US: Senators finish writing historic $1 Trillion infrastructure bill

The United States Senate on August 1 has finished writing the text of its $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The legislation will next be introduced to the Senate for the amendments, as per a report by CNN. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on August 1 announced on the Senate floor that the bipartisan group of senators have finalized the legislative text of the infrastructure bill.

US Senate finalize the text of infrastructure bill

The bill was finalised after hours of last-minute additions to the more than 2,000-page legislation. After the text of the infrastructure bill was completed, Schumer submitted it as the substitute amendment, as per the CNN report. The US Senate will now begin the amendment process of the bill. Schumer believed that the Senate can quickly process the amendments and pass the bill in a matter of days. While announcing the completion of the text of the infrastructure bill, Schumer praised the efforts of the Senators.

The US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer mentioned that it's been decades since such a "significant standalone investment" has been passed by Congress. He added that he hopes to pass both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget resolution before the August recess. The infrastructure bill includes $110 billion for roads and bridges, $39 billion for public transit and $66 billion for rail. The government also plans to spend $55 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure and $17 billion for ports and $25 billion for airports to reduce congestion and maintenance backlogs.

It is worth mentioning that the United States Senate convened for a rare weekend session on July 31 and August 1. The lawmakers worked on the text of infrastructure bill that would spend nearly $1 trillion on roads, rail lines and other infrastructure, according to AP. Several senators had predicted that the text of the bill would be available for review on late Friday or early Saturday but as the work was not finished, the Senate convened for a rare weekend session. 

IMAGE: AP

Inputs from AP