United States: Joe Biden's health and climate investment plan debated in the Senate

View of the Capitol dome, seat of the United States Congress, in Washington DC.

© Henryk Sadura / Tetra Images via Getty

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2 mins

Joe Biden's major social and climate reform plan is about to be validated by the Senate.

After months of negotiations, the text is being debated this weekend.

But Republicans are trying to make it difficult to vote.

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We are going to make this vote hell

,” warned Lindsey Graham.

And since the start of the debates, the Republicans have been doing everything to make the consultations last and postpone the vote as much as possible, reports our correspondent in New York,

Loubna Anaki.

Technically, senators can introduce as many amendments as they want and have ten hours to speak.

It can therefore be expected that this will take time. In fact, the Democrats have, in principle, the votes of all their elected officials, after Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema decided to support the project after a year and a half. blockage.

Fifty votes, plus that of the vice-president, is enough to pass the plan.

Once the Senate vote passes, the text will go to the House of Representatives where the Democrats hold the majority.

This plan is at the heart of Joe Biden's agenda.

His passage is a crucial victory for the American president.

► To read also: 

Headlines: green light for Joe Biden's investment plan

Eighteen months of negotiations 

It took the American president eighteen months of negotiations to tie up this bill, especially to find compromises with the right wing of his party.

Because the sums at stake are considerable, 370 billion dollars of investment just for the climate. 

It is indeed the largest investment ever seen in the United States in the fight against climate change.

The bill provides financial incentives for producers and consumers of clean energy.

For example, an American would receive up to $7,500 in tax credits for the purchase of an electric car.

The state would also cover up to 30% of the cost of installing solar panels on the roofs of individual houses.

Massive investments, several tens of billions of dollars, are also planned for the construction of wind turbines, solar panels and for the manufacture of electric vehicles.

The second part of the bill is devoted to health;

it attacks more particularly the exorbitant prices of drugs.

The goal is to reduce the immense inequalities in access to care in the United States.

The health reform, estimated at nearly $64 billion, would force, among other things, pharmaceutical groups to offer consumers discounts on certain drugs whose prices are rising faster than inflation.

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  • United States

  • Joe Biden

  • Health and medicine

  • Climate

  • Environment