H.R.3684
ARTICLE BY PAUL J SISLER II
This is for those who want to see beyond the propaganda; for those who want to see beyond the red herrings.
The Infrastructure Bill is not what the left and right claim it to be.
What is then?
Ultimately, a sharp run short of what it ought to be; a missed opportunity falling shy on the carrot dangled.
The Infrastructure Bill, promoted with cautioned promise, fails to graduate after thorough review. Answering to the ringing bell of drip-dry big box resources, it is without the rearrangement and simply written to benefit corporations.
It is not written by our Representatives, or our Senators, or the Biden Administration. It is not written by Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio. It was written by a corporation. Whether it was AT&T, Amazon, the Toyota Group, Apple, or even Meta (formerly known as Facebook) is yet to be acknowledged. Bottomline, it is not intended to benefit the working class or disenfranchised communities. In fact, under sub-section (e) related to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises is the following:
(e) Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.–
(1) Findings.–Congress finds that–
(A) while significant progress has occurred due to
the establishment of the disadvantaged business
enterprise program, discrimination and related barriers
continue to pose significant obstacles for minority-
and women-owned businesses seeking to do business in
Federally assisted surface transportation markets
across the United States;
(B) the continuing barriers described in
subparagraph (A) merit the continuation of the
disadvantaged business enterprise program;
(C) Congress has received and reviewed testimony
and documentation of race and gender discrimination
from numerous sources, including congressional hearings
and roundtables, scientific reports, reports issued by
public and private agencies, news stories, reports of
discrimination by organizations and individuals, and
discrimination lawsuits, which show that race- and
gender-neutral efforts alone are insufficient to
address the problem;
Yet, nowhere does it discuss how much, if any, of the funding will go to the Disenfranchised Business Enterprises. It does bring up §403. Highway safety research and development under USC Title 23. This is aimed more at government owned and government operated facilities and research. Especially along the lines of alcohol and drug related research. Hmmm.
There is a section discussing tribal lands, and some more codes associated with forestry. There is even a section about funding for Puerto Rico and indirect funding for its thirty-three prisons (supposedly they are not privatized prisons, yet there are corporations invested). Let us not forget about the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota or the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, Oklahoma. My question, what is really going on in Puerto Rico?
I could go on and on. But it would serve no purpose. People today do not investigate nor do they research. They rely on mainstream media to feed them information. It does matter if it is true, taken out of context, or opinionated. So, below, I will give you the means to research because here is the reality. If Democrats actually would have read the Infrastructure Bill, they would be voting against it. If Republicans actually would have read the Infrastructure Bill, they would be voting for it. This country has become so partisan driven, our Representatives and Senators do not even care what is actually in the Infrastructure Bill. They only care about the votes they receive during election time. And the whole time, the corporations are taking advantage of the partisan war by submitting whatever in the hell they want to benefit themselves at the expense of the hardworking, underpaid, overtaxed, paycheck-to-paycheck, American citizens. Of course, the American citizens only care about their team (left or right) winning instead of knowing the truth. If you truly care about where your tax dollars are going, keep reading. If not, then the perpetrators creating the red herrings have succeeded.
H.R.3684 – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
117th Congress (2021-2022)
| Sponsor: | Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] (Introduced 06/04/2021) |
| Committees: | House – Transportation and Infrastructure |
| Committee Meetings: | 06/09/21 10:00AM |
| Committee Reports: | H. Rept. 117-70; H. Rept. 117-70,Part 2 |
| Committee Prints: | H.Prt. 117-9 |
| Latest Action: | House – 10/01/2021 POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS – Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further consideration of the motion to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 3684 is postponed. (All Actions) |
| Roll Call Votes: | There have been 33 roll call votes |
OUTLINE OF H.R. 3684
TEXT – TITLE, SUBTITLE, SEC
USC (UNITED STATES CODES)
SUMMARY
BENEFACTORS
TITLE I–FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS
Subtitle A–Authorizations and Programs
Sec. 11101. Authorization of appropriations.
USC:
Title 23
§119. National highway performance program
§133. Surface transportation block grant program
§134. Metropolitan transportation planning
§148. Highway safety improvement program
§149. Congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program
§167. National highway freight program
Below is Sec. 11101, sub-section (a)(1). For the purpose of condensing, only the aforementioned section will be discussed in the summary.
