President Joe Biden discusses America Rescue Plan investment strategy

secretary mundo thank you uh before i begin i'd like to uh speak very briefly about today's jobs report that was just been issued we received more good news in august the economy created 315 000 new jobs the great american jobs machine continues its comeback america workers are back to work earning more manufacturing more building an economy from the bottom up in the middle out but with today's news we have now created nearly 10 million new jobs since i took office nearly 10 million jobs the fastest growth in all of american history in august we also saw that the share of americans who are working on our economy went up economists call that labor force partition patient rate working age women are now for the first time back at work at rates not seen since before the pandemic wages are up unemployment remains near a 50-year low and yesterday we got that we got data that showed that manufacturing orders were up but cost increases supply chain items were beginning to ease the week before that we got data showing the price increase may be beginning to ease as well the bottom line is jobs are up wages are up people are back to work and we're seeing some signs that inflation may be maybe i'm not over promising it may be beginning to ease couple that with the fact that gas prices have now fallen 80 straight days the fastest decline in over a decade and the price at the pump is now 1.20 a gallon less than it was the beginning in the summer america has some really good news going on labor day weekend we're also seeing something else critical to the backbone of the american economy manufacturing manufacturing is roaring back since i took office the economy has created 668 000 manufacturing jobs the strongest manufacturing recovery since the 1950s and just last week we've seen major american companies from first solar to corning to micron announced plans to invest tens of billions of dollars tens of billions that's not a misstatement tens of billions of dollars expanding manufacturing in america we've seen major global companies like toyota and honda announce that they're choosing america to invest and build none of this is happening by accident these investments and this recovery are a direct result of my economic plan some people gave up on american manufacturing not me not the secretary not the american people make it in america is no longer just a slogan it's a reality in my administration i'm committed to building an economy from the bottom up in the middle out you've heard me say that a thousand times but that's what's happening and that's what we're here to talk about today now a big part of the american rescue plan that i signed once i a month after we got in office we were facing a once in a century pandemic historic joblessness businesses struggling to stay open remote learning for our children but thanks to the american rescue plan we have come a long way we got vaccine shots and arms we helped people who needed them at the most we kept teachers in classroom cops on the beat firefighters on the job because the local communities didn't have the money to pay for them and as a result coveted longer controls our lives more americans are working than ever businesses are growing schools are open and today we're celebrating a signature program the american rescue and of the american within the american rescue plan that's going to help communities that need it most look it's called the build back better regional challenge it's centered around a vision that as our economy recovers and modernizes as science and technologies accelerate and change the nature of how we manufacture we want workers and small businesses leading this transition making sure they're a part of it not just being shunned aside instead of fearing that the transgression's going to leave them behind we're going to help them get retrained and many other things and think take a look think of the 55 year old small business man who's been making a single screw was literally true for a combustible engine for cars for decades he and his workers are worried why because we're moving to high-tech electric vehicles we're going to help them and their businesses with training and new technology to help them make parts for electric vehicles and lead the transition to a clean energy economy so they're not left behind this is about investing in them believing in them helping them transition to a new world they can do these jobs just like they did the ones they had before this is about jobs in their communities for them not having to leave or not having to go on unemployment as new enterprises are created in the communities they should have they shouldn't have to leave they should be the ones to be able to fill in for those jobs so we designed this program by thinking about people and places in a really important way and i know you got all of you up on the screen here 21 different communities this american rescue plan program invests 1 billion dollars a total of three but one billion dollars to create jobs and opportunity for people in places where they live and where they've worked their entire career so they don't have to leave i know when folks hear such big numbers they don't think it's uh it's for them but this is for them is for them over 500 coalitions applied for these grants from community organizations to philanthropies to labor unions to colleges universities all working together from every part of america that kind of interest is a testament to the need and enthusiasm for this type of investment i it took uh i i i take a look at this uh as a transition investment