This evening, President Donald J. Trump gave his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Construction Employers of America released the following statement in response to the President’s address:

“Construction Employers of America, our 15,000 employer members, and the 1.4 million American workers we employ commend the President for his commitment to invest heavily in American infrastructure. The President rightly stated, ‘America is a nation of builders.’ CEA and our members appreciate the President’s recognition of the enormous contributions hard-working American construction workers have made to the success of our economic revival.

“Our economy can only continue to grow and thrive with major investments in our critical infrastructure systems. While we appreciate the President’s call on Congress to send him a bill that would leverage investments totaling $1.5 trillion in infrastructure over ten years, we are eager to review the details of the Administration’s proposal as infrastructure has historically been funded primarily through federal grants and programs. It will be incredibly difficult to shift the enormous costs of roads, waterways, airports, electric systems, telecommunications, and public buildings -- all of which have regional or national impacts -- to local and state governments and private investors.

“Construction Employers of America looks forward to working with President Trump and Congress to ensure this year’s infrastructure bill can truly ‘reclaim our great building heritage,’ as the President stated. Effective and long-standing worker protections including Davis-Bacon, as well as utilization of project labor agreements, will be vital to the success of the infrastructure package as Congress’s legislation is implemented and projects are selected construction work commences.”

Jack Jacobson
Spokesperson
Construction Employers of America