SEC. 11101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.–The following amounts are authorized to be
appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit
Account):
(1) Federal-aid highway program.–For the national highway
performance program under section 119 of title 23, United
States Code, the surface transportation block grant program
under section 133 of that title, the highway safety improvement
program under section 148 of that title, the congestion
mitigation and air quality improvement program under section
149 of that title, the national highway freight program under
section 167 of that title, the carbon reduction program under
section 175 of that title, to carry out subsection (c) of the
PROTECT program under section 176 of that title, and to carry
out section 134 of that title–
(A) $52,488,065,375 for fiscal year 2022;
(B) $53,537,826,683 for fiscal year 2023;
(C) $54,608,583,217 for fiscal year 2024;
(D) $55,700,754,881 for fiscal year 2025; and
(E) $56,814,769,844 for fiscal year 2026.
Upon review of Section 11101, sub-section (a)(1), it becomes very clear how this section represents corporations and does not truly benefit the people.
§119. National highway performance program of USC Title 23 is a strong opening for the condition and performance of the National Highway System. An argument for or against corporatism and humanitarianism truly cannot be made. The assistance under this Code will actually benefit both businesses and people.
§133. Surface transportation block grant program of USC Title 23 addresses State and local transportation needs. Once one starts researching the Location of Projects and Allocations of Apportioned Funds to Areas Based on Population, sound arguments may be made as to how the funding will benefit large corporations. In urban areas with populations under 200,000 and non-urban areas with populations under 5000 people will receive little or no funding. When one starts to look at major corporations, especially those who employ 500 or more employees, will greatly benefit from the fund allocations. The small businesses, commonly referred to as “mom and pop shops” will not receive the benefits, not only in this section, but throughout the entirety of the Infrastructure Bill. As one reads more sections and Code Sections, one will realize not only does this hurt small businesses and “mom and pop shops”, one will see how funds are intentionally diverted from areas with minority and women owned business.
§134. Metropolitan transportation planning of USC Title 23 sounds good when one starts at the beginning with (a)Policy(1)(2). Once one hits (b)Definitions (1), the reader realizes the term “metropolitan planning area” falls under section (e) for the future of development of urban areas and the Governor. The term “urbanized area” means a population of 50,000 or more. This means impoverished areas and low income areas will be excluded. This supports white gentrification of these areas with the creation of future areas supporting white businesses and neighborhoods. Section (g)MPO Consultation in Plan and TIP Coordination not only validates these claims, but also illustrates how corporations will benefit with improvements related to tourism, airport operations and freight movements.
§148. Highway safety improvement program of USC Title 23 is the only Section which provides for the safety of everyone, especially with an emphasis on accidents inclusive for people over the age of 65. This Section additionally, addresses pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
§149. Congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program would be excellent for reducing and eliminating carbon emissions if every city, county, and state if every city, county, and state actually had carbon emission regulations. The cities, counties, and states which do not, may use the funding for §133 Surface transportation block grant program of USC Title 23. As one may recall from the aforementioned Section, this benefits corporations, not the people and definitely not the “mom and pop” small businesses. If one were to discuss the carbon emission regulations with their city, county, and state representatives, one would discover how lenient and/or non-existent carbon emission laws and regulations are in their area.
§167. National highway freight program under USC Title 23 is completely dedicated to the movement of freight on the National Highway Freight Network. In fact, below is sub-sections (1) – (7) under Goals:
(1) to invest in infrastructure improvements and to implement operational improvements on the highways of the United States that-
(A) strengthen the contribution of the National Highway Freight Network to the economic competitiveness of the United States;
(B) reduce congestion and bottlenecks on the National Highway Freight Network;
(C) reduce the cost of freight transportation;
(D) improve the year-round reliability of freight transportation; and
(E) increase productivity, particularly for domestic industries and businesses that create high-value jobs;
(2) to improve the safety, security, efficiency, and resiliency of freight transportation in rural and urban areas;
(3) to improve the state of good repair of the National Highway Freight Network;
(4) to use innovation and advanced technology to improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the National Highway Freight Network;
(5) to improve the efficiency and productivity of the National Highway Freight Network;
(6) to improve the flexibility of States to support multi-State corridor planning and the creation of multi-State organizations to increase the ability of States to address highway freight connectivity; and
(7) to reduce the environmental impacts of freight movement on the National Highway Freight Network.
One may argue, and a valid argument it would be, that the people benefit from this due to the supply chain to receive goods and services. Once logic, common sense, and deductive reasoning is applied, the argument becomes nix. There is over 100 trillion dollars of transactional revenue in the United States. The majority of the consumers (over 160 million people) live paycheck to paycheck. This large group of people only account for approximately 5 trillion dollars of spendable payroll. The other 95 trillion is acquired from corporations buying from corporations. As an example, the recent purchase by Hertz of 100,000 Teslas resulting in a 4.2 billion dollar deal.
