Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is defending President Donald Trump’s many initiatives to address infrastructure in Washington, D.C., calling it a visible reminder that the country needs to actively press back against decline.

Burgum stated, ‘Nations don’t crumble by fate — they decline by choice.’ He highlighted the administration’s efforts to rehabilitate and install historic memorials, statues, and fountains, as well as remove graffiti and clean up crime on the streets.

Restoration Efforts

As part of the 250th celebration of the United States’ Independence Day anniversary, Trump has spent $14.7 million to restore the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool and allocated $250 million to restore the Kennedy Center. The administration is also on track to spend over $400 million on the construction of a ballroom at the White House.

The Department of the Interior has overseen many of the improvements, including the removal of 510 instances of graffiti, 154 homeless encampments, and the application of 212 tons of repair materials to roads and parkways. The department has also restored 280,000 square feet of roadway paving, rehabilitated 1,301 benches, and fixed 1,913 lights.

Burgum said the repairs were emblematic of the administration’s aggressive posture towards addressing problems that had gone ignored in the past. The Department of the Interior has also restored and cleaned dozens of monuments and statues around DC, including the transformation of Meridian Hill Park.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.