Sen. Kelly sizes up needs for infrastructure
Sen. Mark Kelly, a supporter of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal brokered by his two Senate colleagues, is exploring Arizona facilities’ needs, paying a visit Thursday to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The Arizona Democrat met with aviation officials about the airport’s wish list and viewed construction of a new concourse.
Kelly is spending part of the U.S. Senate’s recess meeting with officials and entities that may benefit from an infrastructure spending package.
On Friday, he is scheduled to visit Nogales to meet with local leaders and visit two ports of entry to learn more about their infrastructure needs. Last weekend, he was briefed on the Backbone Fire near Camp Verde that has burned tens of thousands of acres.
The framework of the infrastructure deal, co-brokered by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. and endorsed by President Joe Biden, would make historic investments in the nation’s airports, ports of entry, roads,
bridges, cybersecurity and other projects without raising taxes.
It’s unclear when the evenly divided Senate will begin crafting the legislation through committees.
This deal is separate from the more sweeping “human infrastructure” domestic spending plan that could fund programs like free community college, paid leave or universal preschool.
Kelly has advocated for infrastructure funding on facilities from ports of entry to water infrastructure. Getting a package approved is important, he said.
“As I’ve driven across the state of Arizona for close to a decade now, it’s pretty obvious we have failing infrastructure across the state, especially in rural areas, so we need to do this infrastructure,” he said.
Kelly said he’s committed to the traditional infrastructure framework, which would include money for upgrades to the Phoenix airport — a major economic driver for the state.
“What comes after that and those details, they really matter,” he said of any second human infrastructure deal. “I’ll be looking at that legislation. I’ll make a decision based on what I think is in the best interest of the state of Arizona, best interest of our country. I don’t have at this point, you know, my own personal list of what I would like to see. I would like to see us continue this bipartisanship that we’ve started.”
During the recess, Sinema briefed the House Problem Solvers Caucus on the infrastructure framework, a spokesperson for Sinema said. Sinema’s team also began working with other Senate offices outside of the group of 21 senators supportive of the deal to begin getting legislative text drafted in hopes of consideration later this month, when the Senate returns to session.
Kelly speaks out against voting restrictions
Kelly also weighed in Thursday on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold two controversial Arizona election laws, including one that makes it a felony for anyone but a family member, household member or caregiver to turn in another person’s mail ballot.
The senator, who is up for re-election in 2022, said that law, and other issues, make it harder for people to vote, particularly for people of color and those who live in the state’s tribal nations and rural areas of the state.
“I believe that when individuals have easier access to the ballot, we have more people vote, and that serves our democracy,” he said. “Any legislation that makes it more challenging for folks that live in Native American communities or, you know, people of color or anything that puts a barrier in front of them, I just think it’s not legislation that is strengthening our democracy.”
On another top-of-mind topic in Washington, Kelly again did not say whether he supported calls by some Democrats and many progressives to eliminate or change the Senate’s legislative filibuster, the rule that requires the support of 60 senators to end debate and advance a bill.
The future of the filibuster in the 50-50 Senate has taken on a new urgency as Democrats try to find a path forward to pass some of Biden’s biggest policy goals before the 2022 midterm elections, where Republicans could take control of the Senate or House of Representatives.
“We’ve got a lot of tradition in the United States Senate, I like to see bipartisanship,” he said, noting the chamber’s dysfunction in a hyper-partisan era. “But I will evaluate any recommended change in the rules based on what’s in the best interests — not of the Democrats. What’s in the best interest of the Democrats, the Republicans, the state of Arizona and our country.”
More data requested on unidentified aerial phenomena
Kelly said he’s also awaiting more information involving the recent government report on unidentified aerial phenomena in American airspace. The report, compiled by top intelligence and military officials, did not provide firm explanations for unidentified objects seen between 2004 and 2021, some by military officials.
Kelly, a retired astronaut and Navy pilot who has traveled to space four times and heads a Senate subcommittee on emerging threats to the U.S., said he is most concerned about potential national defense implications involving the UFOs. Kelly spoke to the deputy secretary of defense about more data he wants to see about the objects.
Some of the objects, according to the report, “appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernable means of propulsion.”
Kelly said he wants more information about the objects’ turn rate radius, acceleration rates, and any other data that could shed light on their capabilities.
“If our adversaries are developing systems or capabilities that we don’t have,” he said, the U.S. needs to know about them and “have a plan on how we’re going to address it.”