WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will visit Baltimore on Friday to survey the site of a collapsed bridge and meet families of the six construction workers who died, amid growing tensions in the US Congress over using federal dollars to rebuild the bridge.
A cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, sending it collapsing into the harbour. Work to clear the wreckage and restore traffic through the shipping channel is ongoing.
Biden’s visit, which will include an aerial tour, comes as state and federal officials have raised alarms over the potential economic hardships that the port’s closure could have on the regional economy.
The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the United States for the volume it handles of autos and light trucks and farm and construction machinery, according to the state of Maryland. Most of that traffic has been suspended since the accident, though some terminal operations outside the affected area have resumed.
There are growing signs of friction among some US lawmakers about using new federal dollars to fund the bridge’s reconstruction.
Federal officials have told Maryland lawmakers the final cost of rebuilding the bridge could soar to at least $2 billion.
On Friday, the White House’s Office of Management & Budget (OMB) sent a letter to Congress asking the federal government to cover all costs to replace the bridge.
Top White House officials such as chief of staff Jeff Zients, senior adviser Tom Perez and economic adviser Lael Brainard have called large employers in the Baltimore area to encourage them to retain workers, a White House official said.
Local employers, including United Parcel Service, Amazon.com, Home Depot and Mercedes-Benz are committing to retain their workers, the White House said.
The Small Business Administration has also made low-interest disaster loans available, and Biden’s supply chain task force has met several times to analyse the impact, “which has so far been manageable,” the official said.
The six victims of the bridge collapse were all immigrants from Mexico and Central America, who were fixing potholes on the road surface of the bridge when it collapsed. Four of the bodies have still not been recovered, but all are presumed dead.
Biden’s meeting with the families of these immigrant workers comes at a time when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric, casting migrants as dangerous criminals “poisoning the blood” of America, as he seeks the White House a third time.
With inputs from Reuters
