EXCLUSIVE: Republicans To Introduce Bill Defining The Meaning Of Infrastructure

Republican North Carolina Rep. Greg Murphy will introduce a bill Thursday which would define the meaning of infrastructure, as President Joe Biden and Democrats are trying to push a $4 trillion infrastructure package that the GOP says has very little to do with infrastructure.

The legislation, first obtained by the Daily Caller, would define infrastructure as, “bridges, dams, wharfs, roads, highways, ports, buildings, public utilities (including broadband), airports, and train stations.” Republicans have continued to hammer Biden’s $4.1 trillion infrastructure package, saying the money is not focused on infrastructure.

Murphy was joined by Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green and Republican Pennsylvania Rep. John Joyce as cosigners.

Some of the proposals included in Biden’s infrastructure package would be free community college, universal pre-K and a nationwide paid leave program, according to the New York Times. Republicans fear the plan would cause a massive tax hike.

“When we exchange ideas, most words have meanings that everyone agrees upon. However now the radical left continues their crusade to redefine language in yet another attempt to secretly push their liberal wishlist into U.S. law. If Democrats had it their way, infrastructure would include everything from universal health care to free child care to free long term care,” Murphy told the Daily Caller.

“We can have debates about the merits of these issues, but we shouldn’t pretend they’re infrastructure. The effort to obfuscate these items is a deliberate attempt to deceive the American people. That’s why I’m introducing legislation that would formally define infrastructure as the things traditionally understood as infrastructure,” Murphy continued.

READ THE BILL HERE: 

EXCLUSIVE: Republicans To I… by Henry Rodgers

In early May, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he does not believe a single Republican will support Biden’s infrastructure package. (RELATED: McConnell Says Not One Republican Will Support Biden’s $4 Trillion Infrastructure Plan)

In a press conference in Louisville, Kentucky, McConnell said Republicans would be open to a $600 billion package, but said Biden’s $4.1 trillion infrastructure package has very little to do with infrastructure.

“I think it’s worth talking about but I don’t think there will be any Republican support — none, zero — for the $4.1 trillion grab bag which has infrastructure in it but a whole lot of other stuff,” McConnell said in a press conference in Kentucky.

“We’re open to doing a roughly $600 billion package which deals with what all of us agree is infrastructure,” McConnell added. “If it’s going to be about infrastructure, let’s make it about infrastructure.”

A group of Senate Republicans, led by West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, have proposed a $568 billion infrastructure package. Biden and Capito had a conversation about an infrastructure deal.

In late March, 21 Senate Democrats sent a letter to Biden asking him to include recurring direct payments to individuals in his $3 trillion infrastructure plan, saying the $1,400 stimulus checks in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill were not enough.(RELATED: 21 Senate Democrats Call On Biden To Include Recurring Direct Payments In $3 Trillion Infrastructure Plan)

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