i'm so proud to announce 21 awardees up on the screen here who each receive between 25 million and 65 million jobs to turn their plans into action and secretary mundo just said and i guess i wasn't supposed to start this off was i come to think of it all of a sudden it dawned on me i was supposed to let her speak first but estimate these projects are going to result in 100 000 jobs created or saved over 7 billion in additional private sector investment in these 21 communities we want you to continue having good jobs in your communities so you don't have to leave so your people in your communities are just aren't displaced the winners are all here up on the screen and they're going to empower communities in pennsylvania west virginia joe is that you is that joe manchin i see i'm right here with you hey joe joe good to see you man thanks for what you're doing matter of fact you're one of the guys that started this idea with me what you needed what you're talking about need to have happen in west virginia but anyway they're all there they're going on power communities in pennsylvania west virginia louisiana to lead our nation's transition to clean energy they're going to empower small manufacturers in michigan kansas north carolina el paso texas helping them modernize and become part of a supply chain for cutting-edge technologies advanced manufacturing biotechnology aerospace they're going to empower agriculture workers and fresno california women in st louis missouri pursuing manufacturing careers through quality job training and apprenticeships that lead to good paying jobs and they're going to support entrepreneurship and small business creation from native american communities in montana and to tulsa greenwood nape to tulsa's greenwood neighborhood once known as a black wall street that i visited on 100th anniversary of the tulsa race massacre together these projects are going to uplift underserved communities and include them as key parts of america's economic recovery for the 21st century we're putting people who have been left behind in the past or couldn't be couldn't have been lifted out of anything before they're going to be part of this recovery they're going to be the ones who are going to be leading the way here they're going to be ones getting retrained for these jobs take the project in georgia i recently signed a number of laws that are going to bring manufacturing jobs back to america and make sure the future is made in america think of everything from electric vehicles to semiconductor chips georgia tech one of the great research universities is a leader in understanding how artificial intelligence can be used to strengthen almost any industry but too many folks especially small manufacturers in black communities rural or rural communities in georgia can't afford access to the knowledge and the research to be able to capture those jobs to be trained for them they can't take advantage of all that technology that can make them for them all the difference between their business closing and thriving so georgia tech partnered with hbcus and like spelman college and fort valley state and local community colleges with this grant they're going to take this technology on the road with mobile training studios that's basically a high-tech van that's going to travel into under-served areas across georgia to train a whole new generation of workers technology experts will provide workers who are interested in four to six weeks hands-on training that can make all the difference in their employment think of a poultry farmer who might never have had a chance to learn how to artificial how artificial technology can help manage inventory or improve the safety and quality while increasing their productivity think of the family-owned paper manufacturer that could never have afforded trying out cutting-edge technologies but now they're going to be able to and they're going to be able to grow their businesses and they can do it without ever leaving their home or their families this is a game changer take the projections the project in manchester new hampshire i tell you what i heard so much from the from the delegation in in new hampshire from maggie hass anyway i won't get into it this has been one of the things they've been pushing for a long time both senators and the congressman their goal is nothing short of becoming a global epicenter for the next generation of advanced medicine but to do it they need world-class labs for clinical trials that will attract the most innovative biomedicine companies and to locate and create jobs in new hampshire i have to say that senator hassan and shaheen and congressman pappas i hear you i hear you i hear you i know you've been talking about this a long time we've finally gotten and they're going to need to bring struggling communities along in the process because of this grant manchester is going to revitalize what was once one of the largest cotton textile plants in the world right now 100 000 square foot mill a building is empty and idle but not for long because of this grant a coalition of city leaders and research and community organizations is going to transform that old mill into a modern marble it's going to house advanced science labs that are going to conduct groundbreaking clinical trials it's going to be the place where they can test biotechnologies and treatments that are going to save lives and the governor republican governors working on it are going to be there as well for workers small businesses entrepreneurs and management in the manchester area it means opportunity it means jobs you can raise your family on in manchester not