House Republican leaders predict a funding package to help with the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore will begin to take shape “within weeks.”
House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who also heads the Transportation Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, said the Port of Baltimore was temporarily closed after a barge collided with a bridge, destroying the structure. He spoke to Fox News Digital a few days after being forced into a corner. Six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time are presumed dead.
Cole said debate continues about what role Congress should play, and funding measures could go “much beyond just building bridges.”
“We have to wait for an estimate of the damage, and this could be a little more complicated than normal. Obviously there’s also the bridge itself, but there’s also potential damage related to the disruption of port traffic. ” Cole explained. “Certainly, we are prepared to work very closely with both federal and state authorities.”
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Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), transportation subcommittee chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, spoke to Fox News Digital about Congress’ role in rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Funding the bridge would likely have to go through Cole’s subcommittee. The House Appropriations Committee controls the purse strings of Congress.
In response to a question about when Congress could start working on the package in earnest, Cole said, “It can take some time, and we want to make sure that we’ve really included everything, so it’s probably going to take a few weeks.” Probably.”
“We’ve had good discussions with the Department of Transportation. There’s a lot that they’re working on and can do right now. They have the ability to advance funding for debris removal. . They have an emergency fund for conference expenses.” So the resources are there to do what needs to be done,” Cole said.
As for timing, he explained, “A lot of this depends on whether you want it to be attached to something else or whether you want it to stand alone,” adding that it could also be decided by the relevant parliamentary committee. . It will take some time.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s ‘too early’ to know schedule for bridge debris removal
“This is a terrible tragedy. My heart breaks for the people who lost their lives in this incident. The fact that this has an even greater economic impact for the region and, frankly, for the national economy… We’re certainly sensitive, and we’re going to do what we can to be helpful,” Cole said.
Two members of the Maryland House of Representatives suggested to FOX News Digital that the bill not be tied to other bills.
Rep. Andy Harris, Republican of Maryland, called for rolling back some federal and state environmental and labor regulations to speed recovery. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
“Given the local, regional and national impact of this tragedy, our delegation remains committed to ensuring that the process of advancing funding legislation is quick and easy,” some delegates said. said Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Maryland. of Baltimore.
“We urge Congress to act quickly to get these needed funds to the families and communities who are feeling the effects of this horrific incident,” Sarbanes told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) said bluntly: “If we introduce an unrelated bill, this policy will be undermined.”
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But Harris cautioned against funding until the federal and Maryland governments consider lifting environmental and other regulations to speed recovery.
“Certainly, I don’t think we should put any money into it until we address the question of whether we streamline the regulatory process, which adds costs,” Harris said. “We need to discuss whether we can waive some of the environmental requirements and regulations for research and some of the labor regulations that the administration has been seeking for large projects that increase costs. ”
Six construction workers on the bridge were unable to be found by rescue teams after the bridge collapsed and are presumed dead. Two bodies were later recovered. (Baltimore Fire Rescue)
Mr Kohl predicted that the package was “likely” to contain no unrelated measures.
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“It’s unlikely that there will be any major issues involved in this. It’s very simple. I just wanted to leave the possibility open because, with all due respect to my two colleagues, none of the three of us made that decision. Because they don’t give up,” Cole said. He said. “But again, there’s no reason to believe that the people who do that are not…sympathetic.”
It was not immediately clear how much the reconstruction would cost. The White House and Department of Transportation did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the price tag, but Bloomberg and Roll Call reported that it was at least $2 billion.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson’s office for comment.
