参议院共和党人对1万亿美元基础设施一揽子计划的潜在支持是令人鼓舞的迹象交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格周日在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说，两党可能会达成协议
“他们似乎接受了一万亿左右是合适的想法。他告诉《本周》的联合主持人玛莎·拉德达茨。“但很多担忧——关于那些不在他们还价中的东西——真的很重要。”
白宫最近提出了一项总额为1.7万亿美元的缩减基础设施一揽子计划，从乔·拜登总统最初的基础设施提案中削减了约5500亿美元。参议院共和党人反驳那个新提议周四提出了一项9280亿美元的提案。
拜登也在周四表示，他将在下周会见共和党人——在总统非正式的阵亡将士纪念日截止日期之后——并补充说，“我们必须尽快完成这项工作。”
“我们仍然非常希望我们能到达一个好地方，”布蒂吉格周日说。“但正如总统常说的，‘不作为不是一种选择。’我们确实面临着一些严重的时间压力。"
拉德达兹要求国务卿澄清拜登政府在一项新的华盛顿邮报报告详细说明了共和党参议员计划如何分配一个潜在的一揽子计划。
“与拜登总统会面的共和党参议员认为，他们可能已经达成了一项为期八年的1万亿美元的妥协，其中可能包括现有的支出计划。这有可能吗?这是一种可能的妥协吗?”Raddatz按下。
“好吧，还是那句话，细节往往是魔鬼，”布蒂吉格回应道。“当我们谈论现有的支出计划时，我想澄清几件事——我们需要在无论如何都会发生的事情之外进行投资。”
但蒂吉格也谴责了共和党的一项提议，即动用分配给新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)减免基础设施建设费用。
布蒂吉格说:“记住，救援资金流向了城市、州、小企业、农村医院和学校。”。“我们不必花同样的钱两次。让我们信守承诺。”
然而，经济学家，如前国务卿拉里·萨默斯，表示重新分配未使用的新冠肺炎救助资金是一个明智的举措。
萨默斯告诉《金融时报》:“大多数州不需要救助。”纽约时报“将支出长期分散，并应用于增加生产潜力的公共投资是最好的前进方式。”
在采访的早些时候，拉德达孜问运输国务卿表示，美国已经为预计将在阵亡将士纪念日周末出行的3700万美国人做好准备。
“由于显而易见的原因，航空公司的航班在过去一年里大幅减少。裁员，裁员。租不到车。我们为这次旅行激增做好充分准备了吗?”Raddatz问。
“我很高兴看到美国重新开始行动，”布蒂吉格说。“我们还没有恢复正常，或者说，作为一个有这种流行病的国家，我们还没有脱离险境”
“我们正在走出现代美国交通系统有史以来最大的冲击，”布蒂吉格补充说。"因此，这个系统正在恢复运转."
但是我也强调安全是第一位的，并要求美国人尊重机组人员和其他运输工人。
美国联邦航空管理局周二宣布，今年迄今已收到约2500起不守规矩乘客的报告，其中1900起涉及拒绝戴口罩的乘客。
“虐待运输工人是绝对不可接受的，当然，在这方面会有非常严重的罚款和执法，”布蒂吉格说。“这是安全问题，但也是尊重问题。当我们回来的时候，让我们确保我们以一种我们都引以为豪的方式去做。”
GOP embrace of $1 trillion infrastructure package could help make a deal: Buttigieg
Senate Republicans' potential embrace of a $1 trillion infrastructure package isan encouraging signa bipartisan deal could be reached, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
"They seem to be embracing the idea that about a trillion is appropriate. So there's movement in the right direction," he told "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "But a lot of concerns -- about things that are not in their counteroffer -- they're really important."
The White House recently presented a reduced infrastructure package totaling $1.7 trillion, slashing about $550 billion from President Joe Biden's initial infrastructure proposal. Senate Republicanscountered that new offeron Thursday with a $928 billion proposal.
Biden, also on Thursday, said he would meet again with the Republicans in the next week -- after the president’s informal Memorial Day deadline -- adding, "we have to finish this very soon."
"We remain very hopeful that we can get to a good place," Buttigieg said Sunday. "But as the president often says, 'inaction is not an option.' And we really are facing some serious time pressure as we look to that."
Raddatz asked the secretary to clarify the Biden administration's position on a newWashington Postreport that detailed how the GOP senators planned to distribute a potential package.
"Republican senators who met with President Biden feel they may have landed on a compromise of $1 trillion over eight years spread out and that it could include existing spending plans. Is this a possibility? Is this a possible compromise?" Raddatz pressed.
"Well, again, the devil is often in the details," Buttigieg responded. "When we talk about existing spending plans, I want to make a couple of things clear -- we need to make investments over and above what would have happened anyway."
Buttigieg also denounced a GOP proposal to use some funding allocated toCOVID-19relief to pay for infrastructure.
"Remember, the rescue dollars, those went out to cities, to states, to small businesses, rural hospitals, for schools," Buttigieg said. "We don't have to spend those same dollars twice. Let's keep our commitments."
However economists, like former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, have said the idea of reallocating unused COVID-19 relief aid is a smart move going forward.
"For the most part states do not need the rescue," Summers told theNew York Times, "Spreading the spending out over the long term and applying to public investments that increase productive potential is the best way forward.”
Earlier in the interview, Raddatz asked thetransportationsecretary if the nation was prepared for the 37 million Americans expected to travel over the Memorial Day weekend.
"Airline schedules have been reduced dramatically over the past year for obvious reasons. There have been layoffs, reductions. You can't get a rental car. Were we fully prepared for this travel surge?" Raddatz asked.
"I'm thrilled to see America getting back on the move," Buttigieg said. "We're not back to normal yet or we're not out of the woods yet as a country with this pandemic"
"We are coming out of the biggest shocks the modern American transportation system has ever seen," Buttigieg added. "And so, the system is getting back into gear."
Buttigieg also emphasized that safety is a top priority and asked that Americansrespect flight crewsand other transportation workers.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday it has received about 2,500 reports of unruly passengers so far this year, with 1,900 of those cases involving passengers who refused to wear masks.
"It is absolutely unacceptable to ever mistreat a transportation worker and, of course, there's very serious fines and enforcement around that," Buttigieg said. "It's a matter of safety, but it's also a matter of respect. And as we get back -- let's make sure we're doing it in a way that we can all be proud of."
