In Latest Speech, Trump Promises Infrastructure Bill
After announcing an advisory council on infrastructure policy would not convene amid corporate leaders’ response to his reaction to racial violence, President Donald Trump expressed commitment to ensuring long-term funding legislation for the country’s transportation network is approved.
Trump declared emphatically, during a multithematic speech in Phoenix on Aug. 22, “We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, waterways, all across our beautiful land.”
“Our greatest creations, our most incredible buildings, our most beautiful works of art are just waiting to be brought to life. American hands will build this future. American energy will power this future,” he said. “American workers will bring this future to life. … We can do anything, we can build anything and we can dream anything.”
Chao
Trump’s chief transportation officer, Elaine Chao, has projected the legislative language for a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure plan would be presented to Congress this fall or by the end of the year. The plan’s blueprint proposed using $200 billion from federal accounts to leverage $800 billion from private capital.
The administration’s directive toward privatizing freight and passenger corridors, as well as pushing to incentivize states to drum up funding fixes absent federal support is missing crucial backing from senior transportation leaders on Capitol Hill.
The Republican chairmen of the transportation policy committees insist transferring authority of roadways to tolling firms would prove disastrous across rural states, while Democrats push back on efforts that would hand over control of major bridges and transit systems to billionaire developers or corporations.
In July, Trump signed an executive order establishing a 15-member advisory council to assist the White House draft its infrastructure proposal. Their task was to find “methods to increase public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects, including appropriate statutory or regulatory changes.”
