State of the Union: Calls for Unification Around Infrastructure

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Last week President Trump delivered his 2019 State of the Union address in which he called upon both parties to unite for a significant rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure. Without going into specific details, the President remarked on the fact that regardless of one’s political position, many campaigned on the same core promise to rebuild and revitalize our Nation’s infrastructure that puts America’s interests first.

In his address, Trump acknowledged Congress’s eagerness to pass an infrastructure bill and his eagerness to work with them on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting-edge industries of the future. He called the need for improved infrastructure not an option but a necessity. 

While lawmakers from both parties broadly agree that more infrastructure investment is required, some areas will require negotiations particularly concerning the amount of federal funding the plan would provide. As it is now, the plan calls for $200 billion in federal government spending, but Democrats have announced that they want to see five times that amount.

The Presidents tone throughout his address was optimistic about achieving a bipartisan plan to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. After the speech, many Democratic senators weighed in admitting that an infrastructure package could gain support.