Joe Biden visits Baltimore bridge collapse site, meets with victims’ families

President Joe Biden on Friday witnessed firsthand efforts to clean up the “devastated” debris. Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in BaltimoreCranes, ships and divers are working to reopen one of the country’s main waterways.

Biden got an up-close look at the disaster as he boarded Marine One and maneuvered around the twisted metal wreckage and masses of construction and salvage equipment trying to clear the wreckage of last week’s collapse that killed six workers.

He was then on hand to receive briefings from local officials, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers on the conditions in the water and its impact on the area. The president also paid tribute to the police who helped block traffic to the bridge before it was struck by a boat, helping to prevent greater casualties.

“I’m here to say, your country has your back, and I mean it. Your country has your back,” Biden said from a shoreline overlooking collapsed bridges in Dundalk outside Baltimore.

In the middle of the night on March 26, migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were filling potholes on the bridge when it was struck by a huge cargo ship. Eight workers were rescued and the bodies of two were rescued. Others were found in the following days.

Authorities announced late Friday that salvage divers had pulled a third body, 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, from the water hours before Biden arrived. Sandoval, one of the missing workers. They said they would continue to search for other victims.

The president also met with the families of the victims for more than an hour.

“The loss is devastating and our hearts are still breaking,” Biden said.

Officials have established a temporary backup channel for ships involved in clearing the wreckage. The White House said the Army Corps of Engineers hopes to open limited access to barge container ships and some vessels transporting cars and farm equipment by the end of the month, and restore normal capacity to the Port of Baltimore by May 31.

This is important because a longer delay in reopening shipping lanes could send shock waves through the economy. Up to $200 million in cargo typically moves through the Port of Baltimore each day, and the port is a major vehicle import and export hub.

More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes were on site to help cut sections of the bridge and remove it from the critical waterway. Officials told Biden they have all the resources they need to achieve their goal of opening the Baltimore port to shipping lanes.

The president announced that some of the largest employers affected by the closures, including Amazon, Home Depot and Domino Sugar, have pledged to keep their workers on the payroll until the ports reopen. In the preceding days, state and federal officials conducted outreach efforts to try to mitigate the economic impact.

“From the air, I saw this bridge being torn apart, but on the ground I saw a community that came together,” Biden said.

However, it’s unclear how the cost of clearing and building a new bridge will be paid for.

The Federal Highway Administration has provided $60 million in “quick-release” emergency relief funds to get started. The exact amount of damage ultimately caused by the collapse is unclear, but some experts estimate that recovery efforts will take at least $400 million and 18 months.

“The federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding this bridge, and I hope Congress will support my efforts,” Biden said in the hours after the collapse.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell compared the bridge collapse to aid provided after a natural disaster and said “the federal government will step up to provide the bulk” of the funding. But the authorization is likely to cause some debate in Congress.

The White House is asking lawmakers to authorize the federal government to cover 100% of the cost of cleaning up and rebuilding collapsed bridges, rather than seeking funding through a separate emergency supplemental funding request.

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young noted in a letter to congressional leaders that recovery and reconstruction efforts also took place in 2007 when a highway bridge in downtown Minneapolis collapsed during evening rush hour, killing 13 people. have developed similar technologies that have bipartisan support in Congress.

But some hard-line congressional Republicans have lined up to demand politically controversial compensation for the funding. The conservative House Freedom Caucus issued a statement saying, “If it turns out that it is necessary to spend taxpayer money to get one of the nation’s busiest ports back up and running, Congress should ensure that this funding is fully offset and abandon burdensome regulations.” It refers to possible federal spending cuts elsewhere and regulations such as the Endangered Species Act.

The caucus’ letter also indicates that the approval of bridge restoration funding is tied to the Biden administration’s agreement to lift the moratorium on LNG exports.

The funding issues will only exacerbate the political impact of the collapse as Biden faces off against former President Donald Trump in the November election.

It is the second major disaster in as many years in the country’s busy northeastern hub. Last summer, an overpass along Interstate 95 in Philadelphia caught fire and collapsed after a tanker truck struck it. Federal and state officials quickly instituted temporary repairs and ultimately reopened that section of the highway faster than expected.

But cleanup and repairs in Baltimore will take longer and cost more, making the possibility of a net political positive for Biden — especially before Election Day — murkier. But that hasn’t stopped the Biden administration from re-advocating for a public works plan worth more than $1 trillion that Congress approved in 2021.

The bridge collapse also thrust Wes Moore, 45, the Democratic governor of Maryland, into the national spotlight. He is a key voice in Biden’s re-election campaign, which aims to inspire young voters on behalf of the 81-year-old president. The governor accompanied Biden on a helicopter tour and attended a briefing.

Biden has traveled across the country to showcase construction projects on highways, bridges and tunnels. In 2022, he arrived in Pittsburgh for an event, just hours after a nearby bridge collapsed. The push for the public works package also allows the president to tap into his love of train travel and his years as a Delaware senator riding Amtrak to and from Washington.

Biden said Friday that he has crossed the bridge “about a thousand times” from Washington to his home in Delaware, prompting the head of the state Department of Transportation to quip, “Thanks for the toll, sir.”