President Joe Biden vowed to “fix” the nearly 45,000 bridges in disrepair across the nation after visiting the site of a collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
“That’s why your governor and your members of Congress, your mayor, have been saying for years, we have to do something about this,” Biden told attendees at an event at Carnegie Mellon University. “I’ve talked about it every time I’ve come to Pittsburgh, and we finally got it done. A bipartisan infrastructure law, including the largest investment in our nation’s bridges since Eisenhower put together the interstate highway system. And I might add this is the first time in the country’s history that we dedicated a national program to repair and upgrade bridges. It’s about time.”
The president had scheduled the trip to Pittsburgh to discuss his administration’s efforts to ease supply chain bottlenecks, but the focus quickly shifted to the collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh’s suburb of Fern Hollow Friday morning.
“It’s incredible,” Biden added of the first responders while visiting the scene. “These guys deserve an incredible amount of credit going down here.”
PITTSBURGH BRIDGE COLLAPSES AHEAD OF BIDEN’S VISIT
“It’s astounding. You all realize — I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh a long time, as a former Pennsylvanian,” he continued. “We’re going to — they’re going to fix them all. Not a joke. This is going to be a gigantic change. And there’s 43,000 nationwide, and we’re sending the money.”
“We’re gonna fix them all. It’s not a joke.” While at the site of the Pittsburgh bridge collapse, President Biden vowed that his administration is going to do everything they can to make sure deficient bridges get the repairs they need.
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Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey thanked the president earlier that morning during an interview on CNN for signing the bipartisan infrastructure framework into law in 2021. He said that funding is “critical” to rebuilding cities like Pittsburgh across the country.
Authorities confirmed 10 injuries related to the collapse, though none are “life-threatening.” Four vehicles, including a public bus, were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and everyone inside the vehicles was “extricated” from the rubble.
Biden’s one major legislative accomplishment since taking office was last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law, which contained funding for roads and bridges. Still, his political fortunes are such that some Pennsylvania Democrats skipped the presidential visit, citing scheduling conflicts.
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You can watch Biden’s full remarks in Pittsburgh below.
