Tipsheet

GOP Congresswoman Who Supported Infrastructure Bill: ‘The Yes Vote Was the Right Vote’

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  November 10, 2021 1:30 PM

Republican Congresswoman Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who voted for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Friday, appeared in an interview where she defended her decision, saying it’s “incredibly important” for cities like New York.

Malliotakis, who represents New York’s 11th congressional district, said in the Fox News interview that she read the bill thoroughly and that “it’s a very good bill” and that “the yes vote was the right vote.”

“Look, I read this bill, and it is cover-to-cover infrastructure. $350 billion is going to roads, highways, and bridges,” Malliotakis said. She continued saying how an additional billions are going towards ports, like airports in seaports. But, Malliotakis said that for an “aging” city like New York City, this bill was needed to update the city’s subway signals from “pre-WWII equipment.”

“For an aging city like New York City, this bill was incredibly important. And the reality is that this is the type of investment that people actually pay taxes for. Those basic infrastructure needs that you expect from the government but have been neglected for decades,” Malliotakis explained. “I also believe that we significantly took away the leverage from the socialist squad. It is why AOC and the others voted against it, because they knew that if the true infrastructure bill passed, the spotlight would go onto their social spending spending bill[.]”

Following the vote on Friday, several Republican lawmakers took to Twitter to slam the GOP lawmakers who voted for the infrastructure bill.

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As Rebecca reported, former President Trump said in a statement that it was “[v]ery sad that the RINOs in the House and Senate gave Biden and Democrats a victory on the ‘Non-Infrastructure’ Bill,” and that “[a]ll Republicans who voted for Democrat longevity should be ashamed of themselves.”

In the segment, Malliotakis noted that the House Republicans Twitter account wrote in a now-deleted Nov. 6 tweet that “[a] vote for the Democrats’ ‘infrastructure’ bill is a vote for their socialist wish list. American’s won’t forget.”

Malliotakis said that this “attack” on Twitter was deleted, as it was referring to a separate spending bill being pushed by the Democrats – not the infrastructure bill she voted for.

“The reason they deleted it, because it was an error. They weren’t talking about that [infrastructure] bill. They were talking about the spending bill,” Malliotakis said in the segment.

“A lot of people are confused with the fact that there are two different bills,” she continued. “The infrastructure bill is the bipartisan bill that is cover-to-cover infrastructure. The other bill is the social spending bill that all of us are opposed to.”

Despite the attacks she’s getting from members of her party, Malliotakis wrapped up the interview doubling-down on her stance to vote for the infrastructure bill.

“At the end of the day, you don’t vote against a bill simply because you want to stick it to the other side. You vote for a bill because it is the right thing to do for your constituents. And everyone I think should be looking at it from that perspective,” Malliotakis added.

The twelve other Republican lawmakers who voted for the infrastructure bill include Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. David McKinley (R-WV), Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. Don Young of Alaska (R-AK).