Water Infrastructure
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, taking a step back for a moment, this is how the process should work in a closely divided Senate. If the Republican minority allows the Senate to move forward with a bill where we have shared priorities, the Democratic majority will work to set up a process for the Senate to consider germane amendments from both sides.
That is the essence of the organizing resolution we all agreed to earlier this year, and hopefully it is a process we can repeat. In fact, we will test that proposition on the very next piece of legislation. If we are able to finish the anti-Asian hate crimes bill in a timely manner, I will move next to consider a bipartisan water infrastructure bill.
The bill, the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act, was advanced by the Environment and Public Works Committee on a unanimous--unanimous--vote. It will authorize tens of billions of dollars to make sure American families, especially low-income families, have access to safe and clean drinking water. I salute Senator Carper, the chair of the committee, as well as Senator Capito, the ranking Republican on the committee, for coming together on such an important and necessary bill.
So, in addition to further nominations, it is my intention to move the bipartisan water infrastructure bill next week.
As the country turns the corner from COVID-19, our focus will soon shift to how we can cement our economic recovery and create the jobs of the future. President Biden's Build Back Better agenda--a big, bold investment in infrastructure and jobs--is extremely important to that effort. It has wide support among Democrats and wide support among the American people. Many, many Republicans out there in the country support this bill and this concept. The water infrastructure bill is a small but important part of that overall effort.
We hope our Republican colleagues join us in advancing these proposals to repair and reimagine our Nation's infrastructure for a new century. Just like the anti-Asian hate crimes bill, if Republicans let us get on the bill, we can work out a process to have bipartisan debate and amendments, but if the Republican minority prevents the Senate from even debating some of these commonsense proposals, we will have to try to move forward without them
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