(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- President Joe Biden said Friday his infrastructure bill will ease inflation pressure if implemented correctly.
- The bill was passed by Congress last Friday, and Biden is expected to sign it into law early next week.
- Exploding consumer demand and supply chain bottlenecks have prompted rising inflation rates.
President Joe Biden said he expects the bipartisan infrastructure bill, newly passed by Congress last week, will alleviate rising inflation if done “right,” Bloomberg reported Friday.
Last Friday, the House approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill in a major legislative win for the Biden administration, with more than a dozen House Republicans crossing the aisle to join House Democrats in passing it.
In a cabinet meeting at the White House on Friday, the president said the social spending bill, which he will sign into law on Monday, will “lower inflationary pressures on our economy” if it is put into action correctly.
“If we do it right, we know what it will mean – it will create millions of new jobs, grow the economy, and we’ll win the world economic competition we’re engaged in in the second quarter of the 21st century, with China and many other countries around the world,” Biden said, citing the Bloomberg report.
Inflation reached its highest in 30 years, with overall prices rising 6.2% over a year-long period, according to a data summary released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this week.
“Inflation hurts Americans pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me,” Biden said in a statement in response to the report on Wednesday.
He added: “I have directed my National Economic Council to pursue means to try to further reduce these costs, and have asked the Federal Trade Commission to strike back at any market manipulation or price gouging in this sector.”
Recent supply chain shortages prompted by record-breaking consumer demand have fueled congestion at some US ports, of which much of the liability has fallen upon the Biden administration to fix it.
His administration announced a set of actions earlier this week to address the supply chain crisis in the wake of the newly passed bill to “lay the foundation for successful implementation of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal,” according to a White House fact sheet, CNN reported.
“This action plan will increase federal flexibilities for port grants; accelerate port infrastructure grant awards; announce new construction projects for coastal navigation, inland waterways, and land ports of entry; and launch the first round of expanded port infrastructure grants funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal,” the fact sheet continued.
A senior administration official told CNN that, though the spending bill has yet to be signed, “there is work going on right now to actually get these projects teed up, get these programs teed up and out the door.”
“The entire goods movement system is assisted greatly through the bipartisan bill,” the official said.
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