President Joe Biden's campaign is highlighting a term focused on improving U.S. infrastructure, most recently with a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration that is expected to save money and boost air travel safety for consumers.
In a Friday interview, Senior Advisor to the President Tom Perez told Scripps News about the immediate benefits of the bill.
"Safety is job one," Perez said. "You're going to see the benefits right away. The Department of Transportation has been working these safety initiatives for some time. We weren't waiting for the bill to be signed to be putting in provisions into place."
"In addition to aviation safety, also protecting consumers. Way too often, you're sitting in an airport for a dozen hours through a flight delay that has no reasonable basis. And so protecting consumers is also embodied in this FAA bill."
Politics
FAA reauthorization act signed by Biden, with NTSB funding too
The bill fits into the administration's push to improve infrastructure nationwide, which Perez says has been delivered down to the community level.
"We're continuing to work to make sure that people understand that we've made unprecedented investments in infrastructure," he said. "56,000 projects, 450 billion dollars in investment."
"In Ohio, the former president stood at the foot of Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Northern Kentucky with Cincinnati and said 'We're going to replace this bridge. It needed to be replaced.' He didn't get it done. Joe Biden got it done, in a bipartisan fashion with the Republican governor of Ohio, the Democratic governor of Kentucky," Perez said.
"We're going community by community to talk about the fact that we're going to be drinking clean water as a result of the president's investment in replacing all lead pipes," Perez said. "Internet for all means affordable high-speed internet, which means if you need to access telemedicine because you live in rural America, you're going to be able to do that. And we're already seeing that progress in place."
