President Donald J Trump Works to Rebuild American Infrastructure

NOTE: This is the official White House release from the Office of the Press Secretary regarding the administration’s stand on US infrastructure issues.

“Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways gleaming across our very, very beautiful land.” – President Donald J. Trump

CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE: America’s infrastructure is out of date and falling apart, particularly the internal waterways that are so vital for transporting the country’s goods.

• The Obama Administration’s attempt to rebuild the country’s infrastructure was an expensive waste that saw little money actually go to infrastructure.
• Less than 10 percent of stimulus money was dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure.
• Of $836 billion in stimulus spending, just $28 billion went to highways, $8 billion to water systems, $5 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers, and $1 billion to airports.
• Billions were spent on projects that still have not been completed after years of development or were of little actual value.
• The waterways of the United States are vital for its industry and economic growth of the country, transporting everything from corn to steel and coal.
• According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), our inland waterways delivered more than 575 million tons of cargo, valued at $229 billion.
• According to the Department of Transportation, inland waterways support more than 270,000 jobs and $30.9 billion in economic activity.
• 60 percent of the grain meant for export uses inland waterways to reach the Gulf of Mexico.
• American steel production is entirely dependent on the inland waterways system.
• Up to 25 percent of the country’s energy cargo, including coal, and petroleum, are moved on inland waterways.
• The infrastructure of America’s inland waterways has been allowed to fall apart, causing delays and preventing the United States from achieving its economic potential.
• According to the ASCE, most of the locks and dams needed to travel the internal waterways are past their 50-year lifespan and nearly 50 percent of voyages suffered delays.
• Our inland waterway system requires $8.7 billion in maintenance and the maintenance backlog is only getting worse.

REBUILDING AMERICA: President Donald J. Trump is pushing to rebuild the infrastructure of the United States by partnering with the private sector and getting government out of the way.

• President Trump will spur growth and investment in infrastructure by dramatically reducing permitting time for projects from 10 years to 2 years and slashing regulations to speed up the decision making process.
• The President has dedicated $200 billion in his budget as part of a $1 trillion investment plan to rebuild infrastructure.
• Transformative projects to bring the country’s infrastructure into the 21st century will be funded through a mixture of loans and grants, such as air traffic control privatization.
• Rural America will receive grants to rebuild crippled bridges, roads, and waterways.
• States and cities will receive grants to meet their own infrastructure challenges.
• Qualified projects of regional and national significance, such as those created under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, will receive loans.
• Government will get out of the way to allow State and local governments to succeed at meeting their unique challenges.
• Only 1/5 of infrastructure spending comes from the Federal Government, the vast majority comes from states, localities, and the private sector.

Source: White House