WASHINGTON (CN) — President Joe Biden will travel to Baltimore on Friday to survey the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge and speak with local officials leading the cleanup effort.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced the trip Monday, but the White House didn’t provide additional details on the president’s itinerary.
“I think it's important for folks who are working on the ground, whether it's the first responders who were there in the first couple of hours or the folks who are there now, to see the president, to hear from the commander in chief, to know that he appreciates the work that they've been doing around the clock, to also be there for the community,” she said. “I don't want to get ahead of what that's going to look like.”
Six people were killed last week when the Key Bridge, located just south of Baltimore, collapsed after it was hit by a Singapore-flagged container ship. The 1.6-mile bridge, part of the heavily traveled Interstate 95 corridor, carried as many as 35,000 vehicles daily.
Biden has said his plan is for the federal government to fully pay for the reconstruction and last week the U.S. Department of Transportation made $60 million available to local and state officials to start work.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers are assisting Maryland officials with clean up efforts. Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor are meeting with stakeholders to determine the best way to assist workers affected by the closure of the Port of Baltimore during cleanup efforts. The White House also convened a task force last week to review potential disruptions to regional and national supply chains.
Meanwhile, the Small Business Administration on Saturday approved a disaster declaration, opening up low-interest loans for affected businesses in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. The agency is also opening two business recovery centers in Baltimore County.
“As Baltimore and the wider community mourn and start to rebuild, the SBA and the Biden-Harris Administration stand ready to help local small businesses get through the economic disruption caused by the bridge collapse,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said in a press release.
Jean-Pierre said the White House is directing a “whole-of-government approach” to the collapse.
“As the president said within hours of the collapse, this administration will be with the people of Baltimore every step of the way,” she said. “We are with you, Baltimore, and we will be there until we get this done.”
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