Spartz supports limited legislation to invest in nation's infrastructure

May 7—ANDERSON — Rep. Victoria Spartz said she is working to find common ground with Republicans in the U.S. House to work in a bipartisan way.

Spartz, R-5th District, said Thursday during an interview with The Herald Bulletin that Congress needs to learn to work on the issues that the members of both parties can agree.

"There shouldn't be legislation that is a wish list or an agenda," she said. "Nobody is against investing in roads, bridges and improving internet access. We can agree on that."

The first-term congresswoman said the $2 trillion program introduced by President Joe Biden needs to be a narrow bill that will invest in the future of our country.

"The problem is the other side is trying to add some things to the bill," she said. "Only 6% of the bill has spending on infrastructure. The other programs, that may be good, should be addressed in a separate bill.

"We have to decide how much power we want to centralize and, in the long run, it's not sustainable to have so much wasteful spending," Spartz said. "Let's not put everything in one bill and call it infrastructure. That's not constructive and bad for our country to be so polarized."

Democrats and Republicans can agree on some issues, she said.

"We have two entities that are just fighting with each other nonstop," Spartz said.

She said there is a very difficult environment in Congress to work in a bipartisan way.

When she was invited to travel to the southern border with some Democratic lawmakers, she said it gave her the opportunity to develop healthy relationships.

She has co-sponsored legislation with Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, the Elder Abuse Protection Act to shield American seniors from criminals and fraudsters.

"There are a lot of bills where we are very far apart, but the bill is to protect seniors from fraud and people taking advantage of our most vulnerable population," Spartz said. "This is an issue I'm passionate about and could find some common ground."

She said she is working with Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Gary, on legislation dealing with federal opportunity zones.

"We need to find some areas of common ground and move the needle to work on larger issues like health care, immigration and financial stability," Spartz said.

Another area of potential legislation deals with anti-trust laws and the monopolies in the area of technology.

Spartz said companies control the technology and if a decision is made to no longer provide those services to another company there are no protections.

She said contracts are written in such a way that decisions to withhold technology can't be challenged and there is no means to collect damages.

Spartz said Congress should look for ways to increase competition in several fields including the ability of internet companies to sell an individual's private information for a profit.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.