“Our first priority is to open the port,” Biden said. “It’s one of the nation’s largest shipping hubs.”
He said the impact of the lack of shipping to the port reverberates around the nation. After being briefed about the cleanup, Biden foreshadowed a challenging operation.
“Thousands of tons of mangled steel remain lodged in the water, blocking ships from moving in and out of the harbor,” he said.
Biden took a moment to recognize the six men killed during the Key Bridge collapse.
“After pulling a night shift filling potholes, they were on a break when the ship struck,” Biden said. “Just seconds before, one of the men, named Carlos, who was only 24, left a message for his girlfriend. Here’s what it said: ‘We just poured cement. We’re waiting for it to dry.’”
Biden said he was grieving along with those who lost loved ones in the bridge collapse, pledging to recover all of their bodies — authorities thus far have recovered two men — and to keep the late workers in mind while rebuilding a new bridge.
“We’ll never forget the contribution these men made to this city. We’re going to work hard to recover each of them. You know, my vow is to not rest, as Carlos said, until the cement has dried on the entirety of a new bridge.”
Biden doubled down Friday on his promise that the federal government would cover the full cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
With the mess of mangled steel and concrete as his backdrop, Biden said he “fully intends” to have the federal government pay for the entire rebuild. “All of it,” Biden said. “I call on Congress to authorize this effort as soon as possible.”
Earlier, Biden received a briefing on the bridge collapse response, hearing directly about efforts to clear the channel and restore both shipping traffic in the Port of Baltimore and road transportation.
Biden asked a handful of quick questions before greeting first responders during the roughly 15-minute information session. The briefing, at the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Headquarters, followed Biden’s aerial tour of the crash site with Gov. Wes Moore.
Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers walked Biden through what has been happening in the water, including work to clear an initial channel for some vessels by the end of April.
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