This story was updated to include a statement from Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum received after publication.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, a Republican, traveled to Washington, D.C., Wednesday as part of a bipartisan group of mayors and governors meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to express support for the Biden administration's infrastructure proposal.
"Infrastructure is a core function of government. For a decade, mayors and governors have advocated for a new major infrastructure investment from the federal government. Today, we did so again in a meeting with the President and Vice President at the White House," Holt said in a statement following the meeting.
Holt and Norman Mayor Breea Clark, a Democrat, were the two Oklahoma city leaders to join 369 mayors from across the country in signing a letter supporting Biden's infrastructure proposal.
"I encouraged the President to continue to work towards bipartisan passage, which would not only secure these important investments, but would also demonstrate that America can still work together to get things done," Holt said.
In an interview with MSNBC, Holt said he would still accept federal infrastructure funding for Oklahoma City if Congress passed it on a strictly party-line vote with no Republican support, but said he would prefer it to pass in a bipartisan manner.
Other mayors and governors present at the meeting were Republican Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont and Mayor Sandy Stimpson of Mobile, Ala., and Democratic Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, and Democratic Mayors Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Ariz., and Michel Hancock of Denver, Colo.
A spokesperson for Tulsa Mayor Bynum said the mayor did not have a position on the legislation, and provided the following statement: "I have spoken with White House staff about Tulsa’s infrastructure needs, and told them that Senator Inhofe is the most knowledgeable person for them to work with on federal infrastructure issues impacting Tulsa and Oklahoma."
