[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S4759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             INFRASTRUCTURE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on one final matter, earlier today, 
a bipartisan group of infrastructure negotiators took the results of 
their efforts down to President Biden. It was an encouraging sign of 
progress after leading Democrats had gone out of their way to slow the 
process.
  Remember, at the first sign of an agreement last night and then again 
this morning, both the Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House 
made it clear they would hold a bipartisan agreement hostage, demanding 
trillions of dollars in wasteful spending and job-killing tax increases 
in return for even considering it. The top two Democrats literally 
pulled the rug out from under their bipartisan negotiators with these 
unserious demands before they had even made it down to the White House.
  So President Biden's show of support earlier today appeared to be a 
major breakthrough for earning Democrats' support, but, alas, that 
optimism was short-lived. Less than 2 hours after publicly commending 
our colleagues and actually endorsing the bipartisan agreement, the 
President took the extraordinary step of threatening to veto it. It was 
a tale of two press conferences--endorse the agreement in one breath 
and threaten to veto it in the next. Less than 2 hours. It almost makes 
your head spin. Less than 2 hours. As I said, it almost makes your head 
spin--an expression of bipartisanship and then an ultimatum on behalf 
of your leftwing base.
  I have no doubt the President is under enormous pressure from some on 
the left to deliver on a laundry list of radical climate demands. The 
Democratic leader and the Speaker have already made clear they will do 
whatever it takes to keep their runaway spending train chugging along 
all summer, and more and more Members of their party are having to 
contort their positions to keep pace with the expectations of the Green 
New Deal fringe. But, really, caving completely in less than 2 hours? 
That is not the way to show you are serious about getting a bipartisan 
outcome.
  So, look, I hope our colleagues can recover and get their good-faith 
efforts back on track.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip is recognized.

                          ____________________