Vice President Joe Biden in St. Louis – May 13, 2014.
Vice President Joe Biden was in St. Louis yesterday for an event promoting infrastructure at the riverfront construction project next to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (the Arch). From the White House:
…the Vice President will visit the CityArchRiver project at the St. Louis Gateway Arch to discuss the economy and highlight the progress of this future urban park site. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Senator Richard Durbin will also attend…
After touring the construction site.
(left to right) St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Vice President Biden.
The event was definitely held at a construction site.
Vice President Joe Biden: ….You know, there are now, uh, those in Congress and in other parts of this country who say we can’t, uh, afford to make these kind of investments, we can’t afford to be rebuilding our infrastructure. Uh, but I think that the vast majority of the American people agree that every generation of, of leadership in this country has understood that the infrastructure is the back upon which this great nation has been built. In 1806 the Congress, uh, when it didn’t have a whole lot of money [inaudible] and built the first national road, from Maryland to Illinois, because it had a vision. They had a vision of moving west….
….And we have to rebuild the infrastructure of this country. Uh, the fact of the matter is we’ve stalled, we’ve stalled. And, uh, you know, I give you one example – the World Economic Forum ranks America eighteenth in the world in overall quality of its roads. Did you ever you’d live to see the day that we were heading down toward twenty in terms of what we could do or who we were?….
….This is about jobs. This is about growth….
….The Arch is much more than a land mark, quite frankly, it’s a metaphor for America never resting, always looking to improve….
Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois).
The rain comes down.
The Arch in the rain.