WASHINGTON: The US Senate voted to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure package on Saturday, an important procedural step forward after months of negotiations between President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators.

In a 67-27 vote demonstrating broad support, senators agreed to limit debate on the legislation, which represents the biggest investment in decades in America’s roads, bridges, airports and waterways.

Eighteen of the Senate’s 50 Republicans voted to move forward on the legislation, with Senators John Cornyn and Deb Fischer backing the package for the first time.

But the timing for passage remained unclear, as lawmakers prepared for expe­cted votes on amendments and worked behind closed doors to reach an agreement that would allow the Senate to complete its work on the legislation quickly.

“We can get this done the easy way or the hard way. In either case, the Senate will stay in session until we finish our work,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech before the vote.

Biden tweeted his support ahead of the vote, saying the “once-in-a-generation inve­s­tment in our nation’s infrastructure” would create good-paying jobs refurbishing America’s roads, bridges, water systems and electrical grid.

“We can’t afford not to do it,” the president said. “We can’t just build back to the way things were before Covid-19, we have to build back better.”

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2021