President Joe Biden signed in law a $1 Trillion infrastructure bill, in the presence of hundreds of guests, including governors, members of Congress, and state and local officials from both parties standing firm on his campaign promise to deliver bipartisan legislation.
Amidst the declining approval numbers, President Joe Biden could heart chants of, “Joe, Joe, Joe,” as he prepared to give his speech moments after signing the bill into law.
“Despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results,” said President Biden as he rejoiced over this bipartisan achievement.
“Too often in Washington, the reason we don’t get things done is because we insist on getting everything we want. With this law, we focused on getting things done,” Biden said.
Although there were hundreds present for the ceremony, a few Republican law makers who disagreed with the legislation declined to attend.
This highly anticipated bipartisan legislation was designed to establish jobs across the United States by providing state and local governments access to billions of dollars to repair outdated bridges and roads and improve broadband internet access to millions of Americans.
But the passing of this infrastructure bill did not come without pushback from some of the lawmakers. Both Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona opposed various items on the agenda of the more Progressive senators regarding the social spending bill. Sinema, who was against the significantly larger version of this bill, forced the senators in the House to scale back to avoid an increase in taxes.
“Delivering this legislation for the American people – this is what it looks like when elected leaders set aside differences, shut out the noise and focus on delivering results on the issues that matter most to everyday Americans,” she said.
Manchin argued alongside Republican representatives that the bill had become a divisive partisan issue and the filibuster was a hot topic during the process of negotiating the bill. It was believed Democrats in the House were holding up the bill to ensure the passing of climate change legislation and the 1.75 trillion social policy.
The longevity of this bipartisan spirit has been questioned by some spectators as members of Congress prepare to work together to pass Biden’s Build Back Better package, which offers solutions for childcare, preschool, eldercare, healthcare, prescription drug prices, and immigration, before legislation session recess.
Biden Administration hopes that Nancy Pelosi galvanize the senate to pass the bill with the same terms, in hope of a repeating a bipartisan display.
Biden plans on visiting the two key states, New Hampshire and Michigan, to emphasize the benefits that the new infrastructure plan brings to the problems the country is
currently facing.
The theme for the week seem to be heavy in bipartisanship and keen on the important issues for all Americans.
