Pres. Joe Biden Visiting Pittsburgh To Announce Multi-Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Plan
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- President Joe Biden will be in Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon to announce a multi-trillion-dollar plan to rebuild America's infrastructure.
Biden began his presidential campaign in Pittsburgh in 2019 and ended it here the night before his election.
He's returning to the Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center to spell out what his "Build Back Better" plan will mean for this region and the nation, if enacted by Congress.
"We can't think of any better place to go than back to Pittsburgh, where it all began, and talk about our plan to rebuild the backbone of the country – the middle class," Kate Berner, the White House deputy communications director told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Tuesday.
America's infrastructure is crumbling. Roads and bridges need to be replaced, pipelines are cracking and sometimes full of lead, our airports are an international embarrassment, the electrical grid is old and outdated, and our energy systems are barely out of the 19th century.
Berner says investing $3 trillion in all this, along with research and development, means American jobs.
"Jobs you can raise a middle-class family on. These are going to be infrastructure jobs, manufacturing jobs, research and development jobs. We are excited to be at a carpenter's hall," says Berner.
United Steelworkers Union President Tom Conway, who will be with the president, says a lot is at stake.
"This investment is crucial. We absolutely have to do it. I think what doesn't get discussed enough is the problems that we will suffer if we don't do it," says Conway.
Conway says this region unites strong manufacturing industries like steel with artificial intelligence, software, and high-tech research and development.
"All of those things are going to play an important role in the next step of where we take the infrastructure," Conway said.
"He is going to Pittsburgh to explain his plan to do just that, to make once in a generation investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, research and development. These are investments that are going to create good-paying jobs. You've heard the president say this over the years, jobs you can raise a middle-class family on," says Berner.
It adds up to big bucks, and the president will announce how to pay for this, including a tax hike for those who earn more than $400,000 a year and closing tax loopholes for business.
"There are 90-plus companies in the Fortune 500 that paid zero dollars in taxes last year. The president believes that's wrong," says Berner.
In Congress, Democrats and Republicans often agree that something needs to be done on America's infrastructure but finding an agreement has been the challenge for many presidents.
Berner says Biden's plan approach will break the stalemate.