Biden praises senate over ‘Historic’ $1trillion infrastructure bill

President Joe Biden on Friday thanked and praised the Senate for allowing the bipartisan infrastructure plan closer to the passage, ahead of a key vote on the $1 trillion package.

As Biden spoke from the White House, he compared the “historic investment” to building the transcontinental railroad or the interstate highway system — with the public works projects being unleashed and will be powered by good-paying, blue-collar jobs, he said.

“It’s a bill that would end years of gridlock in Washington and create millions of good-paying jobs, put America on a new path to win the race for the economy in the 21st century,” Biden said.

The president’s note of encouragement offers a reset for lawmakers after frustrations mounted and tempers flared overnight as the Senate stalled out, unable to expedite the package to completion. Senators will be back for another weekend session.

The public works expenditure will “enable us not only to build back but to build back better than before the economic crisis hit,” he said.

Called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the thick bill is the first part of Biden’s infrastructure agenda and would inject billions of new spending on roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband, and other projects to virtually every corner of the nation. If approved by the Senate, it would next go to the House.

A much-anticipated analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office also drew concerns, particularly from Republicans. It concluded that the legislation would increase deficits by about $256 billion over the next decade, though the bill’s backers argued that the budget office was unable to take into account certain revenue streams — including from future economic growth.

One of the amendments generating the most attention on Thursday involved cryptocurrency.

The bill would raise an estimated $28 billion over 10 years by updating IRS reporting requirements for cryptocurrency brokers, just as stockbrokers report their customers’ sales to the IRS.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said the compromise amendment “would reduce tax evasion in the cryptocurrency market.”

Overall, the infrastructure bill calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal levels for a nearly $1 trillion package, in what could be one of the more substantial investments in the nation’s roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband, and the electric grid in times to come.

Wall Street reacted positively as stocks soared to near-record levels, but some investors were apprehensive. Few expect the U.S. government will default on its debt and spend the $22 trillion Treasury market.

Still, some analysts say a drawn-out debt ceiling fight could increase volatility in a U.S. stock market where valuations have become stretched with prices near record highs. Other worries include a looming unwind of the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies and a resurgence of COVID-19 that threatens to dent growth.