good afternoon and welcome to pennsylvania mr president my name is mike fiore and i'm a senior line worker from duquesne light and a proud member of the international brotherhood of electrical workers local 29 right here in pittsburgh from day one of this pandemic me and my coworkers have been on the front lines it's my job there's no working from home we've kept the lights on and the power running to communities throughout western pennsylvania every day i deal with our electrical grid so i know how critical infrastructure is to our communities that's why i'm so excited about joe biden's buildback better plan nearly everyone agrees that we need to modernize our roads bridges power grids airports and railroads that we need to invest in new energy technologies and american-made manufacturing but what president biden is proposing isn't just an investment in infrastructure it's an investment in good union jobs it's an investment in good schools and strong communities it is an investment in the future of so many forgotten paths in america my brother teaches at pine richland high school in gipsonia just north of here the same high school we both went to the kind of investment joe biden is talking about would mean so much to his school and to his students both now and in the years to come for example president biden proposes a massive expansion of high-speed broadband and that's critical to the health of so many small towns in this area i've got two little kids at home myself and i don't want to see them leave the area or even the state to find opportunities the buildback better plan is directed at communities like mine it's about opening up opportunities revitalizing local businesses and creating jobs for decades pennsylvania was a global leader in manufacturing at good union jobs it can be that way again as president biden has a solid plan to make that happen i also don't want my kids growing up in a world where the threat of climate change hangs over their heads that means investing in electrical vehicle charging infrastructures in all forms of clean power technology so we can slash carbon emissions and create tens of thousands of green energy jobs union jumps and that's exactly what president biden is proposing here's another reason i'm so excited about this i'm 100 a union guy it is in my blood the union changed my life and it gave me opportunities i could never have dreamed of being a line worker isn't always easy but thanks to my union i enjoy a great paycheck strong health and retirement benefits and a voice on the job here's who else is a union guy joe biden and he said again and again unions built the middle class that's why his plan supports collective bargaining rights it supports a living wage and making sure the taxpayer money goes to supporting american-made manufacturing the men and women of the ibew are ready to get to work rebuilding our infrastructure retooling our plants and revitalizing our communities and the middle class we're ready to build america back better so it is my pleasure and it is my honor to introduce the president of the united states joe biden thank you gov mike asked me and say to bobby my good friend he asked me back there he said do you ever get nervous and i he said because i got up this morning made breakfast with my kids so i got introduced to president and well i said to you mike you did a heck of a job but i'd get nervous if i had to get up in the middle of the night climb up a telephone pole replace in the middle of a storm a connection that knocked out everybody's electricity put a transformer that's what would make me nervous so what you did was really good i couldn't do what you do pal i couldn't do what you do and uh i want to uh and it's true mike you're a union guy me too i got in trouble but i don't make any apologies for it i'm a union guy i support unions unions built the middle class it's about time they start to get piece of the action to all my colleagues from the county executive the mayor to everyone that's here i want to say thank you thank you congressman for the for the passport in your district and i appreciate being here i'm honored to be with you two years ago i began my campaign here in pittsburgh saying i was running to rebuild the backbone of america and today i return as your president to lay out the vision of how i believe we do that rebuild the backbone of america it's a vision not seen through the eyes of wall street or washington but through the eyes of hard-working people like the people i grew up with people like mike and his union family union workers and this carpenter's training center people like the folks i grew up with in scranton and claim on delaware people who get up every day work hard raise their family pay their taxes serve their country and volunteer for their communities and just looking for a little bit of breathing room just a little bit of light ordinary americans doing extraordinary things people who break their necks every day for their families and the country they love a country that in fact which on the day i was elected was in extreme distress with a virus on a deadly rampage that is now killed over four thousand i should be 500 i can carry it in my pocket every day i have the list of exactly how many have died 547 thousand 290 americans dead from the virus more than all the people killed in world war one world war ii the vietnam war 9 11. 547 296 americans and an economy that left millions out of work and created so much anxiety that's why i moved so quickly to pass the american rescue plan with the help of my friends here in the congress i really mean that it didn't pass by a whole lot but with the leadership of connor and bobby and the mayor yes you got it done because it was an emergency we needed to act to save jobs to save businesses to save lives and that's what we did we're beginning to see the results we're on our way to having given 200 million vaccination shots in the first 100 days of my presidency when i said i'd get 100 million done people thought it was a significant exaggeration we're going to get 200 million done twice the original goal because of all the help of all of you leading economists are now predicting our economy will grow 6 percent this year that's a rate we haven't seen in years and years we can cut child poverty in half this year with the american rescue plan we're meeting immediate emergencies now it's time to rebuild even before the crisis we're now facing those at the very top in america were doing very well which is fine they were doing great but everyone else was falling behind the pandemic only made the division so much worse and more obvious millions of americans lost their jobs last year while the wealthiest one percent of americans saw their net worth increased by four trillion dollars just goes to show you how distorted and unfair our economy has become wasn't always this way well it's time to change that i know parenthetically that i got criticized for giving tax breaks to middle class and poor folks this last time i didn't hear that cry you and cry when we're doing the same thing when trump's tax bill passed 83 percent of the money went to the top one percent you know this is not to target those who made it and not to seek retribution this is about opening opportunities for everybody else and here's the truth we all will do better when we all do well it's time to build our economy from the bottom up and from the middle out not the top down that hadn't worked very well for the economy overall it hadn't worked because wall street didn't build this country you great middle class built this country and unions built the middle class and it's time and this time when we rebuild the middle class we're going to bring everybody along regardless your background your color your religion the weather everybody gets to come along so today i'm proposing a plan for the nation that rewards work not just rewards wealth it builds a fair economy that gives everybody a chance to succeed and it's going to create the strongest most resilient innovative economy in the world it's not a plan that tinkers around the edges it's a once-in-a-generation investment in america unlike anything we've seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago in fact it's the largest american jobs investment since world war ii will create millions of jobs good paying jobs we'll grow the economy make us more competitive around the world promote our national security interest and put us in a position to win the global competition with china in the upcoming years it's big yes it's bold yes and we can get it done it has two parts the american jobs plan and the american families plan both are essential to our economic future in a few weeks i'll talk about the americans family plan but today i want to talk about the americans jobs plan i'll begin with the heart of the plan it modernizes transportation infrastructure our roads our bridges our airports i just left your airport the director of the airport said we're about to renovate the airport is that right mr county executive we're going to innovate we're going to employ thousands of people and she looked at me said i can't thank you enough for this plan it grows the economy in key ways it puts people to work to repair and upgrade that we badly need it makes it easier and more efficient to move goods to get to work and to make us more competitive around the world some of you local officials know when someone wants to come in the area and a company wants to invest what do they ask where's the first rail bed how can i get to the railroad what access interstate do i have what's the water like tell me about it goes on and on it's about infrastructure the american jobs plan will modernize 20 000 miles of high highways roads and main streets that are in difficult difficult shape right now it'll fix the nation's 10 most economically significant bridges in america that require replacement remember that bridging went down we got 10 most economically significant bridges with more commerce going across it that need to be replaced we'll also repair ten thousand bridges desperately needed upgrades to unclog traffic keep people safe and connect our cities towns and tribes across the country american jobs plan will build new rail corridors and transit lines easing congestion cutting pollution slashing commute times and opening up investment in communities that became connected to the cities and cities to the outskirts where a lot of jobs are these days it'll reduce the bottlenecks of commerce at our ports and our airports the american jobs plan will lead to a transformational progress in our efforts to tackle climate change with american jobs and american ingenuity protect our community from billions of dollars of damage from historic super storms floods wildfires droughts year after year by making our infrastructure more secure and resilient and seizing incredible opportunities for american workers and american farmers in a clean energy future skilled workers like one we just heard from building a nationwide wide network of 500 000 charging stations creating good-paying jobs by leading the world in the manufacturing and export of clean electric cars and trucks we're going to provide tax incentives and point-of-sale rebirths rebates to help all american families afford clean vehicles of the future the federal government owns an enormous fleet of vehicles which are going to be transitioned to clean electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles right here in the united states america by american workers with american products when we make all of these investments we're going to make sure as the executive order i signed early on that we buy america that means investing in american-based companies and american workers not a contract will go out that i control that will not go to a company that is an american company with american products all the way down the line and american workers and we'll buy the goods we need from all of america communities that historically been left out of these investments black latino asian american native americans rural small businesses entrepreneurs across the country look today up to 10 million homes in america and more than 400 000 schools and child care centers have pipes where they get their water from pipes that are lead-based pipes including pipes for drinking water according to scientists there is simply no safe exposure to lead for a child that can slow development and hearing problems american jobs plan will put plumbers and pipefitters to work replacing 100 percent of the nation's lead pipes and service lines so every american every child can turn on a faucet of our fountain and drink clean water with each five thousand dollar investment replacing a line that can mean up to twenty two thousand dollars in health care cost saved a chance to protect our children help them learn and thrive we can't delay we can't delay another minute it's long past due you know in america where the early interest was in internet this thing called the internet that we invested we we invented the early early internet it was invented here millions of americans though lack access to reliable high-speed internet including more than 35 percent of rural america it's a disparity even more pronounced during this pandemic american jobs will make sure every single every single american has access to high quality affordable high-speed internet for businesses for schools and when i say affordable i mean it americans pay too much for internet service we're going to drive down the price for families who have service now and make it easier for families who don't have affordable service to be able to get it now as we saw in texas and elsewhere our electrical power and power grids are vulnerable to storms catastrophic failures and security lapses with tragic results my american jobs plan will put hundreds of thousands of people to work hundreds of thousands of people to work line workers electricians and laborers laying thousands of miles of transmission line building a modern resilient and fully clean grid and capping hundreds of thousands of literally orphan oil and gas wells that need to be cleaned up because they're abandoned paying the same exact rate that a union man or woman would get having dug that well in the first place will build upgrade and weatherize affordable energy efficient housing commercial buildings for millions of americans even before the pandemic millions of working families faced enormous enormous financial and personal strain trying to raise their kids and care for their parents at the same time the so-called sandwich generation or family members with disability you've got a child at home you can't stay home from work to take care of that child unless you lose you're gonna the child's at risk or you lose your job or you have an elderly parent you're taking care of and seniors and people with disabilities living independently feel that strain as well but we know if they can remain independently living they live longer american jobs plan is going to help in big ways it's going to extend access to quality affordable home community-based care think of expanded vital services like programs for seniors or think of home care workers going into homes of seniors and people with disabilities cooking meals helping them get around their homes and helping them be able to live more independently for too long caregivers who are disproportionately women and women of color and immigrants this plan along with the american families plan changes that with better wages benefits and opportunities for millions of people who will be able to get to work in an economy that works for them you know decades ago the united states government used to spend two percent of its gdp its gross domestic product on research and development today we spend less than one percent i think it's seven tenths of one percent here's why that matters we're one of only a few major economies in the world who public investment in research and development as the share of jgdp has declined constantly over the last 25 years and we've fallen back the rest of the world is closing in and closing in fast we can't allow this to continue american jobs plan is the biggest increase in our federal non-defense research and development spending on record it's going to boost america's innovative edge in markets where global leadership is up for grabs markets like battery technology biotechnology computer chips clean energy a competition with china in particular critics say we shouldn't spend this money they ask what do we get out of it well they said the same thing we first flew into space for the first time they said the same thing well pushing the frontiers led to big benefits back home when nasa created apollo's digital flight control system unheard of at the time it led to technologies that help us today to drive our cars and fly our planes when nasa invented ways to keep food safe for the astronauts it led to programs that have been used to for decades to keep food safe in supermarkets at least 2 000 products and services have been developed and commercialized as a result of american space exploration gps has helped us find each other computer chips allow us to see and talk to one another even separated by mountains and oceans singing happy birthday and watching the first steps of that new baby grandchild comforting each other when comfort is needed think about what means to you and your loved ones we just have to imagine again i had a long discussion with xi jinping leader of china and he called to congratulate we spent two hours on the phone and he said and i was astonished my national security team and the china experts were on the line he said you've always said mr president that you can define america in one word possibilities that's who we are in america anything's possible like what we did with vaccines a decade ago that laid the foundation for covet 19 vaccines we have today like we did when the interstate highway system that transformed the way we traveled lived worked and developed americans could visit relatives anywhere in the country with just a family station wagon business here in pittsburgh could load up a truck get a product to portland or phoenix to this day about a quarter of all the miles americans drive each year on one of those very original highways imagine what we can do what's within our reach if we modernize those highways you and your family can travel coast to coast without a single tank of gas on board a high-speed train we can connect high-speed affordable reliable internet wherever you live imagine knowing that you are handing your children and grandchildren a country that will lead the world on producing clean energy technology and will need to address one of the biggest threats of our time that's what we'll do all together along with the american rescue plan proposal i put forward will create millions of jobs estimated by some wall street outfits over 18 million jobs over four years good paying jobs it also works to level the playing field empower workers and ensure that the new jobs are good jobs that you can raise a family on and ensure free and fair choice to organize and bargain collectively that's why my plan asked congress to pass the protecting the right to organize act the pro act and send it to my desk this plan is important not only for what and how it builds it's also important to where we build it includes everyone regardless of your race your zip code too often economic growth and recovery is concentrated on the coast too often investments have failed to meet the needs of marginalized communities left behind there is talent innovation everywhere and this plan connects that talent through cities small towns rural communities through our businesses and our universities through our entrepreneurs union workers all across america we have to move now because i'm convinced that we act now in 50 years people are going to look back and say this was the moment that america won the future when i'm proposing is a one-time capital investment of roughly two trillion dollars in america's future spread largely over eight years will generate historic job growth historic economic growth help businesses to compete internationally create more revenue as well they are among the highest value investments we can make in the nation investing in our infrastructure but put another way failing to make these investments adds to our debt and effectively puts our children at a disadvantage relative to our competitors that's what crumbling infrastructure does and our infrastructure is crumbling we rank 13th in the world what's more it heightens our vulnerability to an attack attracts our adversaries to compete in ways that they don't have them up to now and our adversaries are worried about us building this critical infrastructure put simply these are investments we have to make we can afford to make them put another we can't afford not to so how do we pay for it i spoke to the majority leader and no longer i guess he's no longer the majority leader he has been for a long time i spoke for the republican i spoke to the republican leader about the plan everybody's for doing something on infrastructure why have we done it well no one wants to pay for it less than four years ago as i said the congress passed a tax cut of two trillion dollars increasing the national debt two trillion dollars it didn't meet virtually any of the predictions it would in terms of growing the economy overwhelmingly the benefits of that tax package went to the wealthiest americans it even included new investments that would you profit by shifting profits and jobs overseas if you're a corporation it was bad for american competitors deeply unfair to the middle class families and wrong for our future so here's what i do i start with one rule no one who said again no one making under four hundred thousand dollars will see their federal taxes go up period this is not about penalizing anyone i have nothing against millionaires and billionaires i believe american american capitalism i want everyone to do well but here's the deal right now middle class couple a firefighter and a teacher with two kids making a combined salary of say a hundred and ten hundred twenty thousand dollars a year pays 22 cents for each additional dollar they earn in federal income tax but a multinational corporation that builds a factory abroad brings in homes and sells they pay nothing at all we're going to raise the corporate tax it was 35 percent which is too high we all agreed five years ago it should go down to 28 but they reduced it to 21 we're going to raise it back to up to 28 no one should be able to complain about that it's still lower than what that rate was between world war ii and 2017. just doing that one thing will generate one trillion dollars in additional revenue over 15 years in 2019 an independent analysis found that there are 91 let me say it again 91 fortune 500 companies biggest companies in the world including amazon that use various loopholes so they pay not a single solitary penny in federal income tax i don't want to punish them that's just wrong that's just wrong pharma teacher paying 22 amazon and 90 other major corporations paying zero in federal taxes i'm going to put an end to that here's how we'll do it we're establishing a global minimum tax for u.s corporations at 21 we're going to level the international playing field that alone will raise 1 trillion over 15 years we'll also eliminate deductions by corporations for offshoring jobs and shifting assets overseas you do that you pay a penalty you don't get a reward in my plan and use the savings from that to give companies tax credits to locate manufacturing here in manufacturing and production here in the united states and will significantly ramp up the irs enforcement against corporations who either fail to report their incomes or under report it's estimated that you raise hundreds of billions of dollars all this adds up to more than what i proposed to spend in just 15 years it's honest it's fiscally responsible and by the way as the experts will tell you it reduces the debt the federal debt over the long haul but let me be clear these are my ideas on how to pay for this plan others have additional ideas let them come forward i'm open to other ideas so long as they do not impose any tax increase on people making less than four hundred thousand dollars let me close with this historically infrastructure had been a bipartisan undertaking many times led by republicans was abraham lincoln who built the transcontinental railroad dwight eisenhower republican interstate highway system i could go on and i don't think you'll find a republican today in the house or senate maybe i'm wrong gentlemen who doesn't think we have to improve our infrastructure they know china and other countries are eating our lunch so there's no reason why i can't be bipartisan again the divisions of the moment shouldn't stop us from doing the right thing for the future i'm going to bring republicans into the oval office listen to them what they have to say and be open to other ideas we'll have a good faith negotiation with any republican who wants to help get this done but we have to get it done i truly believe we're in a moment history is going to look back on this time as a fundamental choice having been made between democracies and autocracies you know there's a lot of autocrats in the world who think the reason why they're going to win is democracies can't reach consensus any longer autocracies do that's what competition between america and china and the rest of the world is all about it's a basic question can democracy still deliver for their people can they get a majority i believe we can i believe we must delivering for the american people is what the american rescue plan was all about and it's been overwhelmingly popular when i wrote it everybody said i had no bipartisan support or overwhelming bipartisan report were republican registered republican voters and ask around if you live in a town with a republican mayor republican county executive or republican governor ask them how many would rather get rid of the plan ask them if it helped them at all it's what the american job plan is about the new one i'm proposing i hope republicans in congress will join this effort i hope and i believe a number of businesses will join this effort and i hope and believe the american people will join this effort democrats republican independents we can do this we have to do this we will do this we just have to remember this is the united states of america and have said it a thousand times there's nothing beyond our capacity if we act together so it's time to move together thank you and i hope i get to come back to see you folks after this plan is passed and the question is you have to attract even more apprentices more people because we're building so much god bless you all and may god protect our church thank you you
2021-04-09