The House meets at noon for legislative business and will complete work on the minibus, H.R. 4502 – Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act.
The Senate convened at 10:30 a.m. and resumed consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R.3684, the vehicle for the bipartisan infrastructure framework, post-cloture.
The Senate voted on Wednesday to take up the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that would make far-reaching investments in the nation’s public works system, as Republicans joined Democrats in clearing the way for action on a crucial piece of President Joe Biden’s agenda. The 67-to-32 vote, which included 17 Republicans in favor, came just hours after centrist senators in both parties and the White House reached a long-sought compromise on the bill, which would provide about $550 billion in new federal money for roads, bridges, rail, transit, water and other physical infrastructure programs. The compromise, which was still being written on Wednesday, includes 1.)$110 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; 2.)$66 billion for passenger and freight rail; 3.)$39 billion for public transit; 4.)$65 billion for broadband; 5.)$17 billion for ports and waterways; and 6.)$46 billion to help states and cities prepare for droughts, wildfires, flooding and other consequences of climate change Democratic leaders were forced to agree to concessions, accepting less new federal money for public transit and clean energy projects than they had wanted, including for some electric vehicle charging stations, and abandoning their push for additional funding for tax enforcement at the I.R.S. In place of those lost revenues, negotiators agreed to repurpose more than $250 billion from previous pandemic aid legislation, including $50 billion from expanded unemployment benefits that have been canceled prematurely this summer by two dozen Republican governors. That is more than double the repurposed money in the original deal. The new agreement would save $50 billion by delaying a Medicare rebate rule passed under President Donald J. Trump and raise nearly $30 billion by applying tax information reporting requirements to cryptocurrency. It also proposes to recoup $50 billion in fraudulently paid unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
Statement by President Joe Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal
WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET: Historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal
This morning, the President will signs S. 957, the Dispose Unused Medications and Prescription Opioids Act, and S. 1910, the Major Medical Facility Authorization Act of 2021, into law. Later this afternoon, the President delivers remarks laying out the next steps in our effort to get more Americans vaccinated and combat the spread of the Delta variant and will announce Thursday that all civilian federal employees must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or to regularly test, socially distance and mask up on most travel.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
