US President Biden wants to renew the country’s infrastructure on a large scale. Negotiations over billions of investments dragged on for a long time. Now the first Congress Chamber has given its approval.
After months of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, the US Senate passed a huge infrastructure package.
In the Congress Chamber on Tuesday Democrats and several Republicans voted in favor of the 2,700-page legislative package designed to modernize roads, bridges, and other transportation and energy networks in the United States. “America has often been most prosperous and made the most progress when we invest in America itself,” said President Joe Biden.
Around 550 billion dollars (470 billion euros) of new investments in infrastructure are planned over the coming years. In total – including the funds already budgeted – the package is worth around one trillion dollars. After the Senate, the House of Representatives still has to give its approval. The schedule for this is unclear.
Biden had already presented the first plans in the spring with which he wanted to achieve expenditures of around 2 trillion dollars for the renewal of the infrastructure in the next eight years. However, these met with considerable resistance from Republicans. In tough negotiations with members of Congress, Biden’s list was gradually cut down.
According to the White House, it is nevertheless the largest infrastructure investment in decades. “There are no republican bridges and no democratic roads,” said Biden. The fact that Republicans also voted for the package shows that democracy is still working.
Around 110 billion dollars are to flow into the expansion or renewal of roads and bridges, almost 40 billion into the expansion of local public transport and a further 66 billion dollars into the rail network. In addition, funds are earmarked for expanding the charging stations for electric cars and for promoting electric buses. A total of 42 billion dollars are planned for ports and airports. The package is also intended to finance the expansion of high-speed Internet connections, the modernization of electricity networks and the improvement of the water supply, including the replacement of all lead pipes.
Biden had argued from the start that the investment would create millions of jobs. He spoke of a historic project. The modernization of the infrastructure is urgently required. A majority in the Senate was only achieved when enough Republicans could be won over with the slimmed-down package.
“It’s an investment in the roads and bridges we drive every day to take our children to school. It’s a public transport investment that we rely on to get to work, ”said Vice President Kamala Harris. It means people no longer have to drink lead-fed water or go to a fast-food parking lot to get high-speed internet.
Biden’s Democrats only have narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress. In the Senate, their majority is very thin. There, however, 60 of the 100 senators have to agree to an end to the debate for ordinary bills in order for a vote to take place at all. This means that in the Senate, the Democrats regularly rely on votes from the Republicans to push through projects.
Before the start of the summer break, the Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer wants to bring a budget proposal with a volume of around 3.5 trillion dollars through the Senate. The draft would provide for a massive expansion of social benefits, including help for families and more educational opportunities. The Democrats could push through the budget through a special procedure largely without the approval of the Republicans – but then they should not have a single deviator in their own ranks. The Republicans are vigorously opposed to broader social spending.
In the House of Representatives, some of the Democrats only want to decide on the infrastructure package together with the budget they are aiming for. The Democratic Chairwoman of the Chamber of Parliament, Nancy Pelosi, has announced that both should be decided in twos. The House of Representatives has already said goodbye to the parliamentary summer recess.
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