Biden hails Senate approval of giant bipartisan trillion dollar infrastructure bill | U.S. congress

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The US Senate passed a giant new bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday, with 19 Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus to help pass the bill to the finish line.

It has been a key affirmation of Joe Biden’s strategy to advance the bipartisanship on his legislative agenda, and the White House announced Tuesday afternoon that it would create “millions of jobs,” as well as support greener policies such as expanding networks of charging stations for electricity. Cars, promotion of travel by trains and electric buses.

The trillion-dollar bill — which still has to go through another corridor through the House of Representatives before reaching the president’s office — would invest new federal money in developing roads and bridges, but also promote environmentally friendly policies.

“Today, we’ve proven that democracy still works,” Biden declared at the White House, noting that the 69-30 vote included even Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

“We can still come together to do big things, things that are important to the American people,” Biden said.

The Republican chief negotiator, Rob Portman, said the work “shows the American people that we can work together on a bipartisan basis to get something done.” Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia called the agreement “a little refreshment for the country’s psyche.”

The bill focuses on modernizing the country’s electricity grid to make it more resilient to harsh weather in the era of the climate crisis, investing in protecting public utility systems from cyberattacks and helping make the country’s coasts more protected from rising seas.

It may face some opposition in the House of Representatives from progressive lawmakers who have said they will withhold their support until the Senate passes a separate $3.5 trillion package focused more on social welfare policies, such as childcare and elder care.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier that she would not vote on the bill in the House until the Senate worked to follow up on the social spending package.

However, on Tuesday she hailed the law’s passage through the upper house, when other legislation, such as voting rights, stalled, and died there in recent months.

“Today is a day of progress … a once-in-a-century opportunity,” Pelosi said.

The bill garnered support from major corporations and labor unions.

Democrats said they expect the bill, topping 2,700 pages, to touch nearly every corner of American life.

“There have been detours and everything else, but that will do a lot for America,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Donald Trump has worked to torpedo the success of the bill, having previously threatened to cut support for any Republican lawmaker who votes for it.

“The Joe Biden Infrastructure Bill will be used against the Republican Party in the upcoming elections in 2022 and 2024. It would be very difficult for me to endorse anyone foolish enough to vote for this deal,” the former president said in a statement. Saturday.

But Republicans who held out in support of the bill included McConnell, although some conservatives have complained about its exorbitant cost.

“This infrastructure bill isn’t the perfect bill,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Alaskan Republican and one of the bill’s negotiators, but she added, “It’s better to get some of what our voters want than to get nothing.”

The bill also aims to help replace lead drinking pipes, modernize and expand transportation, modernize the passenger and freight rail, and improve broadband internet. About $65 billion will be made available for broadband, a condition that Republican Senator Susan Collins has negotiated because she said the pandemic has shown that such service is “no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity.”

What comes next in the Senate is expected to be more controversial — Biden’s larger $3.5 trillion package, a more liberal mission to childcare and elderly care and other more partisan programs expected to attract only Democrats’ support. This debate is expected to extend into the fall.

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