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BATON ROUGE, La. (WGNO) — Fresh off President Joe Biden naming former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as his Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D) released a statement on Sunday evening regarding the appointment.

Gov. Edwards’ statement read:

“As a former Louisiana Lieutenant Governor and Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu has a unique firsthand experience with the challenges aging infrastructure presents to our communities and also with how infrastructure improvements and projects can revitalize cities and towns. I applaud President Biden for selecting him to be the coordinator for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and look forward to working with him to address Louisiana’s many infrastructure needs head on.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards

Landrieu’s appointment is a logical next step with Biden expected to sign the $1 trillion Bipartisan ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’ into law on Monday. The President hailed the bill’s approval last week as a “monumental step forward.”

According to the White House, the 61-year-old Landrieu, who led New Orleans into recovery after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, will coordinate various federal agencies to work on roads, ports, bridges and airports.