CLEVELAND — During a visit to Lorain, Ohio, on Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a $1 billion investment in the Great Lakes as a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
"Today we’re announcing an investment of $1 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure bill to allow the most significant restoration of the Great Lakes in the history of the Great Lakes," President Biden said during his opening remarks.
President Biden said that the investment will include a cleanup and restoration of the Great Lakes. The investment is the largest federal investment to have been made for Great Lakes restoration efforts.
"The Midwest built America," President Biden said. "And we're building it again."
Watch his full speech below:
President Biden arrived at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport via Air Force One at 10:45 a.m. and was greeted by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. From there, President Biden traveled to The Shipyards in Lorain, where he delivered his remarks at 12:15 p.m. He was scheduled to depart Cleveland via Air Force One at 1:45 p.m.
Watch below: Air Force One's arrival at CLE:
Watch below: President Biden departs Cleveland on Air Force One:
On Saturday the White House told 3News in a statement: "The President will travel to Cleveland and Lorain, Ohio to discuss how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law delivers for the American people by rebuilding roads and bridges, upgrading water systems, cleaning up the environment, and creating good-paying, union jobs."
President Biden's trip to Northeast Ohio came less than one year after his last visit when he toured Cuyahoga Community College's Manufacturing Technology Center and discussed the state of the economy.
It also came as rapidly thawing snow and ice from recent winter storms are creating runoff that is expected to lead to potential flooding.
"[With] a lot of the local waterways — particularly, in our case, the Cuyahoga River — you will see a lot of flooding," Jenn Elting with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District told 3News. "It's something that's natural, particularly this time of year. ... We've identified more than $1 billion worth of storm water problems that we need to solve as well as an additional $500 million just for our local communities."
The president says it's time for those communities to "get ready," and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District certainly is. Elting says solutions to many of these problems are a long time coming.
"It's great that this is a topic of conversation," she added, "and that everyone really wants to talk about water infrastructure [and] infrastructure as a whole, because there is a huge need throughout not only Northeast Ohio but throughout the entire country."
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Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previously published, unrelated story.