Senate

Boxer pleads for support on highway bill

by Jordain Carney - 07/23/15 6:08 PM ET

Sen. Barbara Boxer pleaded for her colleagues to put aside their problems with a long-term highway bill, with lawmakers facing a tight end-of-the-month deadline.

“We should be unanimous, even though there are parts of the bill that I don’t like and you don’t like. Colleagues, we cannot have a perfect bill,” she said from the Senate floor. “We need more support. …There are going to be amendments that I don’t like, that you don’t like.”

{mosads}The California Democrat’s push for more support for the legislation comes after the bill overcame a first procedural hurdle on Wednesday evening.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was able to win over 14 Democratic votes after he agreed to strip a controversial Social Security provision from the bill.

But the legislation is still under pressure from both sides of the aisle.

For example, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both of whom are running for president, want to attach a fight over Planned Parenthood funding to the legislation.

Meanwhile, supporters of the Export-Import Bank want to attach a reauthorization of bank’s charter to the legislation, which could complicate the bill’s chances for passage in the House.

Boxer suggested that she, as well McConnell and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), are trying to lock down enough support to ensure that the bill can pass the Senate, adding that they are “working to get more votes. We need more votes. We need this to happen.”

“I say to my colleagues on both sides, and have said it to my own caucus earlier in the day, nobody is going to love every page in this bill,” she added. “We can solve this problem [and] get a strong bill.”

Tags Barbara Boxer Dick Durbin Mitch McConnell Rand Paul Ted Cruz