McConnell: Today’s Procedural Vote Will Fail Because the Bill Doesn’t Exist
‘For several weeks now, Republican and Democratic Senators have been working together, trying to assemble a bipartisan package for our nation’s infrastructure… But these discussions have yet to conclude. There’s no outcome yet. No bipartisan agreement, no text, nothing for the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate, and certainly nothing on which to vote.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding infrastructure:
“Today, the Democratic Leader appears to be intent on calling a vote that he knows will fail.
“For several weeks now, Republican and Democratic Senators have been working together, trying to assemble a bipartisan package for our nation’s infrastructure.
“It’s an important and complex subject. They’re talking about big projects and big sums of money. They’re still talking, still working, still negotiating in good faith across the aisle.
“But these discussions have yet to conclude. There’s no outcome yet.
“No bipartisan agreement, no text, nothing for the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate, and certainly nothing on which to vote. Not yet.
“So, obviously, if the Democratic Leader tries to force a cloture vote on a bill that does not exist, it will fail. Around here, we typically write the bills before we vote on them.
“Of course, here in the Senate, a failed cloture vote does not mean no forever.
“In the middle of the early COVID crisis, in March 2020, with Americans under stay-home orders and financial markets plummeting, Senate Democrats withheld cloture from the CARES Act multiple times so they could continue haggling behind the scenes.
“This was during a new emergency. Every day, every hour, was crucial. But Senate Democrats blocked cloture multiple times until various details were fine-tuned to their liking.
“Here’s what the Democratic Leader said while his side tanked those cloture votes. Quote: ‘The Majority Leader was well aware of how this vote would go before it happened, but he chose to move forward with it anyway, even though negotiations are continuing. So who’s playing games?’ End quote.
“That was a fast-moving global crisis, with bipartisan text already in hand, yet Senate Democrats insisted on taking their time. Now we’re talking about long-term infrastructure investments that will play out over years, but he wants to vote before any agreement even exists.
“So this stunt today is set to fail. The Democratic Leader will be free to change his vote and move to reconsider whenever a bipartisan product actually exists.”
Related Issues: Senate Democrats, Infrastructure
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