U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Vice President Joe Biden stopped at the Owen Steel Company in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday to champion the need for improving the U.S. infrastructure.
Part of a four-day, five-state GROW AMERICA Express bus tour, the visit was meant to highlight the importance of investing in the nation’s transportation system so that U.S. manufacturers can compete in the 21st century global economy.
“American companies like Owen Steel are facing increased costs due to congestion on our roads and ports,” Foxx said. “The whole country needs better quality roads, more durable bridges and the kind of large-scale repairs to America’s aging infrastructure that are only possible with federal investment. This is why we’re counting on Congress to pass the president’s GROW AMERICA Act, so we can have adequate funding for an innovative multi-modal freight system.”
The Obama administration’s GROW AMERICA Act calls for nearly $500 billion to be put toward improvements to roadways, ports, railways and the U.S. transit system over the next six years.
“The United States of America ranks 28th in the world in infrastructure,” Biden said during a speech at the steel company. “We should not rank 28th in anything.”
