Delaney Applauds President's Focus on Infrastructure, Minimum Wage, & Economic Opportunity in State of the Union

Press Release

On Tuesday, January 28, President Obama delivered the State of the Union address. President Obama's remarks touched on the theme of economic opportunity and called for an increase in the minimum wage and rebuilding America's infrastructure to create jobs.

Congressman John K. Delaney's (MD-6) Partnership to Build America Act (H.R. 2084) currently has 26 Republican and 25 Democratic cosponsors in the House. The President highlighted the need for comprehensive tax reform and argued that we should use that temporary revenue generated from transitioning to that new system to finance infrastructure investments. Using a similar framework as described by the President, the bill creates a $50 billion dollar infrastructure fund, which is capitalized by selling bonds to the private sector. In exchange for purchasing bonds, companies will be able to repatriate a portion of their overseas earnings tax-free. The bill was introduced in the Senate this month by Senator Bennet (D-CO) and Senator Blunt (R-MO).

Delaney is cosponsor of H.R. 1010, which raises the federal minimum wage.

Congressman Delaney releases the following statement:

"America has always been a land of opportunity, a country with a strong middle class, and a place where parents had a chance to leave a better life for their children. For many Americans, especially after the last recession, a middle class life has become harder to attain. I applaud the President for using the State of the Union to shine a spotlight on this issue.

"Over the last three decades, we have been slow to adapt our policies to the trends of globalization and technology, which has hurt certain sectors and regions hard. This is why it is so important that we take steps to improve our global competitiveness and invest in the future by supporting education, research and innovation, and passing immigration reform, so the best and the brightest from around the world can work and start businesses here.

"One of the missing pieces of the economic puzzle is infrastructure, which is why I've introduced bipartisan legislation that will finance up to $750 billion in new infrastructure projects without using appropriated funds. There is strong bipartisan momentum behind this legislation in Congress and the President's remarks underscore the possibility of finding an innovative solution that addresses both our tax code and our multi-trillion dollar infrastructure deficit.

"Rebuilding our nation's roads and bridges will create millions of jobs in the short term and improve our competitiveness and long-term economic health for decades to come. We can't compete in a 21st century economy with a 1960s infrastructure.

"Finally, I thank the President for calling attention to opportunity in his speech tonight and I echo his convictions on this issue. It's too common for minimum wage workers to work full time, yet still remain below the poverty line. As a lawmaker, that doesn't pass the look yourself in the mirror test, and we need to take sensible steps towards raising the minimum wage in a responsible way."

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