President Joe Biden visited the Port of Baltimore on Oct. 29, seven months after the devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that killed six construction workers and halted commerce.

“The Port of Baltimore is back open for business,” Biden said.

“As I promised last spring, we won’t stop until the new bridge is finished completely.”

More than 50,000 tons of concrete and steel were removed from the area after a container ship struck the bridge in March, causing it to collapse. At the time, experts estimated the channel would be blocked for six months or more, but with the wreckage cleared, the port reopened after 78 days.

Biden used his appearance to announce a $147 million grant for the Maryland Port Administration, which will help modernize the Port of Baltimore and decarbonize cargo handling operations.

The grant is part of a broader $3 billion “clean ports” federal investment to upgrade ports in 27 states and territories.

“Including, yes, Puerto Rico,” the president said. “I would like to take that guy for a swim out there.”

The comments were in reference to Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian, who appeared at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27 and called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

In response to the criticisms from his opponents and some media outlets over Hinchcliffe’s joke, Trump said in an interview with ABC News that he didn’t hear the comments at the rally and that he didn’t know the comedian.

A portion of the federal funding will be used to purchase zero-emission port equipment and charging infrastructure, including battery-electric and hydrogen-powered technology, to be managed and maintained by human operators.

The investment aims to bolster air quality and eliminate more than 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution over the next decade. The announcement additionally attempted to curb workers’ concerns surrounding automation.

Biden touted the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, which he says have helped upgrade aging infrastructure and reduce dependence on fossil fuels that have threatened workers’ health and exposed nearby communities to dangerous pollution levels. He noted that the landmark legislation has attracted $1 trillion in private investment.

“The new $3 billion funding is moving today, fortunately, all across America’s ports,” Biden said. “[The funding will] strengthen supply chains, make American businesses more competitive, keep consumer prices down, and support an estimated 40,000 new energy manufacturing jobs.”

The president also praised his administration’s economic record, alluding to the national 4.1 percent unemployment rate and a record 19 million new business applications.

“We’re bringing jobs back home and factories home,” Biden said.

Taking a shot at the Republican presidential candidate, Biden told the crowd that his predecessor had promised “infrastructure every week for four years.”

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Md., which collapsed after being struck by a container ship in March, is seen on April 5, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Support for Longshoremen

Following a short strike, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), North America’s largest union of maritime workers, reached a provisional wage deal with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX). Port employers offered a 62 percent wage increase over six years.

“A big congratulations to your fellow longshoremen, who just won a record wage gain. You deserve it, man,” Biden said.

“The middle class built this country, and the union built the middle class.”

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his administration's Investing in America agenda at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Md., on Oct. 29, 2024. Biden announced a $3 billion investment from his Inflation Reduction Act in Environmental Protection Agency Clean Ports grants, including $147 million in awards for the Maryland Port Administration. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

ILA and USMX leaders will continue negotiations to iron out details surrounding automation. They will have until Jan. 15, 2025, to reach an agreement regarding the potential automation of container-moving cranes, gates, and trucks.

“Automation will continue to be an issue that will be worked out and is being worked out in this contract,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement when a tentative deal was announced on Oct. 3.

“The ILA negotiated restrictions on automation and semi-automation in the last contract. The ILA just wants to tighten the language that no automation means no automation.”

Industry experts say the country’s ports are inefficient and uncompetitive because of the lack of automation and advanced technology.

In 2023, the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index showed that no U.S. port cracked the top 10 worldwide. Charleston, South Carolina, was ranked No. 53, and Philadelphia reached the No. 55 slot.