have to move because of this american rescue plan grant they're going to be able to have access to cutting-edge technology and labs that never could have been afforded before this is going to allow them to compete with anyone anywhere in the world and make sure the supply chain for these new medicines advances the medical advances are built right here in america it matters as you probably know i could go on and on and speak about each of the communities here but time won't permit i applaud every community that received the grant and that applied you're the reason why i'm so optimistic about the future of this country i mean it heard me say it many times before america is the only nation in the world that can be defined by a single word possibilities nothing but possibilities here that's what this is all about i want to thank you and i'm so i'm going to do what i should have done to begin with turn it over to the secretary to begin this but we've already gone by it so madam secretary of the floor is yours thank you mr president uh i think the fact that the president jumped in there right away is a testament to how excited he is about this project he's fired up and he's committed to it and that's because he knows he knows that we have to be investing in every community in america to help with the transition so let me fill in a few of the blanks about how this program is going to work and then we're going to have a discussion with a handful of the 21 awardees first of all congratulations if you are one of the 21 here you are the cream of the crop your applications were fantastic and congratulations to each and every one of you the president and i are so proud of you and just thrilled to be able to work with you i have to thank you mr president for your leadership everybody should know that uh this was the president's idea i mean as he said the american rescue plan was passed 17 months ago three billion dollars of that came to the commerce department to do economic development and we decided to put one billion dollars into this build back better regional challenge and it's because the president directed me to make investments in communities to help communities revitalize themselves and get ready for the transitions in our economy because he fundamentally said people want to work where they live and they ought to be able to do that and so that's what this is all about we believe every single american no matter where you live ought to have an opportunity to have a high paying family supporting job in that community and that's what this is all about so let me fill in some of the blanks about the approach it's a novel approach this is the first time ever the department of commerce has made such sizable investments in individual communities when we started to be very honest we weren't sure we weren't sure if communities would apply and bring together coalitions and have the capacity to invest tens of millions of dollars well uh we got 529 submissions we went from 529 down to 60 finalists and then from those 60 finalists we worked to get to the 21 who are with us today so again the fact that you are among the 21 hats off to each and every one of you here's what makes this interesting everyone on this screen of the 21 will be receiving between 25 million dollars and 65 million dollars to address regional economic challenges and to invest in revitalizing the economies of these communities so that's a lot of cheese folks to make big investments and revitalize your communities this was all bottoms up we went to the community and said you tell us how to revitalize your community and you bring the community together public sector private sector universities philanthropy get your community together and tell us what you need to invest so as a result this federal funding will be matched by more than 300 million dollars of local investment and will leverage support from over 450 private sector and 27 labor unions or worker organizations we estimate that together this whole initiative will create or save over a hundred thousand jobs and over 7 billion dollars of additional private investment will be catalyzed through the each coalition's efforts and as the president said this is about growing industries that are critical to our future clean energy biotechnology advanced mobility and it's about saying to the small businesses and workers in these communities we know the economy is transitioning we're moving away from fossil fuels to clean energy we're moving towards robotics we're moving towards a more digital economy a more technical economy and the point of it is no one will be left behind because we're going to retrain workers we're going to retrain small businesses and we're going to light up abandoned buildings that may have once trained coal miners and today will train solar installers abandoned manufacturing facilities that may have you know once made widgets will be you know lighted up for new uh advanced manufacturing in solar panels and so the important point here and the president talks to us all the time about this is that if you're out there you know in in buffalo and you drive by every day in a banded industrial building and you have a pit in your stomach wondering is there a place for me in a new economy or if you are someone who's worked for 30 years in one of the big three auto companies and you only know how to work on a traditional auto car and you're worried do you have the skills to transition to an electric vehicle economy what we're saying to you is yes yes because we're going to retrain you we're going to retrofit small businesses we're going to do solar installations at industrial