Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen said the country now will have future leadership in the White House to help the state combat the coronavirus pandemic, improve health care and fight climate change.
An investment in infrastructure under President-elect Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan would help the state in road construction and the Purple Line light-rail project in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
“We anticipate having an administration that will get us the resources we need to help us on so many of the infrastructure priorities in our state,” Van Hollen said during a press briefing Monday.
Certain legislation remains in limbo in the Republican-controlled Senate such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed in June in the House. The bill is named after George Floyd, who died May 25 on Memorial Day in Minneapolis after being in police custody.
If the Democratic contenders win the two Georgia runoff races Jan. 5, then it would make it a 50-50 tie in the Senate and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would break voting ties. Republicans appear to secure 50 seats in the Senate after votes are counted in Alaska and North Carolina.
A tie would also strip the majority leader title from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who can control the chamber’s legislative agenda and judicial nominees.
“Can we do that with Mitch McConnell as the majority leader if we’re not successful in Georgia? We’ll see,” Cardin said. “It’s time for us to come together and deal with the systemic problems we have in racism and policing.”
Maryland state President Pro Tem Melony Griffith had plenty of thoughts Saturday upon seeing and hearing Joe Biden chosen as the president-elect of the United States.
But California Sen. Kamala Harris becoming the first woman and first person of Black and Asian descent elected as vice president would be felt more personally.
Besides Griffith being a Black woman, she, like Harris in 1986, graduated from Howard University with a master’s degree in social work in 1987.
“What a wonderful testimony Sen. Harris can share with her presence on the team. She can represent for all people of color,” said Griffith (D-District 25) of Upper Marlboro. “As a woman to see this historic moment and to know it is a colleague from an HBCU background, it’s just phenomenal. Having first President Obama breaking that glass ceiling and to have Sen. Harris being vice president-elect and breaking that glass ceiling, I can share with my children.”
Prince George’s County Council member Deni Taveras (D-District 2) of Adelphi summarized her excitement for the Biden-Harris victory.
“Anything is better than Trump. I am bursting through the seams right now,” she said. “[Harris] is exactly what we need in the vice president.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) released a statement congratulating Biden and Harris – two people with whom he’s worked on Capitol Hill.
“Our country faces enormous challenges but by electing this historic ticket, the American people will have two seasoned leaders at the helm, able and prepared to do the hard work required to lead us forward,” Van Hollen said.
“Together, I am committed to repairing the damage of the past four years, turning the page on the politics of hate and division, working to address the urgent needs of the American people and ensuring a more equal and inclusive America. We must never rest in our pursuit of a more perfect union,” he said.
As has become the norm in today’s society, millions expressed their reactions on social media platforms.
Although nearly 75 million people voted for Biden, Del. Nick Mosby (D-Baltimore City) acknowledged Saturday on Twitter the number of people who voted for Republican President Donald Trump.
“While today’s results are a reflection of democracy, we cannot lose sight of the fact that over 70 million Americans voted for a well–documented racist, misogynistic, homo/xenophobe in a year that suffocated us with historical examples of injustice,” said Mosby, who won Tuesday’s election to become Baltimore City Council president. “We have a lot of work to do!”