NEW YORK (NewsNation Now) — President Joe Biden is celebrating the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill’s passage. He is expected to sign the bill Monday and travel the country on a victory lap.
Some of the 13 Republicans in the House who voted for the bill have received threatening voicemails for their support of the bill. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., revealed on Monday that he received a threatening voicemail just days after voting for the bipartisan bill.
Upton said that a person called him and left a message saying “I hope you die.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., who voted for the bill and will not seek reelection after denying a report of sexual harassment, said his decision not to run did not influence his vote.
“I voted for this infrastructure bill because it was the right thing to do for the American people,” he said.
Some Republicans have questioned one of the bill’s provisions, which sends $66 billion to Amtrak. Reed said he supports sending those funds to the service.
“Amtrak is a rail service that services the Eastern corridor between Washington, D.C., and and New York City. Those rail cars that are flowing on Amtrak rails are made in our district (the 23rd District) … that puts thousands of Americans to work, plus the additional thousands of people that supply that supply chain,” said Reed.
Amtrak’s maintenance backlog worsened following Superstorm Sandy nine years ago. The bill provides $66 billion to improve the rail service’s Northeast Corridor (457 miles), as well as other routes. It’s less than the $80 billion Biden — who famously rode Amtrak from Delaware to Washington during his time in the Senate — originally asked for. It is the largest federal investment in passenger rail service since Amtrak was founded 50 years ago.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.