U.S. transportation secretary and ‘second gentleman’ promote infrastructure proposal

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited Raleigh Friday to promote President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal that the president laid out in a speech to Congress Wednesday night.

In that proposal, the Biden administration calls for investment in highway and transit repair, upgrades to water lines and broadband access, green infrastructure and advocacy for a worker’s right to join a union, among others.

If the proposal becomes law, states and localities could apply for grants, allowing them to prioritize and pitch their own projects, The News & Observer reported earlier in April.

Buttigieg and Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, made three stops in Raleigh: the Teamsters Union Hall in northwest Raleigh, NC State’s Centennial Campus and the Raleigh Union Station downtown.

They held a press conference at the station to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Amtrak, whose first train traveled from New York City to Philadelphia on May 1, 1971.

At the press conference, Emhoff and Buttigieg were joined by Gov. Roy Cooper, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin and U.S. Reps. David Price and Deborah Ross, both Democrats.

“Governors across this country have been waiting a long time for an infrastructure bill,” Cooper said. “A comprehensive infrastructure bill is going to be critical for our state’s recovery, and this country’s recovery.”

The Biden administration has claimed that the proposal would create millions of jobs. Ross said those jobs must be created in North Carolina and the rest of the country.

“None of these jobs can be outsourced. They are for our American workers. Everybody from that engineering PhD at N.C. State to the union worker to the high school graduate who can pave our roads,” Ross said.

Baldwin said Raleigh Union Station, which began operation in 2018, can bring more housing and transportation access to the area with more federal funding.

“We need the American Jobs Plan because we want to be the city of the future,” Baldwin said.

Buttigieg said the proposal would begin to shift the country away from a car-focused transit system.

“If you bike, walk, use a wheelchair, travel will be safer for you as transportation comes to be more centered around people and not only around cars,” Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg and Emhoff speak with local union representatives

At the Teamsters Union Hall, Emhoff and Buttigieg spoke with local representatives from the AFL-CIO, the Amalgamated Transit Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Buttigieg spoke about how the climate portion of the infrastructure proposal is not limited to high entry level positions but also to trade workers, specifically those who work in construction.

“These are not mysterious jobs,” Buttigieg said. “We’re talking about needing carpenters and electrical workers.”

Emhoff spoke about the need to invest in clean energy to benefit the general public.

“Climate should not be a political issue. Everyone needs clean water and clean air, “ Emhoff said. “This is not controversial.”

Tour at N.C. State

Buttigieg, Emhoff, Price and Ross toured N.C. State’s Centennial Campus as university students and faculty showed them infrastructure-related research and development.

They watched as researchers tested the strength of an ultra-high performance concrete beam that uses a steel fiber mixture in the concrete to withstand more force.

“What we just saw at N.C. State is a great example of how private sector, academic and public sector interact,” Buttigieg said at the Raleigh Union Station press conference.