[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1907-S1908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, taking a step back for a moment, this is 
how the process should work in a closely divided Senate. If the 
Republican minority allows the Senate to move forward with a bill where 
we have shared priorities, the Democratic majority will work to set up 
a process for the Senate to consider germane amendments from both 
sides.
  That is the essence of the organizing resolution we all agreed to 
earlier this year, and hopefully it is a process we can repeat. In 
fact, we will test that proposition on the very next piece of 
legislation. If we are able to finish the anti-Asian hate crimes bill 
in a timely manner, I will move next to consider a bipartisan water 
infrastructure bill.
  The bill, the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act, was advanced by the 
Environment and Public Works Committee on a unanimous--unanimous--vote. 
It will authorize tens of billions of dollars to make sure American 
families, especially low-income families, have access to safe and clean 
drinking water. I salute Senator Carper, the chair of the committee, as 
well as Senator Capito, the ranking Republican on the committee, for 
coming together on such an important and necessary bill.
  So, in addition to further nominations, it is my intention to move 
the bipartisan water infrastructure bill next week.
  As the country turns the corner from COVID-19, our focus will soon 
shift to

[[Page S1908]]

how we can cement our economic recovery and create the jobs of the 
future. President Biden's Build Back Better agenda--a big, bold 
investment in infrastructure and jobs--is extremely important to that 
effort. It has wide support among Democrats and wide support among the 
American people. Many, many Republicans out there in the country 
support this bill and this concept. The water infrastructure bill is a 
small but important part of that overall effort.
  We hope our Republican colleagues join us in advancing these 
proposals to repair and reimagine our Nation's infrastructure for a new 
century. Just like the anti-Asian hate crimes bill, if Republicans let 
us get on the bill, we can work out a process to have bipartisan debate 
and amendments, but if the Republican minority prevents the Senate from 
even debating some of these commonsense proposals, we will have to try 
to move forward without them

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