scale over abandoned coal mines and we're going to make sure that as we transition everyone's included and trained and these small businesses are able to do this i'll just um end with the personal story which i told to the president when we were designing this program i had my father in mind my father once upon a time rhode island where i'm from was the jewelry manufacturing capital of the world everywhere you looked jewelry manufacturing low skill but it was a good job my dad had one of those jobs at bulova watch until he was 56 years old and his job and all the other jobs went to china and he would so often say to us gina we were just left behind we weren't retrained he wanted to work he could work and he said our leaders left us behind so what this is about is president biden is committed to folks who have that anxiety who've worked in o-line manufacturing who've worked in the coal industry who've worked in you know traditional combustion engine vehicles and they're feeling anxious and we're saying we are going to be there for you to make sure you're not left behind or left out and we're going to make investments in your community so you can work in the community where you and your family live so we're excited and quite honestly i'm just very lucky that i get to work for a boss who gets this because he gets it and every time we brief him he says secretary don't tell me how much money we're spending tell me what are we doing for the people of america and that's why this is so exciting so um with that we want to hear from you now as the president said if we have the time we'd like to hear from every single one of you because these every one of you has put together a phenomenal application but we don't have the time so we're just going to hear from a couple of you and hope to have a free-flowing discussion and i want to begin by calling on the detroit regional partnership foundation congratulations you all are receiving 52.2 million dollars which is incredible uh we'd like to hear from you and i'd like to call on maureen just tell us a little bit about how are you going to invest the 52 million what's what are the projects you're doing and what does this mean for the small businesses in the supply chain in detroit's auto manufacturing industry good morning thank you madam secretary and good morning mr president um we are thrilled to join you here today from detroit the global epicenter of mobility i want to introduce two of our partners who are with me today quentin messer jr who is the ceo of the michigan economic development corporation ned stabler who is the ceo of techtown detroit in addition we have a large group of over 140 partners who are joining us virtually and and who work together for this successful application we're honored that the eda has recognized that detroit the detroit region is leading the transformation from internal combustion engine to electric vehicle the global epicenter of mobility or gem is detroit's answer to the build back better regional challenge through an inclusive and equitable lens gem will help the detroit region redefine every aspect of mobility from the cutting edge technology that moves people in goods to creating new quality jobs and readying new sites for business we are building an inclusive prosperous 21st century with your help gems vision is to accelerate economic growth by building on the region's unrivaled mobility assets it will create a smart secure sustainable and inclusive advanced mobility industry starting with the transition to next generation electric autonomous and fully connected vehicles this grant will fund six unique projects that will help the region and country maintain its global automotive leadership gem will support workers start-up businesses and small to medium-sized companies as they adapt to new high-tech advanced mobility industry led by one of the most diverse regions in the united states gem offers the opportunity to create a national model for equitable equitable economic growth we are ready to help secure the nation's advanced mobility leadership for generations to come thank you again we welcome any questions and we also want to invite you mr president and madam secretary in two weeks to join us in detroit at the north american international auto show where we can show you in person how we are leading the way i'll be there awesome i'm a car guy as you kind of noticed hey look um uh i i drive the cabinet crazy and my staff crazy by asking them to give concrete examples that if you walked up to somebody in the corner and said that they could completely understand it one of the things that i i this is pure biden but i believe and i've been saying for some time that the next 10 to 15 years more is going to change in terms of technology and innovation than it's happened in the last 75 years i mean that sincerely things are gonna change so rapidly that's good if we're gonna compete in the world but also it's scary as hell for somebody who uh like we were talking on the way over to this building about how there's hundreds of small companies supplying small parts to internal combustion engines and you were you were giving me an example madam secretary of a both one company provides that is not going to be uh um useful in a uh an electric vehicle and so what we're going to do is train that that that company the ownership of that company what parts they can't contribute to to make that vehicle and i'll give you a concrete example remember we're having the great difficulty we still have some difficulty in a supply chain of items coming from uh asia and the shipping the the vast majority of it comes through the ports in