As President Biden announces $3 billion in new investments to replace toxic lead pipes and deliver clean drinking water, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“President Biden is delivering on the promise of environmental justice with new jobs and clean drinking water for American families. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s investment in drinking water infrastructure has already created 200,000 good-paying jobs across the country while committing billions to the largest investment in clean and safe water in American history to replace toxic lead pipes. After Donald Trump spent years failing to take action and trying to pass the buck, President Biden is following through on his promises and transforming the lives of families everywhere by putting the American people first.” 

President Biden is in North Carolina today to announce $3 billion to replace toxic lead pipes and deliver clean drinking water across America.

The Hill: “Biden to announce $3 billion to replace lead pipes”

“President Biden will announce Thursday that his administration will be doling out $3 billion in funds to replace lead pipes, which can pose a health hazard.

“Biden will announce the funds, part of a total of $15 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, during a trip to Wilmington, N.C., to replace these pipes. 

“He will also announce the first Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded lead pipe replacement in Wilmington is underway. North Carolina is slated to get $76 million of the total $3 billion being dispersed. 

“That $3 billion is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes, the White House said. The U.S. currently has an estimated 9.2 million lead service lines.”

The Biden-Harris administration is delivering clean water and good-paying jobs through historic investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

White House Fact Sheet: “This [$3 billion] investment, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is part of the historic $15 billion in dedicated funding for lead pipe replacement provided by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

“The EPA estimates that 200,000 jobs have been created by the Administration’s investments in drinking water infrastructure alone.

“The funding announced today is part of the over $50 billion provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to upgrade the nation’s water infrastructure – the largest investment in clean and safe water in American history. In addition, over $20 billion from the American Rescue Plan has been invested in water infrastructure, including lead pipe replacement, nationwide.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests nearly $31 billion in funding to secure clean drinking water through infrastructure projects such as upgrading aging water mains and improving water treatment plants. … The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests nearly $13 billion to improve wastewater, sanitation, and stormwater infrastructure.”

Reuters: “‘Finally, infrastructure week!’ Biden says, cheering $1 trillion bill”

Associated Press: “Cities must replace harmful lead pipes within 10 years under new Biden administration plan”

Washington Post: “To protect kids, EPA wants total removal of lead pipes for the first time”

The Guardian: “Biden administration announces plan to replace 100% of lead pipes in US homes”

Associated Press: “Harris announces $5.8 billion for water infrastructure projects, says clean water is a right”

Under Donald Trump’s administration, “infrastructure week” was a complete joke full of empty promises and failed plans to fix our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Administration officials claim that the President’s new infrastructure plan will support $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment, but his 2019 budget reveals that that number’s a mirage: the President would cut annual federal support for infrastructure in the long run and shift costs to states, cities, and private individuals. As we previewed here, it likely would mean cuts to some of the areas in which new infrastructure investment is needed most — while providing a potential windfall for private investors.” 

Washington Post: “Trump’s 2016 campaign pledges on infrastructure have fallen short, creating opening for Biden”

New York Times: “How ‘Infrastructure Week’ Became a Long-Running Joke”

“At this point in the Trump presidency, ‘Infrastructure Week’ is less a date on the calendar than it is a ‘Groundhog Day’-style fever dream doomed to be repeated.

“Roughly two years after the White House first came up with the idea of discussing, for all of seven days, the pursuit of a bipartisan agreement to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges and broadband networks, President Trump more or less torpedoed those plans on Wednesday in a Rose Garden speech.”

CNN: “Like the Bermuda Triangle or Spinal Tap’s new drummer, the words ‘Infrastructure Week’ seem to be cursed. No fewer than seven times – including this very week – has Trump’s White House declared that its chosen theme of a week would be infrastructure – only to see those plans thwarted, often by the President himself.”

Even after Trump left office, he railed against bipartisan efforts to turn his failed “infrastructure week” into President Biden’s historic “infrastructure decade.” 

Politico: “Donald Trump tried and failed to pass an infrastructure bill so many times over the course of his presidency that his attempts were reduced to a punchline. Now out of office, Trump is trying to ensure that his successor, Joe Biden, suffers the indignity of the ‘infrastructure week’ jokes as well.

“The former president has sounded off repeatedly in the past week about the negotiations taking place between Senate Republicans and Democrats on the Hill and in the White House. He’s encouraged GOP lawmakers to abandon the talks and criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for even entertaining them. Senate Republicans have said, in interviews, that they have directly asked the former president not just to tone down his criticism but to actually support the infrastructure deal.”