Burchett lays out agenda for East Tennessee transportation and infrastructure during roundtable with local stakeholders

U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (TN-02) continues to proactively explore how he can help East Tennessee citizens and businesses in Congress. Last week, Rep. Burchett focused on the community’s transportation and infrastructure needs by hosting a virtual roundtable with stakeholder groups representing this important sector of the local economy.

“Dependable roads, railways, waterways and airports benefit all East Tennesseans,” Rep. Burchett said following the event. “We need reliable infrastructure for shipping local products to domestic and international consumers, and to help folks travel to and from the Second Congressional District for work or leisure. Creating a thriving East Tennessee transportation industry should not come at the expense of an exploding federal deficit, we can achieve it through smart, fiscally-responsible policy.”

During the meeting, Rep. Burchett told the group he will focus on cutting burdensome federal red tape and streamlining the process between federal, state and local governments so each jurisdiction can more easily work together on infrastructure improvements. Rep. Burchett cited his opposition to expensive federal legislation that creates unnecessary regulatory hurdles for infrastructure projects. He mentioned the Moving Forward Act and the Green New Deal as examples of how he would not tackle infrastructure issues in Congress.

“When I was Knox County Mayor, I saw firsthand that large public works projects can happen without exploding deficits. My administration leveraged resources to increase our paving capacity fivefold and made significant progress on the largest public works project in County history, all while continuing to pay down our debt,” said Rep. Burchett. “I voted against a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package because it does exactly the opposite of what I achieved as county mayor. Our local infrastructure improvements didn’t just happen; they required difficult discussions with a range of local stakeholders while ensuring fiscal responsibility, and I know we can get the same thing done at the federal level.”