President Biden got a first-hand look at efforts to clear the “mangled mess” from the remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as cranes, ships and dive crews worked to reopen one of the nation's major shipping lanes.
Aboard Marine One, as he circled the mangled remains of metal and the mass of construction and salvage equipment trying to clear away the wreckage of last week's collapse, Biden on Friday got his first up-close view of the devastation. On land, he received a briefing from local officials, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers about the situation in the water and its effects on the area.
Biden also received police officers who helped block traffic to the bridge in the moments before it collided with the ship, which helped avoid greater loss of life.
“I'm here to say your nation has your back and I mean it,” Biden said from the beach overlooking the collapsed bridge. “Your nation has your back.”
Eight workers — migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — were filling potholes on the bridge when it collided with a massive cargo ship and collapsed in the middle of the night on March 26. Two men were saved, but the bodies of only two of the six who died were recovered. The White House said that the president met on Friday with the families of the victims near the bridge.
“The damage is devastating and our hearts continue to break,” Biden said.
Officials have created a temporary alternative channel, primarily for ships involved in debris removal. The White House said the Corps of Engineers hopes to open a limited access channel for container ships and some ships transporting cars and agricultural equipment by the end of this month and restore normal capacity to the Port of Baltimore by May 31.
This is important, because a long delay in reopening shipping lanes could send shock waves through the economy. Goods worth up to $200 million typically move through the Port of Baltimore every day, which is the main hub for importing and exporting vehicles.
More than 50 divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut sections of the bridge and remove them from the main waterway. Officials told Biden they have all the resources they need to achieve goals of opening the canal to the Port of Baltimore.
Biden also announced that some of the largest employers affected by the collapse, including Amazon, Home Depot and Domino Sugar, have committed to keeping their employees on the payroll until the port reopens. The news came after days of reaching out to state and federal officials to try to mitigate the economic impact of the incident.
Biden said: “I saw from the air the destroyed bridge, but here on the ground I see a cohesive community.”
It is unclear how the costs of cleaning and building a new bridge will be covered.
The Federal Highway Administration provided $60 million in “rapid release” emergency relief funds to get started. It is unclear exactly how much the collapse will cost, although some experts estimate it will take at least $400 million and 18 months to recover.
“The federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding this bridge, and I expect Congress to support my efforts,” Biden said hours after the collapse.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky likened the bridge collapse to aid that flows after natural disasters and said that “the federal government will step up and take the lion's share” of the funding. But this mandate is unlikely to be fully accepted by Congress.
The White House announced Friday that it is asking Congress to authorize the federal government to cover 100% of the costs of cleaning up and rebuilding collapsed bridges, rather than seeking funding through a separate, emergency supplemental funding request.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, noted that similar funding methods were used for recovery and rebuilding efforts that received bipartisan support in Congress in 2007, when a freeway bridge in downtown Minneapolis collapsed during… Evening rush hour, killing 13 people. the people.
“We are asking Congress to join us in demonstrating our commitment to assist in recovery efforts,” Young wrote, though it remains unclear exactly how much money will be needed to cover the costs.
But some hard-line Republicans in Congress are already lining up to demand politically controversial offset funding. The conservative House Freedom Caucus issued a statement on Friday saying: “If it proves necessary to allocate taxpayer dollars to get one of America's busiest ports back online, Congress must ensure it is fully compensated and waives burdensome regulations.” He was referring to potential cuts in federal spending elsewhere and to regulations like the Endangered Species Act.
The caucus letter also suggested that approval of bridge restoration funds be tied to the Biden administration agreeing to lift its temporary moratorium on LNG exports.
The funding questions only heighten the political fallout from the collapse as Biden faces off with former President Trump in the November election.
The Biden administration is again backing a more than $1 trillion public works package passed by Congress in 2021. The president has traveled the country to showcase construction projects on highways, bridges and tunnels.
Promoting this package also allowed the president to capitalize on his love of train travel and many years of commuting to and from Washington on Amtrak while he was a senator from Delaware.
Biden himself noted that he had been over the Key Bridge “about a thousand times” commuting from Washington to his home in Delaware, prompting the head of the state Department of Transportation to quip, “Thank you for the tolls, sir.”
Weissert writes for the Associated Press.