san diego and and los angeles and those ports and the ports are asking for help all across the country for new technologies new cranes new movements more robotics i said okay we'll do it on one condition that the people you have on the job now at the port are the people you train you give them the opportunity to man the new machinery not a joke and one of the things i think this is was so important about what we're all talking about all of you are talking about is think of all the people who've been breaking their neck and doing well doing things that really matter who are going to become what they're doing because it can become obsolete because how things are changing whether it's a transition in the climate environment or whether it's clan manufacturing or medicine whatever it is and so when you say you're going to provide we're going to provide in-depth assessment assessment and assistance of 65 firms through a supply chain transformation center that can sound pretty abstract to a lot of people give me an example of what you really mean but this will really mean for a company and its workers in this supply chain trans transformation center what are you talking about absolutely mr president as you know in our region because you were very important here a few years ago in helping us make a transformation we need to do it again we have a terrific talented workforce and supply chain but we need to give them the skills that they need and the tools that they need so one example is a company in a community in the detroit region called oxford it's barren industries they're a casting company but they need help in making sure that they can produce the right parts with the right technology at the right speed with the right talent so they have been receiving assistance on marketing on cyber security on production techniques so that they can make the transition as rapidly as the oems are making it and they can stay an important part of that supply chain that also includes making sure that their employees have the skill sets the upskilling that they need so that they can be successful and as you say included and staying here in our region to do those jobs mr president one of the things i love about what maureen and her team is doing is that so often we focus on the big three automakers which is important you know for all the obvious reasons but what they're doing is focused on the whole network of small suppliers you know the hundreds if not thousands of small family-owned suppliers to the big three and making sure that as maureen said they had the new materials the new technology the new training so that they can continue to service as we move towards evs and so i give you a lot of credit for getting into the supply chain last thing i'll say i talk about this for a long time but uh going through two of the major american automobile plants for a long time for extended period of time there was a lot of concern by the uaw about robotics and uh and how that was going to displace workers when in fact being able to teach those folks how to use those robots that increase productivity and doesn't displace them is what's really happening and so it's all about you can maintain the workforce you can maintain the increase the productivity remain competitive internationally and still get a lot done but uh at any rate i uh i maybe with a as uh my grandfather you say with the grace of god the good will the neighbors i'll see at the auto show we welcome you absolutely so the mention of robotics is a perfect segue uh i'd love to turn it over to stephanie from the southwestern pennsylvania new economy coalition you all will be receiving 62 million dollars uh i'd love to hear stephanie talk a little bit more about that um to put this in perspective and to pick up on the point you just made mr president about robotics carnegie mellon university in pittsburgh is we all know a world leader in robotics and a lot of jobs have been created right around cmu but if you're living in a coal community or a rural community outside of pittsburgh you might wonder how do i fit in how do i get a job you know with robotics and county executive that's what you do exactly that's why he's part of it so that so that's what these guys are doing so we'll turn it over to stephanie and the team and maybe tell us a little bit about what you're doing sure thank you madam secretary and yes mr president i am joined today by several of your friends um the county executives fitzgerald president of carnegie mellon university farm to union and my colleague and the chief equity officer on the project majestic lane and what i want to start off by saying is thank you for your vision and thank you very much madam secretary to your incredible team and for you in making that a reality um what we have loved in some ways most about this project is that we get to do what we do best in pittsburgh which is collaborate and bring together what we had 200 partners in which we call the special thoughts in pittsburgh to make words into action to deliver on your vision and so through this amazing challenge we are able to do exactly what you said which is to look at those 3 000 manufacturers that are in counties like indiana and fayette and green and washington and marry them with the over 100 robotics companies that birth from carnegie mellon university and many of our other folks to actually put them together to create the jobs and the technologies and the companies of the future and we're doing that in a way that is building programs for people this is about people first 14 000 workers 750 companies that will fuel an entire new economy for us that we think