As Iowa’s Bridges Crumble, David Young Touts Highway Bill He Voted Against

A recently released study of the country’s infrastructure saw Iowa place in the top five states of structurally deficient bridges. A full 5,025 of Iowa’s 24,242 bridges are rated that way, or 21% of all of Iowa’s bridges. That’s a big concern for Iowa drivers, and many have been fighting for additional funding from Congress to help address the issue. Congress finally moved forward on it when they passed the bipartisan highway bill late last year. Iowa Congressman David Young voted against that bill.

Oddly, he’s now trying to take credit for it.

In several radio interviews this week, Young highlighted the five-year highway bill, despite being one of 64 No votes for the bill. He was the only member of the Iowa delegation to vote that way. In an interview with WHO Radio, Young commented, “How nice it is now to have a five-year Highway Bill.”

At the time of the bill’s passage, Young complained about the process in which the bill passed. That didn’t seem to bother the 363 Democrats and Republicans, in one of the few instances of bipartisanship this Congress has seen, who supported the measure to rebuild and repair dangerous roads and bridges.

“It’s really offensive that he would hit the radio circuit bragging about something he tried to derail,” said Tyler Law of the DCCC. “Young may be a magician, but he can’t hide the fact that this is about the most Washington insider move imaginable.”

One of Young’s potential Democratic opponents, Jim Mower, also criticized Young’s vote earlier this week.

“We need to invest in the future and a big part of that is having strong infrastructure,” Mower said in a press release. “The fact that David Young doesn’t get that is likely a result of spending his entire career in Washington.”

by Pat Rynard
Posted 2/26/16