Schumer said senators are in the fourth week of negotiations after reaching agreement on a broad framework for infrastructure spending with the White House. He said Wednesday s vote was not meant to be a deadline for having every detail worked out.
“My colleagues are well aware that we often agree to move forward with debates on issues before we have the text in hand,” Schumer said. “We’ve done it twice this year already.”
McConnell called the vote a “stunt” that would fail, but emphasized senators were “still negotiating in good faith across the aisle.”
“Around here, we typically write the bills before we vote on them,” he said.
More than 68% of adult Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the rate of vaccination has slowed significantly over the last month. Young adults aged 18-24 have the lowest vaccination rate and are the most likely to report they’re unsure of getting vaccinated, according to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Black Americans were also less likely to be vaccinated, with less than a quarter having been fully vaccinated as of mid-July, according to data from the CDC.
And according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report published in July, counties that voted for Biden had a vaccination rate of 46.7%, while those that voted for Trump had an average vaccination rate of 35%.
July 21, 2021
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Just over six months into an evenly divided Senate, deadlock continues to plague key issues Americans care about.
But despite the stalemate, Newsy found that lawmakers actually agree on many individual aspects of pending legislation.
First up, infrastructure:
While Democrats and Republicans are finally on the verge of moving forward on a compromise to fix America s roads and bridges, an issue Congress has stalled on the issue for years, Democrats are still looking pass some parts without Republican support, arguing an investment is needed now to help American families.
Republicans say a bigger plan would be just too much: It would be hard to imagine a proposal less suited to the conditions our country is facing,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate Floor Wednesday.
Updated July 21, 2021 at 10:44 PM ET
Senate Democrats fell short in their efforts to begin debate Wednesday on a bill that would act as the vehicle for President Biden s bipartisan infrastructure package, but a broad group of senators said they are close to a final agreement.
Sixty votes were needed to take up the measure, but just 49 senators approved moving forward on Wednesday.
The vote on the roughly $1 trillion package, which includes about half that in new spending, came nearly a month after Biden appeared outside the White House with a bipartisan group of senators to announce an agreement on a framework for an infrastructure plan. The measure is targeted at traditional infrastructure investments such as roads, bridges, water systems and an expansion of broadband internet.