won't just be about southwestern pa and not just the united states but globally to redefine how we do business and how we keep jobs at home in our communities as you so well described thank you one of the things i love about this is a lot of people when they hear robotics or they hear autonomous technologies they hear i'm about to lose my job and so what stephanie and the team are doing is saying quite the opposite this is going to create job opportunities for you including in your rural community not just in the neighborhood of cmu yeah i so appreciate that question i don't secretary because as you can imagine as the birthplace and the leader in robotics this is a question we tackle and think about extensively and i can start by telling you the data which is we know that for every one job that may be displaced with robotics technology in a company it's creating at least 1.5 and sometimes more but what's even more important and that we understand is for the companies that are actually growing and scaling in our midst those hundred companies i talked about many of them have upwards of a thousand employees right now and those are middle skill jobs those are jobs where people are tinkering and building sensors and using the skills that you described like your father had and that's exactly what we're trying to do here today and we're doing it across industries like energy like agriculture like healthcare this is an incredible bra based opportunity and what we even know more as we talk to those workers they are more fulfilled they are actually enjoying their ability to use their creative skills to customize sensors to repair robots to work in partnership with entrepreneurs in creating those actual technologies it's a more fulfilling job it's a higher wage job it keeps them in communities and it actually allows them to have family sustaining jobs where they were born and where they want to stay mr president carnegie mellon i had the honor of you showing me around carnegie mellon it's a great university for real i'm not being solicitous are you working with smaller outfits like the community colleges in the region and talk to me about the sort of uh coordination between a great national university like yours and a community college in that community first of all mr president thank you very much for your leadership it's good to be with you there are two aspects of it that i want to highlight on one hand what we're trying to do is to bring robotics and automation to small and medium-sized enterprises as you alluded to the digital transformation has taken place and it's really having a ripple effect across so many sectors of our economy so we're bringing those technologies and know-how to agriculture to construction to energy to health care to manufacturing mining and transportation so that element bringing those skills and technologies to small and medium enterprises to make them more competitive is extremely important it's extremely important for the nation because we live in a global world so that's one element of it the second element of it that you alluded to has to do with upskilling and reselling the workforce and in this case we're working with community colleges we're working on curriculum development we're working on various ways that we can bring along uh the workers and retrain them and upskill them to be ready for these new jobs that are gonna be created it's extremely important to recognize that as we adapt these new technologies in small and medium enterprises we have the workforce that's going to be ready to take those jobs so the coordination with community colleges with labor unions especially in our core urban areas and as madam secretary alluded to in 11 counties that surround us is part of our mission and what we're committed to thank you again for the opportunity well let me ask you how's this going to play out on the political scene as a county executive what are you going to be able to tell folks about what's happening with this 62 billion million dollars well thank you mr president uh what we can tell people is president biden continues to invest in people and in jobs and in our future first of all congratulations on another great jobs report i mean i we shouldn't just go over that real quickly 10 million jobs in your in your year and a half 10 years is really unbelievable and a lot of them have been created right here in southwestern pennsylvania and as stephanie and president johannes had mentioned it's not just for the for the robotics uh software engineer in pittsburgh it is for the small town in west portland county in beaver county the manufacturing uh facilities that are transitioning and the type of training that can happen throughout our community college but for families and i know you talk about this all the time and it's so important it's about hope and for the future for the next generation who are out there wondering what's going to happen you mentioned the displacement that's going to you know could happen and the changes over the next 10 to 15 years this doesn't leave people behind and we appreciate that very very much and by the way we're looking forward to seeing you on monday at labor day you're always here with us we're guaranteeing good weather mr president all right all right sir do you have anything you'd like to add about what's going on in the community well sure i think what's important about this is as you spoke to mr president often people think that robotics and ar are leaving people behind but we're being really intentional uh both demographically within our communities people of color and women and also in our rural communities about how do