WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged that the federal government will pay the full cost to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one of the nation’s busiest bridges that collapsed hours earlier after being struck by a massive freight ship.

It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the congress to support my effort,” he said.

The president called the collapse of a Baltimore bridge a “terrible accident,” and pledged to get the major East Coast port up and running as soon as possible after a cargo ship struck one of the span’s support pylons.

Biden said he would send “all the federal resources” needed to handle the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday. “I’m directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said in a brief address from the White House, while acknowledging: “This is going to take some time.”

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024