Pelosi: Biden's infrastructure plan will have people 'out of their cars with more mass transit'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday the "country needs a strong infrastructure package," framing it as a "quality of life issue" to have people out of their cars.
President Biden has proposed a $2.25 trillion spending plan known as the American Jobs Plan that focuses on physical infrastructure improvements and green energy initiatives, which Pelosi supports.
"It's an issue of commerce," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. "It's an issue of clean air. It's an issue of quality of life to have people, have them out of their cars with more mass transit and the rest and it is also an issue of just, again, growth in a way that is about safety as well as jobs."
Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and GOP leaders met with Biden at the White House on Wednesday about infrastructure.
Following the meeting, a Democratic member of Congress said Biden's infrastructure plan would "reduce automobile usage."
Pelosi said Biden is undertaking a bipartisan effort by meeting with GOP lawmakers on the issue of infrastructure.
"He's making every attempt and I think it is bearing fruit. We'll see," she said.
Pelosi also suggested that Congress should "beef up the IRS" to deal with corporations that are not paying federal taxes as a way to fund the infrastructure plan.