ForConstructionPros.com

On February 12, President Obama made a point to add to his packed agenda a visit to Caterpillar's track-type tractor plant in Peoria, IL, where he addressed management and workers about the pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (HR 1). Although expected to pass its final hurdle in Congress the next day, the President clearly felt the necessity to present the legislation's benefits directly to workers particularly impacted by the economic crisis.

"What's happening at this company tells us a larger story about what's happening with our nation's economy," he stated. He cited the company's previous and intended layoffs, totaling up to 22,000 workers, as "an urgent warning sign for America."

"Because when a company that is as good and successful and efficient and lean and mean as Caterpillar is shutting down production and shedding jobs, that means we're not building up this country," he pointed out. "We're not building new homes and offices or rebuilding crumbling schools and infrastructure. In short, we're standing still."

(Visit www.ForConstructionPros.com for full video coverage of the President's speech, as well as the follow-up press conference with Jim Owens, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar.)

Whether you agree with his agenda or not, President Obama appears to be the first president in decades to embrace the necessity of ongoing investment and growth in the nation's infrastructure. His commitment to this cause was prevalent throughout the latter portion of his campaign, and in the recent weeks of negotiations on the stimulus bill. This bodes well for the future, particularly as Congress embarks on reauthorization of federal highway funding legislation this Fall.