Biden appoints Mitch Landrieu to oversee infrastructure plan

• Mitch Landrieu served as mayor of New Orleans and helped in the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina's devastation. 

• Biden to sign the Infrastructure bill into law at the White House on Monday, accompanied by lawmakers, governors, mayors, and business leaders.

President Biden named Mitch Landrieu, former New Orleans mayor as a senior advisor in charge of managing the execution of the $1 trillion infrastructure plan. 

Landrieu, a former Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana, served as mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. He was instrumental in assisting the city's recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In a statement, Landrieu said he is thankful to the President and “honored to be tasked with coordinating the largest infrastructure investment in generations.”

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Landrieu will oversee the most significant and comprehensive investments in American infrastructure in generations, those independent experts verify that it will create millions of high-paying, union jobs while increasing our global economic competitiveness, strengthening supply chains, and combating inflation in the long run.

“Our work will require strong partnerships across the government and with state and local leaders, business and labor to create good-paying jobs and rebuild America for the middle class,” said Mitch Landrieu.

 “We will also ensure these major investments achieve the President’s goals of combating climate change and advancing equity.”

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The announcement on Sunday comes ahead of Biden's signing of the bill into law at the White House on Monday, where he will be accompanied by lawmakers from both parties, governors, mayors, and business leaders.

The former mayor will be a vital team member in delivering on the most significant investments in roads, bridges, and rail in decades, as well as investments in ports and airports and the most significant investment in mass transit in American history, the white house said. 

Landrieu went on to chair the United States Conference of Mayors and was named Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine in 2015. He was also widely recognized for bringing communities together and making racial fairness a top issue.

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Meanwhile, the infrastructure plan provides billions of dollars to close gaps in broadband internet access--notably for low-income households, rural towns, and tribal nations, strengthen power grid, water, and wastewater facilities, construct electric car charging stations, and more. 

Picture Credits: Reuters