H.R. 3684

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, well, I thank my colleagues for their fine speeches, and I very much appreciate them.

Now, the bipartisan group of Senators has finished writing the text of the infrastructure bill, and in a moment, I will take the procedural steps to make their legislative language the base of the bill here on the floor.

I want to congratulate the Members of the bipartisan group for their efforts. We haven't done a large bipartisan bill of this nature in a long time. I want to especially thank the staffs, who burned the midnight oil many a night, for their diligence, their hard work, their intelligence, and their skill.

Thank you, staff, listening and a few in the room here tonight.

These days, it isn't easy to do major bills in the Senate, especially bipartisan ones, so I have tried to prod the negotiators along when they have needed it and given them the space when they have asked for it. In the end, the bipartisan group of Senators has produced a bill that will dedicate substantial resources to repair, maintain, and upgrade our Nation's physical infrastructure. It has been decades-- decades--since Congress passed such a significant stand-alone investment, and I salute the hard work that was done here by everybody.

In order for our workers, our businesses, our economy to succeed in the 21st century, we cannot have infrastructure that is stuck in the last century. The bipartisan infrastructure bill is designed to bring our infrastructure up to date for a new century, and that is a significant achievement.

Now, for the future, for the information of Senators, here is how we plan to move forward. I will offer the text of the bipartisan infrastructure bill as a substitute amendment, as I promised, making it the base of the bill.

Then the Senate will work to consider additional amendments to the bipartisan framework. Given how bipartisan the bill is and how much work has already been put in to get the details right, I believe the Senate can quickly process relevant amendments and pass this bill in a matter of days.

Then I will move the Senate along the second track of our infrastructure effort and take up the budget resolution.

A bipartisan infrastructure bill is definitely necessary, but to many of us, it is not sufficient. That is why soon after this bill passes the Senate, Democrats will press forward with a budget resolution to allow the Senate to make further historic, vitally important investments in American jobs, American families, and efforts to reverse climate change.

Look, I have set out two very ambitious goals for the Senate this summer, and we are now on the way to achieving both. As I said, both tracks, this one and the other, are very much needed by the American people, and we must accomplish both.

Now, after many days of waiting and a lot of hard work and a lot of compromise, I ask that the clerk report the pending business.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source