In a major step toward implementing Joe Biden’s socialist “Build Back Better” agenda, Congress enacted a $1.2 trillion bipartisan “infrastructure” bill that Biden had been pushing.
On Friday, the House voted 228-206 to pass H.R. 3684. Having already been passed by the Senate in August, the bill now heads to President Biden for his signature.
H.R. 3684 was supposed to fail; six far-left Democrats voted against it as they demanded a simultaneous vote on the even more radical “Build Back Better Act.” Having a narrow three-vote majority in the House, House Democratic leadership was unable to pass the bill without these members’ support. However, 13 House Republicans saved H.R. 3684 by voting for it. They include Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), and Don Young (R-Alaska).
The far-left House Democrats voting against include Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
At more than 2,700 pages long, H.R. 3684 would spend $1.2 trillion. However, only nine percent of of that would actually go toward infrastructure, with the remainder going toward leftist programs and the pet projects of lawmakers. Specifically, H.R. 3684 includes the following radical provisions:
- unconstitutionally mandates that states create carbon reduction programs, with the federal government choosing which plans to accept or reject;
- creates a pilot program for a mileage tax, which tracks how many miles individuals drive, something that would infringe on Americans’ privacy, penalize drivers in low-density areas, and make driving too costly for some Americans;
- requires car companies to equip all vehicles with “advanced alcohol monitoring systems“;
- allows the federal government to bypass “Buy American” rules, promoting outsourcing to countries such as Communist China;
- enables mass migration by funding border crossings and migrant “welcome centers” while including $0 for border wall construction;
- defines “gender identity” as a protected class and uses the word “equity” 64 times;
- enacts racial quotas for broadband spending;
- rewards states that support and facilitate illegal migration to the United States, also for broadband spending;
- ends Amtrak’s policies/goals of creating a profit and seeking to minimize costs;
- includes multiple radical climate-change provisions, including over $50 billion to protect against “climate change” and $21 billion for “environmental remediation.” Additionally, H.R. 3684 will “modernize” the power grid to accommodate “green” energy; and
- among other provisions, H.R. 3684 includes $39 billion for public transportation, $15 billion altogether for electric transportation, $65 billion for broadband, a $30 billion cryptocurrency tax.
One of the strongest voices speaking out against H.R. 3684 was former President Donald Trump. Stating it was “Very sad that the RINOs in the House and Senate gave Biden and Democrats a victory on the ‘Non-Infrastructure’ Bill,” Trump noted that Democrats had already set their eyes upon a second “infrastructure” bill.
This second bill is H.R. 5376, titled the “Build Back Better Act” after an Orwellian UN program, and it contains even more extreme provisions than H.R. 3684. At 1,684 pages, Democrats claim H.R. 5376 costs $1.85 trillion (down from the original $3.5 trillion they had pushed for). However, according to a Wharton study, the bill would actually cost $2.42 trillion. Furthermore, it includes $1.48 trillion in tax increases.
Among its other provisions, the Build Back Better Act would promote mass migration, spend up to $555 billion on “climate change” measures, override state pro-life laws while funding abortions in the United States, include radical pro-labor union provisions, and impose $700,000 fines on employers who violate the administration’s vaccine mandate.
The 13 House Republicans’ vote in favor of H.R. 3684 reveals much about their fidelity to the Constitution. It is up to the American people, through education and informed action, to put an end to these radical spending schemes.
To urge your U.S. representative and senators to reject the “Build Back Better Act” (H.R. 5376), visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here.
