10:56 a.m. ET, November 6, 2021
Biden celebrates passage of infrastructure bill as "monumental step forward"
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
President Joe Biden speaks about the bipartisan infrastructure bill at the White House, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.
(Alex Brandon/AP)
President Biden touted a major legislative victory on Saturday, calling the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill “a monumental step forward as a nation.”
“Yesterday, I don't think it's an exaggeration to suggest that we took a monumental step forward as a nation,” Biden said from the State Dining Room on Saturday, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We did something that's long overdue, that long has been talked about in Washington but never actually been done. A House of Representatives passed an infrastructure investment and jobs act. That's a fancy way of saying a bipartisan infrastructure bill. A once-in-a-generation investment that will create millions of jobs, modernize our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our broadband, all range of things,” he continued, saying the investments will put the country on a path to win the economic competition of the 21st century.
What's next: Biden said he won’t be signing the bill into law this weekend but will do so “soon,” when he can host members of Congress from both parties at the White House for a formal signing ceremony
The President touched on the “sausage-making” process that is passing major legislation, thanking House Democratic leadership and Democrats and Republicans who worked together to pass the infrastructure bill, noting the bipartisan nature of its passage, something
increasingly rare in Washington these days.
“I want to quickly thank members of the House who worked so hard to get some of this done. Speaker Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn. Progressive leaders, moderate leaders, Democrats, Republicans, they in fact worked together,” he said.