Rep. Jason Smith: Rebuilding roads, bridges, ports requires funding partnership

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith expressed support Monday for a funding �partnership� to rebuild the nation�s roads, highways and ports.

President Donald Trump proposed a plan to spend $1.5 trillion over a decade that would rely heavily on state and local governments to pay for most of it. Federal spending on infrastructure would account for $200 billion, according to the plan unveiled Monday by the White House.

AT&T Missouri president John Sondag, left, U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, center left, and AT&T center sales manager Maureen Hodges talk with AT&T employee Barry Guyton during a visit to an AT&T call center Monday.BEN MATTHEWS

�We need to find some kind of partnership where we help with infrastructure, but $1.5 trillion is a lot of money, especially when Congress last week increased federal spending by 13 percent,� Smith said.

Still, Smith said during a visit to Cape Girardeau that the nation�s roads, bridges and ports need to be upgraded.

Trump�s plan includes $50 billion for rural projects, including expansion of internet broadband services, according to The Associated Press.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, left, speaks to AT&T Missouri president John Sondag during a visit to an AT&T call center Monday.BEN MATTHEWS

Smith said he favors efforts to expand broadband service in Southeast Missouri and other rural areas across the nation.

The nation needs infrastructure improvements to compete in the global marketplace, he said.

�We are the greatest nation known to mankind,� he said. �We have to stay there.�

Smith also discussed federal immigration policy and the recent tax-cut law during his visit to the local AT&T call center.

On a day when the U.S. Senate began debating the immigration issue, the 8th District, Republican congressman said the first priority should be to secure the nation�s southern border.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith visits with AT&T employees Monday.BEN MATTHEWS

�Because if you don�t do that, you are going to continue to have this problem over and over again,� he added.

Smith said he supports �building the wall.�

He said he also wants to eliminate �chain migration� and the visa lottery system, moves favored by Trump.

Chain migration allows legal immigrants to sponsor their parents or siblings to live in the United States. The lottery program distributes green cards based on minimal requirements.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith visits employees at an AT&T call center Monday,.BEN MATTHEWS

Much of the immigration debate centers on the fate of �Dreamers,� immigrants who have lived in the United States illegally since they were children.

Trump has proposed a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers in exchange for funding of his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

But Smith, a strong Trump supporter, said the exact number of Dreamers is unclear. Some have suggested the number is about 600,000, he said.

�We need to get that number straight,� Smith said.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith meets AT&T employees Cassy Vrevynck, center right, and Tia Ford during a visit to an AT&T call center Monday.BEN MATTHEWS

Those immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children �should not jump to the front of the line� for citizenship, the congressman said, adding that they should �go to the back of the line.�

As for the recently passed tax-cut law, the congressman said the measure has boosted the economy and put more money in the hands of American workers by cutting individual and corporate taxes.

The reduction in corporate tax rates has prompted some companies to hand out bonuses to their workers, said Smith, who helped craft the tax reform measure.

AT&T has distributed $1,000 bonuses to its 200,000 employees.

AT&T employee Barry Guyton, left, shows a sales trophy to U.S. Rep. Jason Smith during his visit to an AT&T call center Monday.BEN MATTHEWS

Smith met with some of those employees at the AT&T call center. Those workers expressed appreciation for the unexpected bonuses, telling the Salem, Missouri, congressman they used the money to pay for everything from dryers to vacations.

Smith said the bonuses are �not crumbs� for workers as some Democratic lawmakers have suggested.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith tours an AT&T call center Monday.BEN MATTHEWS

He told AT&T officials and employees the median income is $40,000 in the sprawling 8th District of Southeast Missouri. A $1,000 bonus for such an employee is �pretty significant,� Smith said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

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351 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.