President Biden signs the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act as he is surrounded by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet during a ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House on Monday.
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President Biden signs the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act as he is surrounded by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet during a ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House on Monday.
Kenny Holston / Getty Images
President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law Second, enact a major part of his domestic spending program that will award billions of dollars to states and local governments to upgrade outdated roads, bridges, transportation systems and more than that.
The event – which the White House said was in front of about 800 guests, including members of Congress, governors and state and local officials from both sides of the aisle, as well as labor leaders and business – has seen the president carry out two key campaigns. promise: his vows to broker legislation that would gain support from both Republicans and Democrats; and his pledge to get major legislation to provide the necessary funds for public works projects that his predecessors on both sides had repeatedly tried to move, but failed to achieve.
During the South Lawn ceremony, Biden said that people heard “countless speeches and promises, white papers from experts” about the need to improve roads, bridges and other forms of infrastructure of the country. “But today, we finally got this done,” Biden said. “So my message to the American people is this: America is moving again, and your life will change for the better.”
GOP Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, one of the bill’s authors, also focused on bipartisanship. “This is what can happen when Republicans and Democrats say we’re going to work together to get something done,” he said.
Portman, who will not run for re-election next year, also praised former President Donald Trump, who he said had “further driven the discussion” on infrastructure during his term. Trump declared “Infrastructure Week” several times during his term, but was never able to get it through Congress.
The law signed into law on Monday drew support from 19 Republicans in the Senate and 13 members of House GOP, despite strong objections from Trump and some GOP leaders who have associated it with a larger, partisan domestic spending package.
However, it is a significant change from previous infrastructure bills, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan votes. Trump has also attacked many of the GOP lawmakers who voted for it and have touted key challenges to them.
Portman alluded to threats made by Trump and others against Republicans who voted for the measure. “Finding common ground to advance the interests of the American people should be rewarded, not attacked,” Portman said.
Several Republicans who negotiated the bill attended the signing, including Thank You Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Directors Rob Portman, R-Ohio and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Front, led the negotiations that led to the infrastructure bill.
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Republicans Support Bill Faces Threats
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., opposed the bipartisan bill and tweeted the names of 13 House Republicans, calling them “traitors”. She also included the phone number of their office. She and a small group of Republicans are urging GOP leaders to strip supporters of the bill from their committee duties.
GOP Michigan Representative Fred Upton told Detroit News he received more than 1,000 calls, including “nasty death threats” after Greene posted his number. Representative Tom Reed, RN.Y., told Buffalo News He also received threats and called the police.
A 64-year-old man was arrested last week in Nassau County, New York after threatening to kill Representative Andrew Garbarino, citing his support of the infrastructure bill. Garbarino said to New York Post The police have visited his home and are now more concerned about threats than he has received in the past.
Top Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have been mostly silent about the threats.
At a fundraiser for the House Republican campaign branch, Trump called for his party to unite against Biden’s agenda.
