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Congressman Ed Case Disagrees With House Speaker's Move on Infrastructure

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2018 file photo, then-Rep.-elect Ed Case, D-Hi., walks to member-elect briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2018 file photo, then-Rep.-elect Ed Case, D-Hi., walks to member-elect briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

U.S. Rep. Ed Case says he disagrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to delay voting on the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill recently passed by the Senate.

Pelosi said Wednesday her chamber will not vote on the bill until the Senate passes a much larger $3.5 trillion package. In addition to upgrading roads and bridges and improving access to broadband internet, the larger bill includes changes to health care, social programs and climate policy.

Case says it’s critical to pass the $1 trillion version and get it to President Joe Biden as soon as possible, even though he worries about its impact on the national debt.

"That’s one of the major concerns with both bills. We have seen our national debt go from $23 trillion to $28 trillion in 18 months — that was because of COVID-19," Case told Hawai'i Public Radio. "And it took 200-plus years to get to $23 trillion and we just went up another five."

"And so, to go out there and to actually borrow even more money from the current and next generations for areas that are not directly related to a COVID-19 emergency, that’s not something I can support," he said.

Case says House members are scheduled to return to Washington on Aug. 23.

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed the Senate on Tuesday by a vote of 69-30.

Congressman Ed Case joined a call-in show on The Conversation on Aug. 11, 2021.

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