change, we can't write these bills in the same way. You see attention to climate change throughout this bill. You see a fund for greenhouse emissions. We have in this bill discretionary grants for electric vehicles. That was unknown and unseen in the last bill. We are paying special attention to disadvantaged business enterprises. We remember the George Floyd killing. We have not done a good job with these enterprises in my own region. We found that minority and women-owned firms were unlikely to receive contracts, even if they seemed fully qualified. And, of course, in this district, which staff and Members use to get to the House, we have funding money for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Almost half of Federal employees in this region use Metro to get to this very House. Mr.…”