尽管许多共和党人暗示他们不支持总统乔·拜登s基础设施提案，参议员罗杰·威克，右小姐。在美国广播公司的“本周”节目上说，共和党愿意就一个较小的方案进行谈判。
“我明天将会见总统，”这位参议员周日对《本周》主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯说，他指的是拜登与一个两党议员小组的会议。
“我们愿意与他就基础设施一揽子计划进行谈判。我只能说，这个万亿美元的数字对我来说太高了，但谈判必须与我们在救援计划上的谈判有所不同，”他继续说道。
威克对斯特凡诺普洛斯的评论呼应了10名温和的参议院共和党议员的情绪，他们周四签署了一份联合声明，指责拜登在最后一次关于COVID救济法案的两党会议上“完全无视”两党谈判。
声明中写道:“政府断然否认我们的努力完全不足以证明其独立自主战略的合理性。”“在我们在椭圆形办公室会面不到24小时后，参议院民主党领袖开始了引发和解的进程，这阻止了共和党的参与，并允许该方案在没有共和党投票的情况下通过。”
作为总统。乔·拜登在他上任的第一个100天，他面临着解决国家面临的长期挑战和与分裂的国会合作。@jonkarl仔细看看拜登迄今为止的总统任期。https://t.co/MLMwtBqEVjpic.twitter.com/9QooXlSfGH
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2021年4月11日
斯特凡诺普洛斯要求威克回应能源部长詹尼弗·格兰霍姆出现在之前的采访中在“本周”上
斯特凡诺普洛斯说:“你刚才听到格兰霍尔姆部长说，美国获胜的唯一途径是他们现在通过这个方案。”。
“嗯，听着，我们愿意谈判一个小得多的包裹，”威克说。“美国人投票支持一个他们认为乔·拜登是务实的温和派。去年11月，他们认为会投给他们的中间派候选人在哪里?”
拜登说过他欢迎辩论但他补充说，共和党提出的一项狭隘的基础设施法案“不合理”
共和党参议员威克说，他应该会见总统。拜登明天说:“我们愿意与他就基础设施一揽子计划进行谈判，这个万亿美元的数字对我来说太高了。”pic.twitter.com/yVf5QYxwTU
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2021年4月11日
威克解释了为什么共和党想要一个更小的基础设施一揽子计划。
“你有一个2.3万亿美元的提议，其中70%无论怎么想象都不能被称为基础设施，”威克说。
“这是一项大规模的社会福利支出计划，同时对小企业就业岗位创造者大幅增税，”他继续说道。“我想不出比提高税收更糟糕的税收了税小企业创造就业机会，这也是这项法案的目的。"
斯蒂芬诺普洛斯(Stephanopoulos)就共和党为何不重新考虑反对增加企业税以资助基础设施建设一事向维克施压。此前，一些美国最大的企业表示支持增加企业税，甚至低于前总统唐纳德特朗普(Donald Trump)减税政策生效前的水平。
特朗普政府减税之前，公司税率为35%，降至21%。拜登的提议将把利率提高到28%。
斯特凡诺普洛斯说:“这些减税实际上增加了任何种类的投资的证据很少。”。
“嗯，我完全不同意，”威克回应道。“早在2020年2月，在COVID衰退袭击我们之前，失业率为3.5%，这是前所未闻的低水平。”
“我认为2017年的一揽子税收计划确实是我们的标志性成就，它带来了——并且即将在大流行接管之前带来——它将带来更大的经济增长，”他继续说道。
维克森总统。拜登的基础设施提案:“我想不出比提高小企业就业创造者的税收更糟糕的税收了，而这正是这项法案要做的。”https://t.co/MLMwtBqEVjpic.twitter.com/dj0nmm3F1L
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2021年4月11日
尽管对共和党人来说，提高公司税似乎是不可能的，但威克表示，他们仍然愿意加大基础设施建设。
“我认为我们可以有所作为，并拥有比上一届政府时期大得多的基础设施。”柳条说。
“我赞成这一点，我认为大多数共和党人都赞成，我们可以得到许多民主党人的帮助，”他补充说。
GOP willing to negotiate smaller infrastructure bill: Wicker
Despite many Republicans signaling they do not support PresidentJoe Biden'sinfrastructureproposal, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said on ABC's "This Week" that the GOP is willing to negotiate on a smaller package.
