GOP lawmaker points to Colonial Pipeline as infrastructure vulnerability

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said Wednesday that the recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline exposed “another vulnerability” in America’s infrastructure.

Speaking at The Hill’s “The Future of Mobility Summit,” Graves, who is the top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, stressed the need to safeguard critical systems like utilities to prevent similar attacks in the future.

“We have to be very vigilant about this. We have to figure out how to protect ourselves so that these things don’t happen moving forward,” he told The Hill’s Steve Clemons.

The pipeline, which runs from Texas to New York, provides about 45 percent of the fuel on the East Coast. The multiday shutdown created gas shortages throughout the southeast.

Graves also discussed efforts in Washington to get an agreement on infrastructure.

He credited President Biden’s “willingness to have a bipartisan deal” but said there is still work to be done to find “middle ground.”

“We have made ourselves completely open and have expressed that openness in the negotiating we’re having right now with the Democrats,” Graves said at the Siemens-sponsored event.

Graves’s remarks came after he announced plans earlier in the day to introduce his Surface Transportation Advanced through Reform, Technology, & Efficient Review (Starter) Act 2.0 in response to Biden’s infrastructure proposal.

Biden on Wednesday met at the White House with the four top congressional leaders to discuss infrastructure goals. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said after the meeting that he thought there was a “good chance” of a bipartisan deal with Biden.

Still, Republicans haven’t yet landed on how to finance an infrastructure package, though they agree it needs to be paid for, and McConnell declined to put a price tag on a bill Wednesday.