Washington, Jun 28 (AP) The White House is seeking roughly USD 4 billion in additional emergency funding from Congress for costs related to the collapse and repair of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore and to respond to other disasters that have occurred around the US in recent months.

That money is part of a new emergency request from President Joe Biden's administration that essentially re-ups a broader, USD 56 billion ask from last October that Congress virtually ignored. Now, the Democratic administration is asking for that same pot of money again, but with billions added to deal with the bridge reconstruction and related costs.

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More specifically, the Biden administration wants an additional USD 3.1 billion for the Department of Transportation, which would go toward rebuilding Key Bridge with the federal government picking up the entire tab. Nearly USD 80 million would go to the Coast Guard to compensate for its “unplanned costs” responding to the March bridge collapse, and another $33 million would be designated for the Army Corps of Engineers for expenses related to wreckage removal after the bridge was struck by a cargo ship.

The request from the Biden administration is detailed in a letter from Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., being sent on Friday. Young says that making this money available “would ensure that the federal government fulfills its responsibility to rebuild Baltimore without endangering America's ability to respond to other recent or future disasters across the nation.”

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The additional USD 4 billion also covers costs for other disasters over the past year, including a spate of tornadoes in the Midwest and the wildfires in Hawaii.

The cargo ship experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore and yet again shortly before it slammed into the Key Bridge, killing six construction workers, federal investigators said last month. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)