Transportation

Chamber of Commerce launches ad campaign urging Congress to pass infrastructure package

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a joint campaign with the Bipartisan Policy Center, launched a six-figure advertising campaign on Thursday to urge Congress to enact an ambitious infrastructure package.

The “Job One” campaign will include both cable television and digital advertising. The announcement did not specify the exact dollar amount spent on the ads. 

The campaign touts a Georgetown University study that estimates that a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure would create 11 million new jobs in 10 years, though the campaign does not specify how much a future bill should be.

It calls for investments in roads, bridges, airports, railroads, rural broadband, clean energy and water. 

“Our leaders in Washington now have a historic opportunity to rebuild our economy, get Americans back to work, and improve the quality for life for everyone. Repairing roads and bridges, investing in airports and rail, expanding rural broadband, and providing cleaner affordable energy and drinking water systems,” the ad says. 

“President Biden and Congress can jump start our economy and bring jobs back,” it adds.

Biden has said he will ask Congress in February for an infrastructure package, and his nominee to lead the Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, said in his prepared remarks for his Senate confirmation hearing that there is a lot of work to do to improve infrastructure.