NEWARK – U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-10) today said he is confident that the U.S. House of Representatives will pass a much-needed public infrastructure bill – with some compromises – that will lay the groundwork for New Jersey and New York to forge the Gateway Tunnel and other improvement projects.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has promised centrist Democrats she will hold a vote on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill by Sept. 27. The pledge is not binding, and politics within her caucus could complicate the timeline, according to MSNBC.

Payne said the House will get the job done.

“There are 10,000 bridges in the country right now that shouldn’t be used right now, and they’re still in service,” the Newark-based congressman told InsiderNJ.

“That has to happen right away,” he said of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. “It is incumbent upon us to do our jobs and get this bill passed. The President is continuing to fight for it. We’re continuing to fight for it every day, and it just has to come to a compromise. We can get a bill passed, and we’re going to do it.”

Payne commented, too, on the United States withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

“It was time to get out of there,” the congressman said. “Was it the best exit? It could have been done better. The key is that we’re out. The dollars that have been spent on that effort are now remaining in the country, and can be spent on infrastructure.”

For the full interview with Congressman Payne, who was at City Hall today to help unveil a statue of the late Mayor Kenneth Gibson, please see below: