NEW ORLEANS  - Vice President Joe Biden says the nation is on the verge of resurgence thanks to the White House's decision to buttress the sagging American economy seven years ago with stimulus spending.

During a stop Wednesday to tout the importance of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Biden toured the Port of New Orleans. He visited a new crane system, paid for with stimulus dollars, aimed at speeding up and expanding the port's capacity to load containers from ships onto trains and trucks.

The $24.7 million project received $16.7 million in stimulus money.

Biden called the stimulus funds an essential trigger that allowed the U.S. economy to recover from recession. Seven years later, he says the nation has benefited profoundly.

Biden was headed to Memphis and St. Paul, Minnesota, next.