Sen. Bob Casey Visits Pittsburgh, Talks Infrastructure Bill
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - U.S. Senator Bob Casey came to Pittsburgh Friday to promote his efforts battling child hunger.
It's part of his Five Freedoms for America's Children: freedom to be healthy, freedom to be economically secure, freedom to learn, freedom from hunger, and freedom to be safe from harm.
The Democratic senator stopped by the Boys and Girls Club in Lawrenceville. He served meals and engaged with the children.
"They have children coming in during the summer. Not just getting at least one meal but also involved in recreation. They are in a safe environment," Sen. Casey said.
Afterward, KDKA had the chance to talk with the senator. We asked about the infrastructure bill, which failed to pass a test vote this week. He said traditional infrastructure should receive bipartisan support and pass but anything more like caregiving is going to follow party lines.
"The second part will have to be done by Democrats only because Republican senators have no interest in making investments in caregiving," Sen. Casey said.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey said in a statement the test vote was on a matter that does not exist. He expects work to continue toward an agreement.
Then the topic turned to voting rights and the filibuster. Sen. Casey said if the filibuster can't be eliminated, the Senate should allow for the minority party to have discussion and debate and then vote.
"You can't allow a 60-vote threshold to prevent us from enacting into law protections for voting rights," he said.
Sen. Toomey said not so fast because states should be the ones handling election law and said some Democratic efforts with voting bills were aimed at dismantling the filibuster.
"It's their excuse to try and take away the filibuster so they can pass a truly partisan radical agenda with no Republican support at all," he said.
One more topic we touched base on is any audit of the state's election results. Sen. Casey called it a fraud and Sen. Toomey did not offer a comment on that topic.
