NO SHAME

More Republicans Take Credit For Infrastructure Funding They Voted Against

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson touted "game-changing" funding aiming to modernize locks and dams on the Mississippi River — even though she voted against it.

By Igor Bobic
01/19/2022 


With money starting to flow in for new projects around the country thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law Congress approved last year, more Republicans are attempting to take credit despite the fact that they opposed the legislation.

In a press release issued by her office on Wednesday, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) touted “game-changing” funding of $829 million announced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is aimed toward modernizing locks and dams on the Mississippi River, which borders her Eastern Iowa district.

“Over 60 percent of our nation’s grain exports travel through this lock and dam system, and it is a massive economic engine for the entire state,” Hinson, a freshman member of Congress, said in a joint statement along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the area who voted for the bill.

“That’s why I helped lead a bipartisan group of my colleagues in urging the Administration to prioritize funding for these essential upgrades. I’ll always fight to ensure Iowans’ taxpayer dollars are reinvested at home in Iowa,” she added.

But back in November, before the $1.2 trillion measure passed into law, Hinson called the bill “a raw deal for Iowans” and “spending at its worst.” She also objected to the fact that the bill had been linked with the passage of the Build Back Better Act, the Democratic social spending and climate legislation that has now stalled in the Senate.

“Congresswoman Hinson opposed the infrastructure package because it was tied to trillions of other spending in the House,” Sophie Seid, a spokeswoman for the congresswoman, said in a statement to HuffPost. “Since the bill was signed into law, this money was going to be spent regardless. If there’s federal money on the table she is, of course, going to do everything she can to make sure it is reinvested in Iowa.”

Only 13 House Republicans voted for the bill, which includes funding for roads, bridges, highways, railways and ports.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), two lawmakers who did vote to pass the bipartisan infrastructure law, joined Hinson in Wednesday’s press release touting the Army Corps of Engineers funding.

“When I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, I was voting for exactly this type of federal support for critical infrastructure that Iowans depend on,” Grassley, the senior Iowa Republican, said in a statement.

Another Republican, Rep. Kay Granger (Texas), similarly hailed over $400 million announced by the Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday that will go toward flood control efforts in Fort Worth ― funding that wouldn’t be possible without the bipartisan infrastructure law she voted against.