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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, NOvEmbER 20, 2021
House passes sweeping social, climate bill
By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
Democrats brushed aside
monthslong divisions and
pushed their expansive
social and environment bill
through a sharply divided
House on Friday, as Presi-
dent Joe Biden and his party
moved closer to capitaliz-
ing on their control of gov-
ernment by funneling its
resources toward their top
domestic priorities.
The House approved the
legislation by a near par-
ty-line 220-213 vote, send-
ing the measure to a Senate
where cost-cutting demands
by moderate U.S. Sen. Joe
Manchin, a West Virginia
Democrat, and that cham-
ber’s strict rules seem cer-
tain to force significant
changes. That will prompt
fresh disputes between party
centrists and progressives
that will likely take weeks to
resolve.
Even so, House passage
marked a watershed for a
measure remarkable for the
breadth and depth of the
changes it would make in
federal policies. Wrapped
into one bill are far-reaching
changes in taxation, health
care, energy, climate change,
family services, education
and housing. That shows the
Democrats’ desire to achieve
their goals while controlling
the White House and Con-
gress, a dominance that
could end after next year’s
midterm elections.
Biden hailed the vote as
“another giant step forward”
for the country.
“Above all, it puts us on
the path to build our econ-
omy back better than before
by rebuilding the backbone
of America: working peo-
ple and the middle class,” he
said in a statement.
Democrats gathered in
front of the chamber, many
arm in arm, as the final roll
call ticked down. “Build
Back Better,” many chanted,
using Biden’s name for
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presides over House passage of
President Joe Biden’s expansive social and environment bill at
the Capitol on Friday.
the measure. Their cheer-
ing grew louder as House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi gav-
eled the vote to a close.
Republicans had little to
celebrate, but showed some
feistiness. “Good luck in the
Senate,” taunted U.S. Rep.
Kat Cammack of Florida.
The House vote also gave
Biden a momentary taste of
victory, and probably relief,
during perhaps the rocki-
est period of his presidency.
He’s been battered by fall-
ing approval in polls, reflect-
ing voters’ concerns over
inflation, gridlocked sup-
ply chains and the persistent
coronavirus pandemic, leav-
ing Democrats worried that
their legislative efforts are
not breaking through to
voters.
“If you are a parent, a
senior, a child, a worker, if
you’re an American, this
bill’s for you,” said Pelosi,
underscoring
Democrats’
efforts to impress the public.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden
of Maine was the only Dem-
ocrat to vote “no.”
Biden this week signed a
$1 trillion package of high-
way and other infrastruc-
ture projects, another prior-
ity that overcame months of
internal Democratic battling.
The president has spent
recent days promoting that
measure around the country.
Final approval of the big-
ger bill, which had been
expected Thursday, was
delayed when Minority
Leader Kevin McCar-
thy, a California Republi-
can, delivered an eight and
one-half hour broadside
criticizing Biden, Demo-
crats and the bill, the lon-
gest speech ever made in
the House. When he finished
his remarks near dawn,
the House recessed briefly
before resuming its work,
dozens of members desig-
nating colleagues to cast
their votes.
Standing and referring
occasionally to a binder on
his desk, McCarthy shouted
and rasped hoarsely at
times. Democrats sporad-
ically booed and groaned
as McCarthy glared back,
underscoring partisan hos-
tility only deepened by
this week’s censure of U.S.
Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona
Republican, for threatening
tweets aimed at U.S. Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a
New York Democrat.
McCarthy, who hopes to
become speaker if Republi-
cans capture the chamber in
next year’s elections, recited
problems the country has
faced under Biden, includ-
ing inflation, China’s rise
and large numbers of immi-
grants crossing the South-
west border. “Yeah, I want to
go back,” he said in mocking
reference to the “Build Back
Better” name Biden uses for
the legislation.
House rules do not
limit how long party lead-
ers may speak. In 2018,
Pelosi, minority leader at the
time, held the floor for just
over eight hours demand-
ing action on immigration.
Until McCarthy’s speech,
hers was the House’s longest
ever.
Friday’s vote came after
the nonpartisan Congressio-
nal Budget Office estimated
that the package would
worsen federal deficits by
$160 billion over the com-
ing decade. The agency also
recalculated the measure’s
10-year price tag at $1.68
trillion, though that figure
wasn’t directly compara-
ble to a $1.85 trillion figure
Democrats have been using.
The 2,100-page bill’s ini-
tiatives include bolstering
child care assistance, creat-
ing free preschool, curbing
seniors’ prescription drug
costs and increasing efforts
to slow climate change. Also
included are tax credits to
spur clean energy develop-
ment, bolstered child care
assistance and extended tax
breaks for millions of fam-
ilies with children, low-
er-earning workers and peo-
ple buying private health
insurance.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Chuck Sams, a former interim executive director
of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, received a unanimous vote Thursday
from the Senate to become the director of the
National Park Service.
Senate confirms
Sams as director of
National Park Service
East Oregonian
WASHINGTON — The Senate in a unanimous
vote Thursday night approved the nomination of
Chuck Sams as National Park Service director.
Sams is a former longtime administrator for the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation near Pendleton and the former area represen-
tative on the Pacific Northwest Electric Power and
Conservation Planning Council.
The vote came after U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an
Oregon Democrat, went to the Senate floor and
asked the Senate to pass the nomination by unan-
imous consent, according to a press release from
Wyden’s office.
“Chuck Sams is the right nominee to lead the
National Park Service as it addresses these chal-
lenges. I know Chuck. He is hardworking. He is
committed,” Wyden said. “Chuck is a role model in
the stewardship of American land and waters, wild-
life and history. And now thanks to the Senate’s
unanimous decision to confirm his nomination,
Congress and parkgoers will have someone steady
and experienced to rely on in the years ahead.”
Protect those who are
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