Biden urges U.S. Senate to act this week to block rail strike

U.S. President Joe Biden urged the Senate to act this week to stop a rail strike that he has warned would have a catastrophic economic impact after a majority of the House of Representatives backed a bill to block the potential shutdown.

"Without the certainty of a final vote to avoid a shutdown this week, railroads will begin to halt the movement of critical materials like chemicals to clean our drinking water as soon as this weekend," he said in a statement.