South Court Auditorium
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
11:28 a.m. EDT
THE VICE-PRESIDENT: Good morning everyone. Hello. Thank you, Se—
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hello!
THE VICE-PRESIDENT: Hello – (laughs) – hello.
What an array of extraordinary American leaders. So thank you all for being here and for the work you do every day.
And, Secretary Walsh, I want to thank you for that introduction, but most of all I want to thank you for the work you’ve done throughout your career.
And like he said, he and I have traveled the country together, and he’s an amazing fighter for the working people of America.
It’s also good to be here with Gene Sperling. And he has – as I mentioned to many leaders earlier, he has worked day and night to coordinate with you to ensure that the American people directly benefit from the American bailout. So, Gene, I want to thank you for your leadership.
And I also want to pay tribute to a longtime public servant and leader, Governor Roy Cooper, as well as Governor Tom Wolf, who has done an extraordinary job in difficult times.
So, thank you to each and every local and state elected official for being here today.
Before I start, I’ll touch on this month’s CPI report.
There is no doubt that we still have work to do. But it’s important to note that these numbers don’t fully reflect the recent drop in gasoline prices.
National average gas prices have been falling every day for almost 30 days. Since mid-June, prices have fallen 40 cents per gallon.
Fighting inflation is one of our administration’s top economic priorities, which is why we’ve taken action to reduce the cost of living for Americans — millions of Americans.
We are releasing 1 million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices at the pump.
We’ve lowered broadband Internet bills for millions of Americans.
And we passed a tax cut to give working families up to $8,000 a year, which means giving people more room in their budgets to buy food, medicine and school supplies for their children.
President Joe Biden and I are always fighting to make sure working families can step forward and stay ahead. And that’s why we continue to call on Congress to pass legislation to reduce the price of prescription drugs, health care, and other necessities that will meet the needs of American families. And so, helping working families is why we are here today.
When President Biden and I took office, our country was facing its worst economic crisis in generations. We all remember: millions of jobs had been lost. Millions of small businesses have closed. Millions of families pushed to the brink. But we were not discouraged. These leaders were not discouraged.
From day one, President Biden and I knew that to overcome these historic economic challenges, we needed to make a historic investment in our country’s working families. We had to build an economy that works for workers.
And that is why, with your help, we fought and passed the US bailout package, which included, among other things, a $40 billion investment in workforce development.
Think about it. When we talk about an investment in workforce development, we mean a direct investment in American workers. It is a direct investment in human capacity. And for that reason, I know we’re all excited about what this means and the potential for it to go for generations of working people in America.
So today is an honor to gather with a group of leaders who are putting ARP dollars to work in communities across our country – governors and mayors, city commissioners and county executives, workers and union leaders.
With your help, we are creating well-paying jobs in small towns and big cities; jobs for nurses and doctors; jobs for steelworkers, pipefitters and engineers.
Together, we invest in training programs and apprenticeships that give workers the skills they need to fill the jobs with better pay and benefits, especially workers from underrepresented backgrounds.
Together, we are expanding access to transportation. It looks like it might be a small problem; it’s a big problem. You have to get to and you have to be able to get to where you need to go to get the job done and get home.
So we’ve expanded access to transportation, including what we need to invest in public transit, knowing that our country’s infrastructure around public transit is and has been in disrepair in many parts of our country. And so that’s the investment we put into it.
And together, we fight to improve and develop our childcare and health care workforce so that everyone who needs better care can have access to better care, wherever they live and whatever their age. revenue.
That includes 8 million Americans who are part of the so-called sandwich generation, which means they’re right there in the middle, taking care of both their children and their parents. And that includes people with mental and physical disabilities so they can access the essential care and support they need to succeed and thrive.
Together, we do such important and impactful work. And so we have convened this summit with these extraordinary leaders so that they can share their stories and share the stories of the people they represent, and so that we can discuss how we can continue to work together on behalf of working people. of our nation. .
I have seen firsthand how much is possible when we collaborate across lines that relate to the direct benefit of the people of our nation.
In fact, earlier this year I visited a union training center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s called WRPT [WRTP]| BIG STEP.
At BIG STEP, I met workers who were trained to remove and replace lead pipes and service lines that poison our communities. It was truly an inspiration.
With their training, these workers can now access well-paying union jobs – jobs they can raise a family on, jobs they can build a future on, jobs that help us build a better future for all of our nation.
Today, up to 10 million homes and 400,000 schools and nurseries receive their water through lead pipes. BIG STEP graduates are already removing lead pipes in Milwaukee – we have leaders from Milwaukee with us here today – and in communities across America.
BIG STEP is one of hundreds of vocational training facilities across our country that have received funding from ARP. We have with us today Lindsay Blumer, president of WRPT [WRTP]| BIG STEP. Where is… Lindsay, where are you? There you are.
And, Lindsay, and all the leaders here, I want to thank you for all you’ve done to deliver on the promise of the US bailout.
Since President Joe Biden and I took office, we have accomplished so much with your help, but we still have much to do.
We must continue our work together to build a nation where every worker is treated with dignity, where every community is safe and healthy, and where every child can reach their God-given potential. Because every person in our country, no matter where they start, deserves the opportunity to succeed and thrive.
This is the future we are all fighting for, and this is the future our administration is fighting for – a future we will all build together.
God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you all. Thanks. (Applause.)
END 11:36 a.m. EDT
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