President Joe Biden made the case for his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan in the reliably Republican state of Louisiana on Thursday.
In remarks from Lake Charles — a town still rebuilding after being hit with multiple hurricanes during the 2020 hurricane season — Biden made the argument that the U.S. "can't afford to not spend the time, effort and money" laid out in his infrastructure bill.
Citing climate change, he said that the infrastructure proposed in the American Jobs Plan would need to be to a "new standard."
"We have to build to a new standard. We can't build back to what it was," Biden said.
Biden delivered his address in front of Lake Charles' I-10 bridge — a bridge that is 20 years past its designed lifespan. Biden's bill would offer funding for that bridge and several other major bridges across the country that are slowly deteriorating and bottle-necking traffic.
"It shouldn't take this long to fix a bridge this important. It doesn't make sense," Biden said.
Later on Thursday, Biden will travel to New Orleans, where he will tour a water treatment facility and learn how the city's system can be modernized.
By traveling to Louisiana, Biden is directly challenging GOP lawmakers who say low taxes for corporations and the wealthy will fuel economic growth.
