“I’m disappointed that the oil export ban was not a stand-alone piece of legislation and that the Obama Administration held it hostage all year”.
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The legislation also includes a reauthorization of programs to compensate and provide health care for first responders and survivors of the September 11, 2001, attacks and a cybersecurity measure that could help businesses cooperate more closely with the government and each other in fighting online threats.
“There’s some things in there that I don’t like, but that’s the nature of legislation and compromise, and I think the system worked”, says Mr Obama.
Congress gave final approval Friday to one of the most ambitious legislative packages in years – a $1.1 trillion funding bill that anticipates up to $680 billion in tax breaks and dozens of substantial policy initiatives including an end to a ban on exporting oil.
After weeks of negotiations, Republicans and Democrats reached agreement on the budget this week, which was passed on Friday, first by the House of Representatives by a vote of 316-113, and subsequently by the Senate by a margin of 65-33.
The Republicans needed to get the Democrats on board in the House because some of the GOP members were unhappy with where these talks were going and were going to vote against it. They come from the no compromise wing of the party. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Luján and Republican Rep. Steve Pearce.
A number of GOP hardliners voiced similar concerns, many expressing disappointment about a spending bill that funded many of Obama’s priorities while excluding their own despite Republican control of both chambers.
“The product we’re delivering this year is bad”, GOP Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia told the Associated Press.
Several of the GOP presidential candidates in the Senate were among those opposing the legislation, though Sen.
Said House Speaker Paul Ryan: “The House came together to ensure our government is open and working for the American people”. There are no riders, for example, that target the Dodd-Frank Wall Street financial reform law or environmental regulations, and there is no campaign finance provision that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, had been pushing.
Ryan told reporters he fielded a congratulatory call from Obama, who thanked him for keeping government working and invited him to dinner at the White House in the new year.
Most of the USA senators running for the White House voted against the bill, including Republicans Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and Democrat Bernie Sanders.
In exchange for lifting the four-decade ban on exporting crude oil, for instance, Democrats secured measures extending wind and solar tax credits and reauthorizing a conservation fund for three years. It was opposed by 95 Republicans and 18 Democrats.
“They wanted big oil so much that they gave away the store”, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Friday.
But Republican leaders said they, too, were pleased.
The legislation does, however, incorporate a bipartisan push to limit certain travel privileges granted to citizens of 38 friendly foreign countries that are allowed to enter the USA without obtaining a visa.
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Siobhan Hughes and Amy Harder contributed to this article.
