POTUS Signs Infrastructure Bill As Well As Order to Address ‘Crisis of Violence’ Against Native Americans
It’s finally Infrastructure Week thanks to President Joe Biden, who signed his historic bipartisan bill into law on Monday while surrounded by members of Congress.
The legislation will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments in America’s infrastructure over five years, including money for roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, ports, and waterways. The package includes a $65 billion investment in improving the nation’s broadband infrastructure and invests tens of billions of dollars in improving the electric grid and water systems. Another $7.5 billion would go to building a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers, according to the bill text. The bill, first passed by the Senate in a 69 to 30 vote in August, was ultimately passed by the House, including 13 Republican lawmakers, on November 5th.
Before signing the legislation, President Biden said, “we’re finally getting this done” after years of failed attempts in Washington. He stressed the direct benefits Americans will feel from the law — part of a broader sales pitch he will carry out in the coming days and months ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
I just signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal into law alongside members of Congress from both parties.
This is a historic investment in our future that will create good-paying jobs and rebuild our nation's infrastructure. It's an enormous win for the American people.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 15, 2021
“My message to the American people is this: America is moving again, and your life is going to change for the better,” the President said.
President Biden has signed into law a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. He marked the major legislative victory at a White House event with lawmakers from both parties. https://t.co/fsiiEPXvaT pic.twitter.com/ZPuugKKJ7D
— CNN (@CNN) November 15, 2021
Earlier, President Biden also signed an executive order Monday directing federal agencies, including the departments of Justice, Interior, and Homeland Security, to create a strategy addressing what the President called a “crisis of violence” against Native Americans. “Today, I’m directing federal officials to work with tribal nations on a strategy to improve public safety and advanced justice,” President Biden said at the White House’s first-ever Tribal Nations Summit.
This morning, @FLOTUS and I are participating in a Tribal Nations Summit here at the White House. I look forward to announcing steps to improve public safety and justice for Native Americans, protect Tribal lands, treaty rights, and sacred places.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 15, 2021
“This builds on the work we did together on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, when we granted authority to tribes to exercise jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders who commit violence on tribal lands,” the President, who helped write the act, said.