- Well, listen.
This deal, these deals on infrastructure
that have gone out are not just bipartisan,
but they are also bicameral.
And it was -- -That means House and Senate.
- Yes, that means House and Senate.
And so, it was made very clear at the beginning of this process
that this bipartisan deal, if it even survives the Senate,
the only chance that it has at passing the House
is if the House passes the Senate bill,
and if the Senate passes the House bill,
which is largely in reconciliation.
And so, we can't just have one body
driving the entire legislative agenda for the country
and, frankly, 20 senators within that one body.
And so, we need a reconciliation bill
if we want this bipartisan bill to pass.
- But the bottom line is, we've got a bill
that 80% of the public, 80% of the public,
we have a bill that mostly every Democrat and every Republican
should be supporting, the infrastructure bill.
So, we'll just see.
It should go, fall or rise on its own.
I've already said that. - But what you're saying is,
the House should pass their infrastructure,
and then you go through the process.
- Sure.
- You meld it, and the president votes on it.
- Yeah. - They shouldn't hold it up.
- I would not think that that would be the best thing to do
for the public right now.
We're trying to show the whole world that we can operate.
We're trying to show the country that we're back,
and we can do things in a bipartisan way.
- Let me ask you about this budget bill.
It has inside of it a lot of the president's priorities.
It's clocked in at about $3,500,000,000,000.
You have expressed some concerns about that cost.
Is it the cost, or is it paying for it that you --
-Well, they're saying it's all paid for.
Now, if it's all paid for, you look at it in a different light.
There's a lot of great things in there.
I've seen some of the things that need to be done,
and we all want to be done.
But you get to the point like you do in your own private life.
What can you afford to pay for?
- But the biggest problem is Nancy Pelosi has said
she's gonna handcuff the two together --
the real infrastructure with this spending monstrosity,
which is reckless tax-and-spending.
- So, just to be clear, this is a bill,
almost 3,000 pages long, and you haven't seen much of it.
You don't really know what's in there.
- Well, we're still looking for the details of it.
The parts I've seen that are concerning to me --
and I'm from Wyoming, an energy state.
Again, this is a bipartisan bill.
I have concerns about the energy component,
where the Democrats have insisted
that the model for energy ought to be the California model.
Well, Maria, in California,
electricity prices are the highest in the country.
They have their ongoing blackouts.
They have this approach that I think
is not the right one for America.
We have gone from an energy-dominant nation.
Now, under President Biden,
we're becoming much more energy dependent,
and I think it's the wrong direction to go.
- Will it have at least
10 Republican senators to vote for it?
- I believe that it will.
This bill is good for America.
Every Senator can look at bridges and roads
and need for more broadband, waterways in their states --
seaports, airports --
and see the benefits, the very concrete benefits --
no pun intended -- of this legislation.
It's gonna make us more competitive, more productive.
It's going to create good jobs.
- Can I ask this to you -- yes-or-no question?
Should Congress pass this, even if this is
the only infrastructure bill that is passed,
or should this basically be held up unless you get both?
- We think Congress should pass both,
and the president looks forward to signing both.
- Now, I know the infrastructure
deal that they're talking about --
and Manchin said they're gonna introduce it today,
they're gonna bring out the language --
is obviously a lot smaller than you wanted,
a lot smaller than a lot of your fellow progressives wanted.
It still does include things that you like,
including funding for electric- vehicle charging stations,
public transit, clean water systems, broadband, more.
When it comes before the House, as it looks like will happen,
will you vote for it?
- We have to hold onto that bargain.
If there's not a reconciliation bill in the House,
and if the Senate does not pass the reconciliation bill,
we will uphold our end of the bargain
and not pass the bipartisan bill
until we get all of these investments in.