Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer used a post-Hurricane Ida press conference in New York Thursday to sell the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package recently trotted out by his Democratic colleagues.
During the press conference, Schumer claimed that the record amounts of rainfall and flooding in New York from Tropical Storm Ida were the result of global warming. He then said that Congress should pass the infrastructure bill and the budget reconciliation bill to address this issue.
WATCH:
Sen. Chuck Schumer: “Woe is us if we don’t recognize these changes are due to climate change. Woe is us if we don’t do something about it quickly.” pic.twitter.com/XDHJ5VHcp4
— The Hill (@thehill) September 2, 2021
“Global warming is upon us, and it’s gonna get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it. That’s why it is so imperative to pass the two bills, the infrastructure bill, and the budget reconciliation bill,” Schumer said. “Woe is us if we don’t recognize these changes are due to climate change. Woe is us if we don’t do something about it quickly.”
Schumer claimed the budget reconciliation bill deals with climate change and will reduce the amount of carbon that the U.S. puts in the air. He also argued that it is meant to build “resilient” infrastructure that can handle floods or fires. (RELATED: Nobody Asked For This Video Of Chuck Schumer Attempting To Rap, And Yet It Exists)
The $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill features provisions for free community college, universal pre-K, and a nationwide paid-leave program. The bill will also include expansions to Medicare for dental, hearing, and vision coverage. It will go through the reconciliation process, which means that any Republican filibuster could be bypassed, and would then be passed on a party-line vote, as previously reported.
Schumer’s press conference followed the destruction in the northeast from Tropical Storm Ida. The storm resulted in the deaths of nine people in New York and New Jersey, as well as flooding and power outages, as previously reported. Hurricane Ida first made landfall Sunday, and hit Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida, leaving over one million people without power.