WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden hailed the Senate passage of a “historic” US$1.2 trillion infrastructure package, celebrating a major bipartisan win on a plan he vowed would “transform America”.
By funding work on roads, bridges and ports, as well as clean water and high-speech internet, Biden said the Bill – which still needs House approval – would create thousands of high-paying jobs for people without college degrees.
“This historic investment infrastructure is what I believe you, the American people, want,” Biden said in a White House address.
“This Bill shows that we can work together,” he said.
Some seven weeks after the Democratic leader stood with senators from both parties hailing a preliminary agreement, the Bill received rare bipartisan support in Washington’s highly-polarized political atmosphere.
Needing just a simple majority, it passed by 69 votes to 30 with backing from a third of Republican Senators.
The measure now faces a make-or-break vote in the House of Representatives in coming weeks, where its future is less certain as divisions have sprung up in the Democratic majority.
The ambitious plan provides for $550 billion in new federal spending on transport infrastructure, but also for public transit, broadband internet, and clean water, as well as electric charging stations and other measures to fight climate change.
The total price tag – the equivalent of Spain’s 2020 gross domestic product – relies on other public funds that already have been appropriated.
The infrastructure package is a primary element of Biden’s sweeping domestic agenda aimed at transforming the United States with more than US$4 trillion in federal spending.
After approving the infrastructure Bill, the Senate voted to begin debate on the budget blueprint, on a straight party-line vote.
Democratic leaders intend to use a fast-track process known as reconciliation that allows budget-related legislation to pass by simple majority.
With Republicans united against the broader budget Bill, every Senate Democrat would need to support the package.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to push for Biden’s agenda that she said “helps rebuild the middle class as it rebuilds our infrastructure – creating good-paying American jobs and turbocharging American competitiveness and growth”. — NNN-AGENCIES
