Biden tells storm-ravaged Louisiana: 'I know you're hurting'

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden walked the streets of a hardhit Louisiana neighborhood and told local residents, “I know you're hurting, I know you're hurting.” Biden pledged robust federal assistance to get people back on their feet and said the government already had distributed $100 million directly to individuals in the state in $500 checks to give them a first slice of critical help. Residents welcomed Biden's Friday presence, one of them drawing a sign with his last name and a heart for the dot on the “i.” They laughed and posed for selfies. At Friday’s briefing with local officials, Biden insisted the infrastructure bill and an even more expansive measure later on would more effectively prepare the country. “It seems to me we can save a whole lot of money, a whole lot of pain for our constituents, if we build back, rebuild it back in a better way,” Biden said.