Kevin McCarthy.Photo: AP/Shutterstock
The House approved legislation to enact PresidentJoe Biden’srobust domestic agendaon Friday during a narrow vote that Republicans unanimously opposed.
The Build Back Better Act includes $2 trillion in spending over a decade to combat climate change, provide universal pre-Kindergarten, lower health care costs, overhaul the country’s immigration system, promote affordable housing, shore up America’s social safety net and more.
In a statement, Biden called the passage of the act “another giant step forward in carrying out my economic plan to create jobs, reduce costs, make our country more competitive, and give working people and the middle class a fighting chance.”
But not a single Republican supported the act. One Democrat, Maine Rep. Jared Golden, also voted against it.
The legislation now faces a tough process in the Senate, where the Democrats' majority is razor thin and SenatorsJoe Manchinof West Virginia andKyrsten Sinemaof Arizona have expressed their reluctance to vote in favor of the bill due to its price and the scope of its policies. Still, it’s another win for Democrats — for now, at least — while they continue to tout another success with thepassage of Biden’s infrastructure billearlier this month.
With a vote of 220 to 213, the Build Back Better Act passed Friday with some applause after a long delay overnight thanks to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who gave a speech that lasted more than eight hours.
Joe Biden.Samuel Corum/Getty
Pelosi was no longer present in the House chamber when McCarthy said, “With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back” early Friday morning. She’d released Democrat members around midnight and pushed back the vote.
“Personally, I didn’t think I could go this long,” Mr. McCarthy said toward the end of his speech, which aNew York Timeswriter called “circuitous, rambling.” Among the topics covered in his monologue were China, the coronavirus, inflation and high gas prices, border security, crime, Elon Musk, Afghanistan, the World War II and, of course, the Build Back Better Act and its cost.
AP/Shutterstock
“Never in American history has so much been spent at one time,” McCarthy said. “This is the single most reckless and irresponsible spending bill in our nation’s history.”
At one point he quoted another member of Congress, saying, “No one elected Joe Biden to be FDR,” referring to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal programs.
“I did,” Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezchimed in with ashout from her seat.
On Friday, Ocasio-Cortez told theTimes, “I think he wanted to say he did it longer than Nancy Pelosi. But if he wanted to outdo her, he should’ve done it in stilettos.”
source: people.com
