Open letter to the House of Representatives regarding IIJA

An Open Letter to Members of the House of Representatives

What Your Vote Means

As you prepare to cast your vote tomorrow on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), I feel it’s important to remind you what your decision ultimately means. While I understand that not every piece of legislation is perfect, weighing the pros and cons of a bill and making a decision that will most positively impact your constituents are why the voters in your district sent you to Capitol Hill. Your goal should be to help provide jobs for your community, improve your local economy and ensure the safety of the people who live in your neighborhoods. A NO vote on the IIJA unequivocally lets down those you represent.

The economic benefits of this legislation are self-evident, but as the president and CEO of an organization with its main goal to move Toward Zero Deaths on our nation’s roadways, I am passionate about saving lives on highways and streets across this country. In the first quarter of this year, traffic fatalities are up 10% while vehicle miles traveled are down 2% over last year. That is a correlation that is alarming. This legislation would provide over $22 billion in roadway safety infrastructure funding over five years to combat this public health crisis. A NO vote on the IIJA disregards the safety needs and legislative solutions this legislation provides. 

Throughout this debate, I have heard numerous “reasons” to vote no on this legislation from members on both sides of the aisle. Yet nearly all of these reasons are legislative process in nature. I have yet to see one that factually attacks the legislative substance. At a time when our nation’s infrastructure is in dire need of significant rebuilding, now is not the time to delay passing the most comprehensive and historic investment in our infrastructure and safety since the 1950s for merely process reasons.

I hope that before you vote tomorrow, you consider who you represent and what they need. Your district needs improved infrastructure and your constituents need safe roads. Now is the time to repay the faith they put in you when they sent you to Capitol Hill.

Vote YES on the IIJA.

Sincerely,

Stacy Tetschner