WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Newly named U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is showing his support for the American Rescue Plan, the bill passed in Congress and pushed by President Joe Biden.
He's also in support of a $3 trillion infrastructure package filled with investments and domestic needs. Buttigieg joined me Friday, March 26th for an interview from out nation's capital.
"If there's one thing I learned in the time I spent in and around the Quad Cities, it's how important infrastructure is," Buttigieg said. "You're talking about a part of the country where all of our different kinds transportation intersect, literally. You've got trains, you've got barges, you've got bridges. You've got roads like everyone else. All of that is infrastructure that we know needs an upgrade. There's over a trillion dollars estimated backlogged just in the maintenance [of some of our current pieces of infrastructure], let alone we need to build some of the new things that are being talked about, like an I-80 Bridge, which among other things, would make it a little bit quicker to get to my hometown of South Bend from the Quad Cities."
"I think most Americans, regardless of your politics, get that we need to do more around infrastructure," he continued. "I'm looking forward to the President announcing his vision next week, so we can take it and run with it."
The secretary says his department's already talking with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle on how to get this bill passed. He says he's even heard of a bison bridge like concept that local environmentalist Chad Pregracke has proposed, but he says he's heard about it more out west, where drivers are more prone to hit large animals.