President Donald Trump called for a $1 trillion infrastructure effort in an address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a fiscal conservative, and other Republicans gave Trump’s proposal a standing ovation.
Trump introduced the proposal by citing President Dwight Eisenhower, who he said “initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program – the building of the interstate highway system.”
And Trump said, since then, another president could have rebuilt the infrastructure “twice, and maybe three times if we had people who had the ability to negotiate,” with the trillions of dollars spent on wars in the Middle East.
“To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States – financed through both public and private capital – creating millions of new jobs,” he said.
“This effort will be guided by two core principles: Buy American, and hire American.”
