“This common-sense bill puts America first by reallocating tax dollars to our roads and bridges at home instead of funneling money overseas.”
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Mark Sanford (R-S. C.) introduced a bill on Monday that would reallocate Pakistani aid funds to infrastructure projects in the United States.
The legislation would redirect funding from the U. S. Agency for International Development and State Department to the struggling Highway Trust Fund.
“The United States should not funnel money to a government that provides military aid and intelligence to terrorists,” Massie said in a statement . “This common-sense bill puts America first by reallocating tax dollars to our roads and bridges at home instead of funneling money overseas.”
Sanford also expressed concern over Pakistan’s possible relationship with terrorists and terrorist organizations in defending the bill.
“When the American people support other nations, our generosity shouldn’t be used to reward terrorists with U. S. taxpayer dollars. Couple this with the fact that the Highway Trust Fund will be $111 billion short by 2026, and it simply makes financial sense to repurpose these funds for our infrastructure,” he said in a statement.
Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate last month by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who echoed both Massie and Sanford’s sentiment about using taxpayer funds to pay for projects in the United States before allocating them to other nations.
“We fail our responsibilities to protect our country and properly steward taxpayers‘ hard-earned money when we support countries that chant ‘Death to America’ and burn our flag,” Paul said. “Let’s bring that money home and use it to help rebuild our infrastructure instead of giving it to a nation that persecutes Christians and imprisons people such as the doctor that helped us get Osama bin Laden.”
Last week, President Trump called on Congress in his State of the Union address to budget “at least” $1.5 trillion into an infrastructure initiative he said would “permanently fix” the infrastructure debt and provide new jobs for unemployed Americans.