we connect people to inclusive career pathways but also actually connecting them up to business development opportunities in the robotics and ai industry which traditionally they may not have had access to what we're really doing is being intentional about figuring out how do we make these connections and really making this an economy for all so thank you well you know one of the things if i may uh having been a significant consumer of health care and having family members who needed serious health care one of the things that i think in the healthcare side most docs will tell you that when people get a diagnosis that is very dire they need really a navigator they need someone to help them know when to go to what appointment what the appointments are for how to what just explain what's going on uh it seems to me we need some navigators here and i'm wondering how you're doing that i mean you have someone let's say there's someone we were doing this on a local pittsburgh television station and someone listening and saying well i'd like to i'd like to get trained i like i mean how how are you reaching out to the community and do we have essentially whatever they want to call them navigators say look here's the way you can get into this this is what you do or people going into those those small businesses that are going to be eventually displaced because of technology is going to be surpassed and say this is what you i mean is there is there thought about that absolutely mr president thank you for that question and that really is the spirit of as i was talking about earlier our project and the way our partners are coming together so we have five projects that are woven together each with incredible organizations that know how to actually be on the ground most of our money is actually going out to neighborhoods and communities so they can actually use the organizations that know their people that know where the businesses are that know where those individuals are that have to get into the jobs um where those people are that are ready for entrepreneurial opportunities so for example it starts with our manufacturing extension partnership they know where those manufacturers are and they understand their readiness to adopt technologies they will come together in a manufacturing hub with entrepreneurs who can help de-risk the prototyping and creation of products that can actually be deployed we also have our lead accelerator entity in the region that's creating a new model of startup factory with anchor maker spaces throughout the communities where we can identify opportunities to create new technologies that will be deployed into those companies and taken all together our workforce ecosystem as dr um janie described will actually be connected by a web of workforce boards and other community organizations including labor unions and other at the neighborhood level who can then bring those curriculum partnerships to workers to the table for those jobs so we're really relying on as i said 200 entities and partners who know how to navigate and know where the businesses are and know where the people are to make sure we have a marriage and alignment that can propel this opportunity one of the things i'd raise and i've not raised with the secretary but i've raised with you guys and everyone who's part of this uh grant effort uh i think it's useful uh think think about it 25 years ago 30 years ago almost every high school had uh shop classes where you learned how to work with your hands where you learned you could go and get take carpentry or automobile and you know just just to get a sense i really think we should be talking and i don't have a program so but i think we should be talking about a little bit about how we let high school students know how things are changing and what may be available down the road and i know we're supposed to i know i'm taking this longer than i should but uh a guy who's been talking about transition for a long time with me has been joe manchin he's uh he lives breathes in east west virginia but joe uh what's how how's this gonna help if it is the uh west virginia the transition to uh a a strengthened not totally new but a new economy yeah well mr president you and i have spoken many times about this when you first came into office even when he was running at that time about how west virginians felt they were left behind my wonderful state and all the great workers and the people in my state have worked hard and they're very proud they've done the heavy lifting for years and years and years and basically they never complained and as things started changing and transitioning there was nothing left for them 21 of our most uh affected counties are in southern west virginia this is based around that and it's it's pumping into an area which is we call the appalachian climate technology or the act and now coalition which is led by uh brandon dennison brandon is here with us and he's done a tremendous job with his team and the full corporation it's basically reinventing not just reinventing but basically being able to meet the needs of the public as we transition and making sure that we can provide the services that's what they've been doing for quite some time and this this announcement here and this rescue plan uh the american rescue plan continues to play benefits uh for west virginia but you know uh also uh your co-chair of appalachian regional commission gail manchin who i know very well is very very proud that appalachia has gotten so much consideration and assistance and you're the first person mr president and with your most capable uh secretary and and our dear friend