Investing in infrastructure remains a transformational opportunity for Congress to improve the nation’s economy, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and build for the future. We are encouraged by your May 25 comments pledging to seize this opportunity and move an infrastructure bill in July. We urge you to take the next step by formally scheduling Senate floor time now for action on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 (STRA) before the August state work period.

On behalf of the Portland Cement Association (PCA), National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), we are writing to express our strong support for the Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act of 2021, which will provide needed federal investments to advance infrastructure development that improves the environment in communities impacted by orphaned oil and gas wells.

While we welcome the urgency your committee is undertaking to introduce and markup your surface transportation reauthorization package, we encourage you to continue to strive for bipartisan solutions that incorporate stakeholder feedback across infrastructure and surface transportation industries. Meaningful federal investment and bipartisanship go hand-in-hand and we look forward to the package you report out of committee and ultimately pass on the House floor

Thank you for your efforts to prioritize much-needed resources for our Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), authorizing $40B over five years, that will dramatically improve our nation’s wastewater infrastructure network. We welcome the attention and resources afforded to states and municipalities regarding their local pollution control programs and attention on those projects of most need for sewer improvement.

In light of recent positive developments to control the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are writing to, once again, share our concerns with the implementation of an emergency temporary standard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) shares your strong desire to protect American workers and we are proud of our partnership with the Department of Labor (DOL) to advance its critical mission. 

The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) thanks you for your leadership and supports the introduction and passage of The Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021. We appreciate the robust and historic levels this surface transportation reauthorization package provides our surface transportation network and welcome the willingness to pass this bill expeditiously, before the current one-year extension of the FAST Act expires on September 30th.

The Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 incorporates numerous policies our collective industries support and we are encouraged these polices were included with the cooperation and support of your respective staff. In particular, we welcome inclusion of One Federal Decision, which will greatly enhance the permitting process by eliminating duplicative environmental reviews and ensure public works projects are delivered on time.

We, the undersigned members of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition (FBETC), write to state our unequivocal support for the continuation of stepped-up basis and to highlight the attached study from EY illustrating the economic damage that step-up repeal via tax at death would inflict.

We ask that the expansion of the Buy America provision to include “construction materials” be stricken from the bill and not be included in the legislation so that the construction supply chain is not adversely impacted.

We commend you and President Biden for your commitment to launching a much-needed and long-overdue renewal and revitalization of the nation’s infrastructure networks. A robustly funded and appropriately structured initiative has the potential to spur meaningful economic activity and attract bipartisan support. From first-hand experience, you and the president know pitting interests, communities, and individuals against one another in a legislative discussion is not a path to unity.