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E&E News exposes Republicans like Salazar for voting no and taking the dough on bipartisan achievements
Performative politician María Elvira Salazar is at it again. With no record of her own accomplishments for South Florida families, Salazar is now taking credit for a new Miami-based Tech Hub made possible by a bipartisan law that she actively attempted to block.
“Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), a top Democratic target, has been particularly effusive in her enthusiasm for the designation of the South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub, even though she voted against CHIPS and Science,” writes E&E News.
Read more on María Elvira Salazar’s blatant hypocrisy below.
E&E News: Republicans cheer spending from bill they opposed — again
Emma Dumain | November 28, 2023
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Several Republicans who voted against the CHIPS and Science Act are taking credit for the bill’s support for tech hubs, many of which are devoted to energy and environmental issues.
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The law was one of the major accomplishments of President Joe Biden’s first two years. And as they did with the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, GOP lawmakers who opposed the legislation are now cheering its benefits.
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As next year’s elections approach, Democrats are planning to remind voters which party was the driving force behind programs to compete with China and address the climate crisis.
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The CHIPS and Science Act included a $50 billion authorization for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and pumped billions of dollars to help U.S. manufacturers produce the semiconductors and chips necessary for electric cars and other clean tech.
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It also created a program to fund Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs, which will compete for up to $75 million to develop and implement projects to “supercharge a critical technology ecosystem.”
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Of the 31 tech hubs designated last month, 15 would directly assist the Biden administration’s climate goals. Ten of those are in states or districts represented by Republicans in Congress who did not vote for the CHIPS and Science Act.
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And 10 of those Republicans are now either taking credit for helping secure funding or touting the money’s benefits to their states and districts.
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Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), a top Democratic target, has been particularly effusive in her enthusiasm for the designation of the South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub, even though she voted against CHIPS and Science.
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The consortium, led by Miami-Dade County, will focus on innovations and technologies around sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
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Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the about-face “exactly the sort of insincere behavior that the public hates, and the DCCC will be sure to remind voters of Salazar’s do-nothing agenda over the next year.”
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A recent report from the left-leaning nonprofit advocacy group Climate Power, for instance, found that of 388 clean energy projects that have advanced since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, 200 of them are in congressional districts currently held by Republicans.
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Uniform opposition to the massive climate and prescription drug bill, however, hasn’t stopped Republicans from attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies and rushing out press releases all across the country.
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In the Senate, though, many Republicans soured on the bill as lawmakers were closing in on final negotiations, bothered by new spending authorities without offsets. House Republicans had similar gripes.
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“The CHIPS Act has many bad things in it,” said Mariza Smajlaj, a Salazar spokesperson.
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“This is why [Salazar] opposed it. Regardless, it still became law, and therefore Rep. Salazar will continue to fight for any wins possible for Miami.”
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Like Salazar’s spokesperson, other Republican press operations sought to play up their bosses’ contributions to the arena of innovation and clarify the circumstances under which the lawmakers might have supported the CHIPS and Science Act.
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