In SC, Biden pledges fight for voting rights, police reform

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden pledged Friday to fight for stalled voting rights and police reform legislation, addressing South Carolina State University graduates while facing the harsh reality that months of talks have failed to move any of the bills a step closer to becoming law.

Biden spoke a day after he conceded that his nearly $2 trillion social and environmental bill was unlikely to become law this year due to continued disagreements among fellow Democrats. Republicans are united in opposition to the proposed spending.

Delivering the commencement address, the president bemoaned Republican opposition to voting rights bills that have stalled in the 50-50 Senate following passage by the Democratic-controlled House, telling his audience that “that other team” has blocked even debate over the measures.

“That other team. It used to be called the Republican Party,” Biden said, digging at his political opposition. “But this battle's not over ... We're going to keep up the fight until we get it done.”

Biden pledged a similar advocacy for police reform, another issue important to the Black community but that failed spectacularly in Congress after months of once-promising negotiations between Democrats and Republicans who could not reach agreement on a bill.

“The fight's not over,” Biden said in his speech at the historically Black school in Orangeburg. It's the alma mater of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a top-ranking Black member, who received his degree on Friday from Biden, a longtime friend.

Biden touched on the infrastructure bill he recently signed into law, but avoided deeper discussion of his centerpiece social welfare and environmental bill. That measure remains stuck in the Senate, largely due to opposition from West Virginia Democratic Sen....