Watch: President Biden signs $1T infrastructure bill Sen. Sinema helped craft
Nov 15, 2021, 12:58 PM | Updated: 2:32 pm
President Joe Biden is putting his name on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that fellow Democrat U.S. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona helped craft during a signing ceremony Monday afternoon, finalizing a rare bipartisan achievement in the current era of political polarization.
Sinema is on the list of speakers for the ceremony, which was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Arizona time and be livestreamed.
The Senate passed the infrastructure bill in August, and the House approved it earlier this month. Nineteen Senate votes and 13 House votes came from Republicans.
Biden delayed the signing until lawmakers returned from a recess and could join in a bipartisan event.
“Too often in Washington, the reason we don’t get things done is because we insist on getting everything we want. With this law, we focused on getting things done,” Biden was planning to say, according to an excerpt of his speech released by the White House.
“I ran for president because the only way to move our country forward is through compromise and consensus.”
The president initially sought $2.3 trillion for infrastructure but had to settle for a package less than half that size after negotiations among members of both parties, including Sinema.
“It’s easy for politicians to stay in their partisan corners. I promised Arizonans something different – that I would work with anyone to get lasting results for our state,” Sinema said in a statement after the Nov. 5 House vote.
“I’m incredibly proud to have co-led this bill to create jobs and expand economic opportunity in communities across America, and I look forward to it becoming law.”
Find the latest coverage of the signing here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.