gina raimondo directing it to the people that need it the most i think that's what we're here to say is thank you these 21 counties have eight regional projects i have with us here on the panel i have my dear friend amy goodwin chairman uh she's a mayor of charleston i have steve williams fellow colleague of mine and and he is uh mayor of uh huntington our two largest cities and we have with us also stephanie tyree and she's uh the west virginia hub director that works directly with these projects they can explain in detail what this is going to allow us to do and we've gotten this 62.8 million dollars one of the top awards and we're so proud of that but the need is there and i can guarantee the investments that we made uh you and i have spoken many times about you can spend money or you can invest money we're going to give you a return on this we're going to give the taxpayers of the united states a return on their investment in west virginia that's what this is about and a reward base to the people who have done the heavy lifting allow them to continue to transition now with our our inflation reduction act mr president this leads segways right into that because now it's going to allow them uh to start focusing on a new a complete new way of delivering the energy that this country is going to need cole uh all we talked about all the cars and debbie stabenow and i talked about that a lot and i said debbie you wouldn't have a car it wasn't for the coal and the still that we produced to send you the material you need to make the car so we're we're all hooked to the hip here and as the transition goes on uh the investments that are being made the 48c tax credit is going to put four billion dollars on additionally back into cold hit communities so we can diversify and attract more business there so i just can't tell you how much this means mr president and uh i'm just so proud to be part of this and also so proud of what the arp has done american rescue plan and so excited to see what the inflation reduction act is going to do so many people don't know how much is in there that's going to trans trans transition their lives and transfer them into an economy that's going to give them an awful lot of stability so we're very proud well joe thanks i'd love to talk to every one of you but i'm getting the sign here i better cut they're gonna kevin you're gonna get the hook but look we can do this all day the point let me conclude by saying this um this is not going to waste money what we're talking about each year doing it's going to grow the economies it's going to keep us in a position where we are the most advanced economy in the world and where we bring along the people who have made this country you know i i joke and i don't want to i shouldn't get political but let me put this way the people who built the country are hard-working people who work with the sweat of their brow in their hands and uh and and they've they've they're they're the ones that created the middle class and i think this is going to enable that same group of people like most of us were raised by to be able to have an opportunity to continue to do well and to take us through this next phase because you know there's that uh i always joe and my colleagues in the senate used to always kid me for uh um for quoting irish poets but all's changed has changed utterly terrible beauty's been born as the irish poet said and we've got to take advantage of it and i think we can i really genuinely think we can and i look forward to meeting all of you at some point along the way and we're going to continue to keep this moving because there's three billion dollars total in this and it's going to grow the economy everybody's better off when you grow the economy everybody from the local drug store to the to the local supermarket to a local church everything grows and uh that's what this is about anyway thank you all thank you if i can say one thing to you mr president yes thank you for not forgetting and not leaving anybody behind i can't tell you how much this means to our hard-working people in west virginia and they are truly appreciative and the families are to be able to stay where they love and they and their heritage and their roots are and so many of them had to leave you given them that opportunity and you didn't forget and you kept that promise and i appreciate it well joe remember i'm from hardcore country scranton all right okay anyway thank you all so very very much thank you congratulations everybody and we're excited to work with you to make all this a huge success and thank you mr president thanks all right [Applause] trump supporters to be a threat to the country y'all everyone come on come on anyone who calls for the use of violence fails contempt violence when the jews refuse to acknowledge that the election has been one insists upon changing the way in which the rule in combos that is a threat to democracy democracy everything we stand for everything we stand for rests on the platform of democracy when people voted for donald trump and support him now they weren't voting for attacking the capital they weren't voting for overruling the election they were voting for a philosophy he put forward so i am not talking about anything other than it is inappropriate and it's not only happening here but other parts of the world whether it's a failure to recognize and condemn violence whenever it's used for political purposes failure to condemn the attempt to manipulate electoral outcomes failure to acknowledge when elections were won or lost is it for sunday

2022-09-05 21:23

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