President Obama on Wednesday demanded that Congress quickly approve a clean extension of surface-transportation funding, warning that up to a million jobs are at stake and calling it “inexcusable” that “political gamesmanship” is threatening both jobs and the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
The president issued his demand at a Rose Garden event, flanked by workers whose jobs could be lost if funding is not approved by the end of September. Also with the president were Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Operating Officer David Chavern.