JUDY WOODRUFF: For more on the president's plan, we're joined now by someone who'll play
a critical role in implementing it if it becomes law. He's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Mr. Secretary, welcome to the "NewsHour."
There is so much in this plan. We can't possibly talk about it in one interview. But let me ask
you, what is the main change going to be in the lives of Americans if this becomes law?
PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. Secretary of Transportation: Well, the main change
is that Americans will be able to count on having the absolute best infrastructure.
You know, as the report mentioned, we are 13th in the world, and headed in
the wrong direction. Americans are being expected to settle for less.
And you see that with the holes in our roads. You see that with the condition in our bridges,
to say nothing of how things like our airports and our train systems are lagging
so far behind what citizens in other developed countries can count on just as a matter of course.
The other way Americans are going to feel the difference is in the jobs this is going to create.
This is going to open economic opportunity,
not only to those who work in the transportation sector, but to
every American who counts on great infrastructure to be able to get to where they need to be.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Can you say now how many new jobs are going to be created,
and how quickly will they be created?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, now that the plan has been released,
I expect a lot of economists are looking at that right now.
And I look forward to seeing some of the analysis that they generate. But what we know is,
it is going to be in the millions. And it is going to make an enormous
difference. By the way, this also stands to make transportation more affordable for Americans.
Many low-income families are spending up to 30 percent of their income just
on transportation. We can and must do better on that. And we can do it in so many ways,
from this doubling of resources for transit, so that people can get around their
communities and neighborhoods more easily, to the investment in electric vehicle charging
infrastructure that will help more Americans go without having to pay to fuel up their car.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We are told that, unlike the economic stimulus plan that
was passed under President Obama -- this was 12 years ago -- the emphasis here is not going to be,
in every case, in so-called shovel-ready jobs that quickly generate economic growth. Why not?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: That's right. This is a different focus.
That stimulus was about getting out of an economic emergency,
which is also why the American Rescue Plan was so important. But the American Jobs Plan
is looking to the future. Yes, we will be supporting hundreds of billions of
dollars of shovel-ready projects, but we're also interested in shovel-worthy projects,
because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape America's infrastructure future, to
make sure we're competing and winning, when other countries are doing so much more than we are.
And so it shouldn't just be about what is ready in
the moment. It should be about what we want our American future to look like.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, of course, this is going to cost something.
The president said today we're talking about raising the corporate
tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, raising taxes on multinational corporations.
As you know, Mr. Secretary, Republicans are already saying
this is a terrible idea, it is anti-competitive, that it's going to ultimately hurt working
families in America because those higher taxes are going to be passed on to ordinary people.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: I will tell you what is anti-competitive. It is having third-rate
infrastructure being further degraded by a generation of failure to invest.
That is costing us our competitiveness every day. We know that this is going to create jobs.
It's going to create economic strength. And the president does believe in a tax code that rewards
work, rather than wealth. That is something that I think most Americans can get on board with.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
And the other -- one of the other criticisms we're hearing from Republicans, besides -- aside from
the cost of this, is that only a small portion of it deals with traditional infrastructure.
For example, Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman was saying President Biden is, in his words,
redefining infrastructure to include things that have never been considered infrastructure before,
like -- and he is saying health care, work force development, research and development.
How do you answer that?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, infrastructure is being redefined whether we keep
up or not, and that is not a bad thing.
Look, I'm transportation secretary, so I think a lot about things like roads and bridges that are
more traditional. But, in these times, broadband is absolutely an essential part of infrastructure.
Water, it might be underground, so you don't see it, but it is just as important,
and often important to just the ability of communities and families to thrive at all.
This is infrastructure too. The grid, after what we just saw in Texas,
Americans citizens melting snowballs in their bathtubs to be able to flush their toilets,
that should never happen again. And I absolutely consider that part of an infrastructure package,
even if it is not part of the transportation piece that I work on every day.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Another comment we heard from President Biden today,
he said this is going to provide transformational change in addressing climate change.
But now we see -- and this is the argument from the other side -- progressives in your party
who are saying there is not enough in here to deal with climate change.
They are saying there should have been more money, more projects. Why isn't their more?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, this is, again, an enormous investment.
This is something that represents more than we have been able to do in my lifetime and a long
time before that. And it positions us to beat the climate challenge with things like
electric vehicle infrastructure, the kind of rail and transit resources
that we need as a country, and the kind of R&D that is going to move us to the future.
And if we're striking the balance between
people who think it should be even bigger and those who are asking us to do less, I think
that is evidence that this plan is a strong one that can attract the support of most Americans.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But are you hearing that criticism from your fellow Democrats right now?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: You know, right now,
I think a lot of people on both sides of the aisle are digesting the plan.
And let me say, the president has put out a strong vision, but this is a great time to hear
those critiques, hear those ideas, hear those refinements. And if people have a
different or better idea on any piece of this, including how to pay for it, let's hear it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, you're saying it could change between now and what happens in Congress?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Of course.
This is day one of a process that we know is going to go through a lot with Congress. I have
been on the phone with Democrats and Republicans all day, as well as a lot of other stakeholders,
and we know that that natural give-and-take is only going to make this a stronger plan.
But the president set out a clear vision. He is insisting on going big. And I think it is a great
beginning for not just the kind of infrastructure week that used to be a punchline here in
Washington, but an infrastructure season that is going to give us a better infrastructure future.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
And just finally, Mr. Secretary, President Biden has spoken about wanting bipartisan support.
But if you end up with no Republican votes for this,
which we know is possible, how much does that undercut what the administration is
trying to do, after you -- you ended up with no Republican votes on the COVID relief bill?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, the strange thing about the COVID relief bill was, it had
enormous bipartisan among the American people, just not here in Washington.
I believe, if there is any area where we can get that bipartisan support in Washington, just like
there is out among Americans, it is around these infrastructure issues that are so important,
because every member I talk to, no matter how progressive or conservative they are, comes
from a district or a state where their citizens who sent them here to Washington are dealing
with the consequences of that disinvestment every day and know that we need to do better.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Secretary of Transportation, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, thank you very much.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Thanks for having me.