Pete Buttigieg: Infrastructure is a national security issue

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC Monday that the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline is a reminder that infrastructure "means a lot more than roads and bridges."

The big picture: Buttigieg praised President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan for dedicating funding for both maintenance as well as research and development to innovate new infrastructure technologies, saying that both are part of the country's national security.

What they're saying: "The truth is that having excellent, modern infrastructure has always always been a national security issue," Buttigieg said.

• "[W]e need to spend and invest for national security reasons on making sure we have the greatest and best technology."
• "[P]art of what makes America secure is being a step ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to technology and innovation...that's all part of the jobs plan."