Senate reveals details of bipartisan infrastructure proposal

By Teaganne Finn, Tim Stelloh and Sahil Kapur - NBC News

WASHINGTON - The United States Senate finished drafting this Sunday a first proposal for the ambitious infrastructure plan promoted by President Joe Biden, which must now be subject to amendments before being voted on in plenary.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said he would push for amendments to legislation that senators were finalizing over the weekend.

"Given the bipartisan character of the bill and the amount of work that has already been done to get the details right, I believe the Senate can quickly process the relevant amendments and pass it in a matter of days," Schumer said in the full Senate. .

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The measure includes $ 555 billion in new spending

to build roads, public transportation and other priorities that President Joe Biden has brought to the table, which would inject an unexpected sum of money into a number of transportation projects that have long been counted on the support of both parties.

The bill, which is 2,702 pages long, includes $ 110 billion for highways.

It has steps to reform Amtrak, "revolutionize" a transportation subsidy program, and improve the electrical grid.

Other provisions are aimed at drinking water infrastructure, affordability of broadband and reducing emissions from ferries.

Speaking to the full Senate, members of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who worked on the bill said they had overcome their differences to craft legislation that would modernize the country's aging infrastructure.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, speaks to the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 28, 2021.AP Photo / J.

Scott applewhite

"A lot of people have given up on the Senate," said Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, "They have lost faith in Congress.

They have lost faith in our ability to do great things.

This is big.

This is a great project, "he added.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, added that the group had made good on a commitment to focus on "core" infrastructure, rather than a much broader set of proposals initially put forward by the White House, and not to raise taxes.

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"We stuck to those two principles," he said.

The Senate voted 67 to 32 on Wednesday, getting 17 Republicans to support the bill, more than the 10 needed to avoid obstruction and begin debate on the deal, a sign that it has broad support in the House of Representatives. Representatives. 

Among the 17 Republican supporters in that vote was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

Schumer said that once the bill passes, it would move to a budget plan for an even more massive $ 3.5 trillion measure to fund Democratic priorities on climate change, health care and the economy while senators work to finish legislative work before summer break begins next week.

Senate infrastructure legislation faces problems in the House amid pushback from Transportation Committee chair Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, and progressives who say it doesn't do enough to invest in public transportation, water and address change. climate.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has insisted the measure must be passed more broadly before the political body, which is in recess, considers the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

The broader bill will give Democrats skeptical of the Senate deal a chance to address their priorities.

Biden voiced support for the infrastructure measure on Sunday, tweeting that the deal "is the largest investment in public transportation in US history and the largest investment in rail since Amtrak was created 50 years ago."