Democrats urge Biden to pass $1. 5 trillion infrastructure bill

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 Reuters - Fatal flooding in New York and New Jersey prompted some political leaders to intensify calls for U.S. infrastructure spending on Thursday, including the passage of a $1.2 billion bill before Congress.

The infrastructure bill passed by the Senate and awaiting House of Representatives approval includes $47 billion for climate resilience measures that continue to require improvement. These are intended to help communities to overcome more severe storms, droughts, floods, fires, heat waves and sea level rise, Democrats said. This is why it is so imperative that President Biden passes the $1.3 trillion spending bill and separate $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill, priority initatives for President Joe Biden.

Torrential rains from Ida, a tropical storm previously a hurricane, deluged the Northeast from New Jersey to Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday. Flooding demolished at least 14 people, submerged subway lines and temporarily banned flights in New York and New Jersey.

The bill includes funding for flood mitigation grants, coastal resilience projects and mapping and data to improve flood protection.

How do we build resilient infrastructure, but not just structure infrastructure, so that when these floods or fires or anything else occurs they are much more resistant than ever, Schumer said.

If the spending is budgeted, Republicans fear that the spending would cause federal debt to balloon. The package split the Senate and Republicans voted for it with 19 opposed the measure, while 30 voted for it.

But even more money will be needed, according to Joel Scata of the Natural Resources Defense Council. For instance, given climate change, things will get expensive, Scata said.

He said the infrastructure bill's funding for climate impact, notably flooding, is the largest in modern U.S. history.

Extreme weather has exposed infrastructure weaknesses across the country. When Ida came ashore as a hurricane in Louisiana this week, it knocked out power to much of the state, and hundreds of thousands may be without electricity for a month. In February, a Texas heat wave triggered widespread blackouts that killed at least 32.

Representative Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, said Ida was a devastating reminder that we must invest in climate resilient infrastructure to save lives. Chris Brown, a former Republican district staffer who runs the non-partisan group SmarterSafer, said Congress could face pressure to approve more federal funding for disaster relief.

They've got to start thinking about with the storm and mitigating before it hits, said Brown. These are no longer events 500 years from now. These are regularly occurring events. Reporting by Cynthia Osterman and Jason Lange; Editing by David Shepardson and Jason Lange.