Congressman Don Bacon (NE-2) and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1) joined the program for a discussion about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and their votes that helped pass a generational investment in the built environment.  

Transcript:

ACEC: 

Welcome to the Engineering Influence podcast from the American Council of Engineering Companies. Today, I am very pleased to be bringing you two members of Congress who were instrumental in helping get the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act across the finish line. Congressman Don Bacon, representing Nebraska's Second Congressional District, and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, representing Pennsylvania's First Congressional District, join us today on the show. As a matter of introduction, Congressman Bacon was elected in 2016 and represents Nebraska's second congressional District. Now prior to serving in the House,, Congressman Bacon served as an officer in the Air Force, specializing in electronic warfare intelligence and reconnaissance. He served 16 assignments with the Air Force, including four deployments in the Middle East, including Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired with the rank of Brigadier General and currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agricultural Committee. 

ACEC: 

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick represents Pennsylvania's First Congressional District. Prior to his election, he served as both an FBI special agent and as a federal prosecutor fighting both domestic and international political corruption and supporting global counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence efforts, including being embedded with U.S. Special Forces as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the 117th Congress, Brian was elected co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, having previously served as the vice-chair. He is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber, and was appointed by House Leadership to currently serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and as a Commissioner on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Additionally, Congressman Fitzpatrick serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a committee near and dear to our hearts. Thank you both for joining us today. 

ACEC: 

I'd like to start off, with Congressman Bacon first, and then Congressman Fitzpatrick. For our audience, who may not be well acquainted with Nebraska or Pennsylvania, can you tell us a little bit about your districts? 

Congressman Bacon: 

My district is Omaha and the south suburbs, so we have about 700,000 in about a county and a half, but it's really Omaha suburbs. In the next cycle, with redistricting, I gain another county. It's an urban/suburban community. It's one of the most purple districts in the country, officially R plus one. It's a railroad junction and an interstate junction, so it's very infrastructure intensive. 

ACEC: 

And Congressman Fitzpatrick. I have to admit full transparency. I am from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, so I am Bucks County all the way. Of course I remember it fondly as the Eighth Congressional District, but tell us a little bit about the First. 

Congressman Fitzpatrick: 

I didn't know you were from Doylestown, but I knew you're familiar with the area. So, the First District is the Philly suburbs. It's all Bucks County, which is the county just to the north of the city line of Philadelphia. The southern part of my district borders the city line of Philadelphia. The entire east side of my district borders, the river, crossing over into New Jersey. And then about 12 percent of my district is the adjacent county to the west Montgomery County. So I have sort of the central part, that's adjacent to Bucks County. Lke Don, we have about 740,000 constituents or so,. We're actually losing a district in Pennsylvania, going to 18 to 17, so my district will grow by about another 4