Remarks by President Biden on Building a Better America
JANUARY 28, 2022
Location: Not determined

JoJo, thank you very much.  You know, I can picture him in Desert Storm as a sergeant, barking out orders, can’t you?  When my son Beau was promoted to major in Iraq and — I said, “Now you’re a field-grade officer.”  He said, “Dad, I have no illusions.  I know who runs the Army: sergeants.  Sergeants.  They’re the officers.”

Well, hello, Pittsburgh.  It’s good to be back.  It really is good to be.

Before I begin, let me just talk a little bit about what we all just saw — many of us saw this morning.  A bridge more than 50 years old — a hundred — I think it 150 years; it says “50 years old,” but I thought it was older — collapsed right here in Pittsburgh.  It had been rated in “poor” condition for the past 10 years.

What you all know — if you don’t, you should know — there are another 3,300 bridges here in Pennsylvania, some of which are just as old and just as decrepit — decrepit condition as that bridge was, including here in Pittsburgh, the “City of Bridges.” 

I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh a long time.  I’m a Pennsylvania kid.  I was born and raised, the first part of my life in Pennsylvania, and I’ve been to Pittsburgh a lot.  But all these years, I never knew — I never knew Pennsylvania — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had more bridges than any other city in the world.  Yo!  (Applause.)

But across the country, there are 45,000 bridges in “poor” condition.  It’s just simply unacceptable.

That’s why your governor, and your members of Congress, your mayor have been saying for years that we have to do something about this.

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 the — since the — Eisenhower put together the Interstate Highway System.

And I might add — (applause) — this was the first time in the country’s history that we dedicated a national program to repair and upgrade bridges.  And it’s about time.

The governor can tell you: We’re giving state and local leaders historic funding to make national projects real.

Here in Pennsylvania, that means at least $1.6 billion for bridges alone, $327 million in 2022 alone just to repair bridges.

We’ve got to get on with it.  We’ve got to move.  The next time, we don’t need headlines saying that someone was killed when the next bridge collapses.

We’re also providing billions more for roads and so much more.  As we saw today, when a bridge is in disrepair, it literally can threaten lives.

As soon as we heard about the bridge, we were immediately in contact with the mayor — Mr. Mayor, you’re doing a hell of a job — and the governor and other officials on the ground. 

And we’re going to rebuild that bridge, along with thousands of other bridges in Pennsylvania and across the country, because it’s in our interest for our own safety’s sake and it generates commerce in a way that we can’t do now.

That’s part of how we’re going to build a better America.  And that’s what I want to talk to you about today.

So, thank you for the introduction, JoJo.  Mayor — Mr. Mayor, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, it’s great to see you again, pal.