"I'm meeting with the president tomorrow," the senator told "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, referring to Biden's meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
"We are willing to negotiate with him on an infrastructure package. And this trillion dollar number is way too high for me -- I'll just say -- but negotiation has to be something different from what we had on the rescue plan," he continued.
Wicker's comments to Stephanopoulos echo the sentiment of 10 moderate Senate GOP lawmakers who signed a joint statement on Thursday, accusing Biden of "roundly dismissing" bipartisan talks during his last bipartisan meeting on the COVID relief bill.
"The administration roundly dismissed our effort as wholly inadequate in order to justify its go-it-alone strategy," the statement read. "Fewer than 24 hours after our meeting in the Oval Office, the Senate Democratic Leader began the process of triggering reconciliation which precluded Republican participation and allowed for the package to pass without a single Republican vote."
As Pres.Joe Bidenapproaches his first 100 days in office, he's faced with addressing long-term challenges facing the country and working with a divided Congress.@jonkarltakes a closer look at Biden's presidency so far.https://t.co/MLMwtBqEVjpic.twitter.com/9QooXlSfGH
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)April 11, 2021
Stephanopoulos asked Wicker to respond to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, whoappeared in an earlier interviewon "This Week."
"You just heard Secretary Granholm, right there, said the only way America is going to win is if they pass this package now," Stephanopoulos said.
"Well, listen, we're willing to negotiate a much smaller package," Wicker said. "Americans voted for a pragmatic moderate that they thought Joe Biden was. Where is that centrist candidate they thought they were voting for back in November of last year?"
Biden has said that hewelcomes debateon his $2 trillion plan but added that a narrowly focused infrastructure bill proposed by the GOP "is just not rational."
GOP Sen. Wicker says he is supposed to meet with Pres. Biden tomorrow: "We are willing to negotiate with him on an infrastructure package, and this trillion dollar number is way too high for me."pic.twitter.com/yVf5QYxwTU
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)April 11, 2021
Wicker explained why the GOP wants a smaller infrastructure package.
"You've got a proposal here of the $2.3 trillion, 70% of which cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called infrastructure," Wicker said.
"This is a massive social welfare spending program combined with a massive tax increase on small business job creators," he continued. "I can't think of a worse tax to put on the American people than -- than to raisetaxeson small business job creators, which is what this bill would do."
Stephanopoulos pressed Wicker on why the GOP is not reconsidering its opposition to a corporate tax increase to fund infrastructure after some of America's biggest corporations expressed support for it, even to a level lower than it was before former President Donald Trump's tax cuts went into effect.
The corporate tax rate stood at 35% prior to the Trump administration's tax cuts that dropped it to 21%. Biden's proposal will raise the rate to 28%.
"The evidence that those tax cuts actually increase any kind of investment is minimal," Stephanopoulos said.
"Well, I totally disagree," Wicker responded. "Back in February of 2020, before the COVID recession hit us, unemployment rate was 3.5%, an unheard of low amount."
"I think the tax package of 2017 really was our signature accomplishment, and it ushered in -- and was about to usher in before the pandemic took over -- it was about to usher in even greater economic growth," he continued.
Sen. Wicker on Pres. Biden's infrastructure proposal: "I can't think of a worse tax to put on the American people than to raise taxes on small business job creators, which is what this bill would do."https://t.co/MLMwtBqEVjpic.twitter.com/dj0nmm3F1L
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)April 11, 2021
Although it appears a corporate tax increase is a non-starter for Republicans, Wicker said they are still willing to go big on infrastructure.
"I think we can get somewhere and have a much bigger infrastructure package than we were able to do under the last administration." Wicker said.
"I'm in favor of that, and I think the majority of Republicans are, and we can get a lot of Democrats to help us on that," he added.
