MILWAUKEE — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg capped off a two-day trip to Wisconsin with a morning stop at Port Milwaukee on Wednesday, followed by an Amtrak ride with Gov. Tony Evers in the afternoon.
Though the visit was made in an official capacity, Buttigieg, who is believed to be on the shortlist of potential running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, highlighted the ‘Investing in America’ agenda championed by the Biden-Harris administration.
“I’ll just sum it up with one sentence: this is what America’s infrastructure, agriculture, and manufacturing comeback looks like,” Buttigieg told reporters during a press conference held at the Agriculture Maritime Export Facility (AMEF) located on the west side of Jones Island.
As the AMEF project enters Phase 2, nearly $9 million in federal funds will help expand the facility, including the construction of two grain storage silos and the purchase of more equipment to move products from storage to vessels.
“That means the chance to expand the capacity by more than 1.3 million bushels a year so that more American farmers can sell their excellent product to the world through this port,” Buttigieg explained.
“I love stories like this because so many Americans, when they think about ports and supply chains, they picture those ocean ports on our coasts where we are importing products from Asia. That’s a very important part of our economy, but what we love best is to see opportunities to sell our products to the rest of the world and bring that income to our workers, and to our farmers, and to our communities right here in America’s heartland,” Buttigieg added.
For Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) Secretary Randy Romanski, better infrastructure could make a big difference for farmers across the state.
“Investments in infrastructure from point A to point B helps get farmers and processers their product to market more efficiently and having that get to market more efficiently is good for their bottom line and it's fantastic for the economy of our state,” Romanski explained.
Buttigieg credited those economic opportunities to the policies, partnerships, and funds provided by the Biden-Harris administration with the hopes more Wisconsinites would understand the impact.
“This really is the start of a new and better era for America’s heartland and it’s not happening by chance,” Buttigieg said.